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Sly Fox wrote:Euro cruises are dirt cheap right now if you can find a decent fare to make it over there.I hear Costa Cruise prices will make you flip!
) RubberMallet wrote:we have told our family that for our children, buy them 3 or less items. (my wife wrapped it up into the "3 gifts" Jesus got) for christmas. and its worked.Does Mrs. Mallet only get 3 gifts, too? If she has agreed to that, also, you may have given husbands everywhere a way to finally save some money at Christmas!
Cider Jim wrote:that she did. and she directed me to each gift. along time ago i proved my worth or lack thereof when it comes to gift giving. unless she points me into some direction, my gifts to her are generally awful and near thoughtless. this is just a defect i have but to be honest its not something i work hard to fix as gift giving isn't really one of her stronger languages.RubberMallet wrote:we have told our family that for our children, buy them 3 or less items. (my wife wrapped it up into the "3 gifts" Jesus got) for christmas. and its worked.Does Mrs. Mallet only get 3 gifts, too? If she has agreed to that, also, you may have given husbands everywhere a way to finally save some money at Christmas!
JK37 wrote:I've heard of many pairs of parents out there agreeing to buy nothing for each other and spending only on the kids. Sometimes thy stick to it, sometimes not. Thoughts?We tried something similar this year, but since we don't have any kids, Mrs. Cider wanted to give $200 to dig some well in some third world country somewhere. Great idea, but it was the most depressing Christmas of my life--no presents for either one of us to open this year.
RubberMallet wrote:on a related note. we have tried something for the last 2 years that so far has worked fantastically.I like the idea - minimalist. But what if one kid requests a bunch of cheaper stuff on their wish list and the other more expensive stuff?
we have told our family that for our children, buy them 3 or less items. (my wife wrapped it up into the "3 gifts" Jesus got) for christmas.
and its worked. its easy to go bonkers and want to get your kids a bunch of stuff but they don't need it. this month we are going through their toys and donating or selling a ton of them.
from us the girls got a new outfit, each a new movie or xbox game, and an itunes gift card to go with the ipods their grandparents got them (
it helps keep the budget in check and its easy to remember...oh just 3 things. obviously they have to deal with other kids they know getting more stuff but psssh we were pretty much poor growing up. i had hand me down ataris while neighborhood kids were getting nintendo.
for me i got gift cards for books (i will be using for other things, i don'tpay for books) some new fender flares for my truck and some ice fishing stuff.
JK37 wrote:I've heard of many pairs of parents out there agreeing to buy nothing for each other and spending only on the kids. Sometimes thy stick to it, sometimes not. Thoughts?My parents did that one year, but out of monetary necessity. I was too young to realize it at the time and didn't find out until like last year.
lynchburgwildcats wrote: I like the idea - minimalist. But what if one kid requests a bunch of cheaper stuff on their wish list and the other more expensive stuff?Value is subjective. If it is something they really want, hopefully they won't worry about the dollar amount.
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