tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post5327766858365366021..comments2009-12-14T09:35:47.954-06:00Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10575088269125558768summithousebooks@fastmail.fmBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-22238851857704100372009-12-14T09:32:49.162-06:002009-12-14T09:32:49.162-06:00I&#39;ve never had a problem with re-gifting or buying used gifts, either. I think the most important thing is that it is something that the recipient wants/needs/will like, etc. I buy as much as possible used at the thrift store, with the exception of bras, underwear, and socks. When my son gets his allowance, he&#39;ll often ask to go to the thrift store, because &quot;you get better stuff, and you don&#39;t even have to take all of the plastic off&quot;AmandaLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16985420352159617985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-59069509364475241142009-12-13T03:57:03.269-06:002009-12-13T03:57:03.269-06:00I loved this post Heather! I agree. My children see no difference between their new or &quot;used&quot; toys - they are all used after the first few plays. <br />This year I have no idea what to get Dave so love the idea of those vouchers - he would just love them!<br />Great idea for the kids too - I do try &amp; take one at a time out on a rotational basis, but vouchers would be so cute &amp; they would love redeeming them!Renatahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13546331512433403550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-42003922954671604052009-12-12T23:00:17.860-06:002009-12-12T23:00:17.860-06:00Hey Heather :)<br /><br />I&#39;ve been lurking about your blog for ages and (although i&#39;m only 16 years old, and don&#39;t have kids or much organising to do)I find your posts really interesting and very informative.<br /><br />I just wanted to make a suggestion for christmas presents that you or your readers might find useful. Every year, instead of buying material gifts for us, my Mum books a vacation to somewhere and presents it to the whole family in the form of a voucher type thing.<br /><br />Although going on a vacation is obviously far more expensive than regular gifts, we seem to get a lot more enjoyment out of it, and we get to spend time together as a family.Shanniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00534883354086122106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-89543261836855337162009-12-12T20:31:13.574-06:002009-12-12T20:31:13.574-06:00Love the post! I was very proud to have gotten all my son&#39;s Christmas gifts at consignment sales this year. We will celebrate Santa but explain that he is pretend when he asks. We want Jesus to be the focus of the day and I love your Nativity info. I can&#39;t wait to do that with my son.Jesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16114703648782356955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-87906538078872674282009-12-12T13:20:27.006-06:002009-12-12T13:20:27.006-06:00Almost all of my daughter&#39;s gifts are new. Toys are so overpriced and since this is her second Christmas she&#39;s not going to notice the difference between new and used.I have done really well with my budget this year. Christmas is so exciting but I want my little cupcake to be thankful and not greedy like many little children are now.Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17687950586554285956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-32491296168431282582009-12-12T11:21:15.873-06:002009-12-12T11:21:15.873-06:00We too own a regular TV (pre Flat screen days) and wouldn&#39;t know how to use a Play Station if we were given one. Maybe eventually, but not for now. I know we are in the minority.Cop Mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15697762495151569561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-40178761646923232152009-12-12T09:36:20.660-06:002009-12-12T09:36:20.660-06:00As mention before, our daughter and I love garage sales (aka regifting) and so now does my granddaughter.<br /><br />This year for Christmas (and her birthday in Jan) all of us grandparents decided to keep the actual gifts to a minimum and this spring put money towards a much needed swingset for our her. <br /><br />She will be 4 and the few gifts she receives at Chrismas and Birthday will be more appreciated, instead of being overloaded with gifts and when summertime rolls around she will see a new swingset to enjoy for many years of play and fun.<br /><br />I agree that children should know more about what the Christmas season is really about, instead of thinking it is just a time to get many many gifts (they think they want and then don&#39;t even play with).<br /><br />May God Bless everyone during this Christmas season.Kathy Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05024098408927526869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-45490837346615181502009-12-11T22:23:57.498-06:002009-12-11T22:23:57.498-06:00Your comments always make me laugh, lol!<br /><br />Our kids used to love to go to yard sales with me. They&#39;d take their money and I&#39;d encourage them to look and think before they bought. <br /><br />They have never minded clothes or shoes from yard or garage sales. In fact, just yesterday I bought a thrift store jacket for $4.99 and my son says it retails online for $60.00. I will say that he was thrilled with the jacket.<br /><br />He also has a couple of pair of Michael Jordan shoes that I got for $4.99 (each), but the thrift store &quot;got wise&quot; and has since raised the shoe prices of Jordans to less than $20 (still a good deal).<br /><br />Some people would say that I shouldn&#39;t buy him those as they are so expensive retail, but I think that he likes the shoes, and I can get them for very little, so why not? What do you think?<br /><br />I just think that this way he is able to wear the clothes or shoes he likes, but I don&#39;t pay full price for them. <br /><br />I usually buy his shoes brand new at the store, but he saw the Jordan&#39;s and wanted then so we bought them.<br /><br />I don&#39;t think it&#39;s encouraging him to like expensive things that he can&#39;t have, I think it&#39;s showing him that he can have them if he can find them at an affordable price, or he can do without (like the North Face jacket that I can&#39;t find at the thrift store yet).<br /><br />Seriously, what do you think about this? Do you think it teaches them to want expensive things and develop expensive tastes?momsthewordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14519343990735608713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-71400596145862646852009-12-11T20:07:44.133-06:002009-12-11T20:07:44.133-06:00Crazy not to get used... esp toys! I spent FOUR dollars for my daughter&#39;s birthday after I got the Little People Farm, Dollhouse, Bus, Planes and Airport, and a whole box full of accessories at a garage sale. Perfect condition. WHY would you buy them new is the real question? You go Heather!Kendrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04408507267150270600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-45847485540512907982009-12-11T14:25:13.873-06:002009-12-11T14:25:13.873-06:00Exactly, exactly, exactly. <br /><br />God wants us to be good stewards. How is throwing away a gift you wouldn&#39;t use instead of re-gifting being a good steward? ITS. NOT. <br /><br />And new vs. used? So what? Especially on books! There is a new book out that I want and put on my list. But when hubs was on the way to get it I had to say no. On sale its still $19 and I just can&#39;t do it. It literally takes the enjoyment out of reading it to know I could have fed my family for half a week on that amount of money. <br /><br />This is the first year hubs and I have had wants. And we are awful in that we buy what we want and hand it to the other to wrap. But its never anything other than needs usually (like underwear). The girls get really disappointed if we dont have stuff under the tree so we usually put one thing under there for each of us. This year I actually wanted photoshop so I asked for it. First thing I&#39;ve asked for in 20 years. And hubs...he needs a bellows for his smoker. Aren&#39;t we exciting?<br /><br />Merry Christmas to you and yours!autumnesfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04519475352289814754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-33686574433538303422009-12-11T14:03:12.486-06:002009-12-11T14:03:12.486-06:00Oh, I love the idea of getting stuff for Christmas stockings when it&#39;s all 75% off. Now that I think of it, I regularly see stuff at Goodwill or other thrift shops that&#39;s Christmasy too. <br /><br />Thanks!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01990078765385100510noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-25247937934223288422009-12-11T12:53:03.927-06:002009-12-11T12:53:03.927-06:00I&#39;m a big fan of second hand Christmas presents. Often I can&#39;t find what the kids want at a retail store and the thrift store has what we want. My kids don&#39;t care where their gifts come from because we&#39;ve never given them the impression that there&#39;s anything wrong with used items. The big bonus is that it doesn&#39;t take an hour to untangle a used toy from twist ties and impermeable wrapping.<br />I also think it&#39;s wonderful to have a humble Christmas so your children recognize that the day isn&#39;t about getting gifts.Jenny's Vegcafehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09822613057446516660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-11134231445287002222009-12-11T12:45:44.049-06:002009-12-11T12:45:44.049-06:00I think the coupon book is such a cool idea! My son is only 2 so i wont be doing it this year but i cant wait to come up with some fun coupons in the future! <br /><br />I love being frugal when it comes to gift buying and think its crazy that people would give you a hard time about getting something for your kids at a garage/consignment sale. One huge problem that i ran into this year though is that i found Hannah Montana electronic Mall Madness on clearance for my cousins daugther for $5! Its normally like $30 so i was so excited about the deal BUT, i had the hardest time finding something for her brother where i didnt spend a lot of money but was still not a cheapy gift. Luckily i found something! Great post, i love your frugal tips and ideas!Staceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13027982013231553328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-76954307616442170602009-12-11T12:39:31.932-06:002009-12-11T12:39:31.932-06:00I am always inspired to hear how sensible your approach is to things like holidays.I am so grateful to know that you are raising such fine people in such a confused world.<br />We are putting so much of energy into making home made holiday cards that I am not sure my 4 yo ever realizes that gifts have anything to do with season! She is so very happy with few toys she has, and often if she sees something in the store, she asks if we can go home and make something like it! And that can be rather easy when it is some thing like a $30 Kai Lan cardboard play set ;)Its cardboard!<br />Happy Christmas. Thank you for blogging. Oh! and I am so glad to see that your home birthing!Tuvaluhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13212565401816410137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-22413101803870159892009-12-11T11:51:36.373-06:002009-12-11T11:51:36.373-06:00When my kids were growing up they always got a coupon book...and loved it. And yes, husbands like them, too!pendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15451934924322382752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-8182673371874326302009-12-11T10:49:49.769-06:002009-12-11T10:49:49.769-06:00Hi Heather - I just want to echo some of what you said above. One of the best stocking stuffers EVER and which are still around in my house YEARS later? Toy soliders from the dollar store. Seriously, my boys still play with them and they&#39;ve been around for at least the last 5 years! <br />I agree that children learn their spending habits from their parents: for years my kids have watched me buy holiday tins/containers in January for 75% off! For a fraction of the cost, I have pretty containers for my homemade goodies. They also help bake and fill and learn a lesson in giving a heartfelt gift w/o spending a lot of cash. I usually give homemade fudge along with a note (from the kid) to the teacher for the holidays. Really, how much teacher stuff do they need? I always think a nice note means more than an expensive gift. <br />This season our oldest two will get &quot;coupons&quot; from us for their facebook and email accounts: its time, they&#39;re ready (we&#39;ll monitor) and its a GREAT FREE gift! I can guarantee that will be one of the best gifts under the tree. :-)<br />Thanks so much for the holiday post! It mades me feel that I&#39;m not alone in my frugality. :-) (Did you ever feel that way?)<br />KimKimberlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16281639900495024980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824391225748530760.post-56090210823237407802009-12-11T10:43:47.430-06:002009-12-11T10:43:47.430-06:00Great post! It&#39;s so true that the greatest Christmas memories are not the ones that cost the most.A Joyful Chaoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13647481484192797931noreply@blogger.com