Is anyone thinking of Christmas yet?........

[WV_mom_of2]

I know it's only August 1, but I'm already thinking ahead to Christmas. I have such a problem with it and every year it drives me nuts. Here is some info.......

My sister has two kids of her own. She is married to a wonderful man who has 4 kids of his own, they have one child together for a total of 7. This man adopted my niece and nephew and treats them like gold. His kids are great kids who treat my nieces and nephew really well.

My brother is married to a woman who has four kids. He has three of his own for a total of 7. This woman treats my nephews like *#&*! She told my brother before they got married that she hates my nephews, wants them to move in with their mother, etc. Her kids get everything(new clothes and shoes, etc.) while my nephews get whatever my mom and I can find for them. Her kids have a father, grandparents, aunts and uncles in the picture. My nephews have a mother who sees them when she wants to(maybe one day a week), who doesn't buy gifts or give a crap about them and her family who are awful. My sil's kids are allowed to have certain toys, etc. that my nephews are NOT allowed to touch, but her kids are allowed to mess with anything that belongs to my nephews and break their things on purpose. They even ganged up on my 12 year old nephew, drug him out of bed at night and beat him up. I despise this woman and her kids!

Now on to Christmas LOL........ How do I deal with this touchy situation? I want to buy for my sister's seven and my brother's three and leave HER kids out of it. Money is tight and even spending just 10.00 on that many kids is tough. I've thought about "family gifts" for the kids........any ideas?

So far I have found two things for my dad and I know that my dd wants a new bike and ds wants a case for his bow and arrow.

How many in total do you buy for? Do you have a set budget overall? I buy for 26 family members counting my kids. I don't have a budget except for the nieces and nephews. And this year I think I am going to leave dh's two oldest nephews out. The oldest is 28 with a job and home of his own. The other is 22 with a wife and child. I think at this point they are too old for us to be buying gifts. However I will buy for the one's baby.

Have you started buying gifts yet?

[FrugalMomof3]

Thinking? I am pretty much done... I think about Christmas in May and usually have all my shopping done by July.

There is some things I still have to get but just for my own kids but family members are done! YAY!

[blitzen]

I bought a few things back when I bought my son's birthday present. I'm now looking for ideas for my MIL--and just found some stuff in a spice catalog I think she'll like. We only buy for our kids and my MIL, so shopping is easy anyways--but I love getting it done early!

[lovestolaugh]

Well, let's see.....I have finished buying for my 3 little nieces and 1 baby nephew. I spent $15 on each and purchased books and cd's. I refuse to purchase any toys because of the China scare and because they all have enough toys! As for my four brother's and their families, I am going to make a donation in each of their names to St. Jude's Children's hospital and also send them each some home baked goodies. My in-law's are getting a family picture plus donation to St. Jude's. My parents are getting family picture and I am filling a stocking for each of them with all sorts of neccessities. They are retired and live very frugally, so I like to fill their stockings with higher-end lotions and such that they won't buy themselves.
I am also filling a stocking for my single sister. She always spends so much on my kids!

As for my own two kids and husband.....I will wait to purchase anything until it get's closer to Christmas. However, I am sticking to the 4 gift rule (want,need,wear,read) plus their stocking filled with all kinds of goodies. I have set my budget at $250 for each kid and $100 on husband. We are also taking the kids to NYC on Dec. 22 -23 for family vacation. We will be taking them to see the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular. Can't wait!

That does it for my shopping list. I save all year long and only use cash for purchases. The NY trip is already paid for. I will be spending $500 less than I did last year!!!! I have been slowly scaling back each year! We enjoy a "simple" Christmas so much more than the old OTT Christmas's!!!

[anna021]

Actually a few years ago I decided (with DH) to simplify the holidays. Enjoy baking, cooking, visiting. No more CC purchases that we'd still be paying on in July. The girls and their other half's each get a gift around 100 dollars, I fill their stockings with socks, underwear, candy and HBA things (all free from CVS) When I go visiting during the holidays I either bake something or bring a plant I brought at the grocery store. I send e-mail christmas cards to most, there are a few who live far away that get USM cards. Very simple, I have learned to enjoy getting ready for the day, as the day itself is usually hectic and goes by so quickly, and your left standing there tangled in the tinsel saying is this why I made myself so crazy?

[Amanda2008]

I would say that I have about 1/2 of mine done.

[DonnainME]

I'm about 1/2 done too. This year all 3 kids are with me - last year they were with their dad. I buy all year long and in August I take stock of what I have and then finish up as soon as I can. I'm always looking at garage sales and thrift stores for gifts too.

[Izzy0906]

I have mine planned lol I have the budget done (no CC Charges this year!!!) and have started collecting canning goods. The majority of my family will be getting canned salsa (they all prefer the homemade gifts) and a few I will be getting gift cards for. My daughter, DBF & parents I will get in Nov since that is when I will have the cash (again, not going to use my cards even if it's to purchase gifts I will have the money for later. If I don't have it now, they wait)

[hugxlaughxsmilexlove]

I am making DIY Baskets for the grandparents and our parents (from the kids, they're helping)! And then I only have my three girls (all under 4, they don't need much) and my husband.

Definitely thinking and working on any projects I have to get together!! =)

[guest002]

I started mine yesterday w/ Target's awesome toy clearance. Up to 75% off.

[rachelj]

I've started as well. I need to figure out what I need to get.

But frustrations re: gift buying? My dh's fathers family started to do like a "dirty bingo" gift exchange around the time that we got married and anyone "still a minor" got a gift from each of the aunts. Well now those aunts are great aunts as several of us have our own kids. So Dh's cousin said last year that she wants an exchange for ALL of the little grand kids (she has 2 children) so that they don't feel left out. Let me just say that her kids get spoiled from both sides of the family and truly do NOT need another toy and they will still get presents from the now great aunts. Second, that is NOT what the Meaning of Christmas is.

So, I reluctantly agreed and purchased a travel litebrite for this same cousins daughter. When she opened it she was so unappreciative (mind you she was not quite 5, but still) she said that she already had one. We see these family members 3 times a year. If they are already getting presents at this family event why do they need more? I mean really?

I try to limit how much my kids get - I really like the 3 present rule - like Jesus got from the Wisemen.

[Michelle]

I haven't started yet.

Usually we just buy for our 2 kids, my nephew, my mil, and Dave's employees. I generally get some sort of wishlist from the kids, and then I plan that around how much we are able to spend--usually about $100 for each of them. Total for everyone is right around $350.

Dave and I stopped buying for each other when we hit a rough patch financially. I'm not sure what we'll do this year. We've talked about taking a mini vacation together (sans kiddos) in Feb/March to celebrate 20 yrs together (we count that as our anniversary since we've been together for that long but didn't get married until 6 yrs after we met), so maybe we'll set aside money for that.

As for paying for the kids' gifts, I am saving up all my reward's program GC's to pay for them. I won't have enough to pay for it all, but I will have enough to pay for a lot of it.

[Pemberleyan]

I've thought about it, but only in terms of "it's hard to believe we could be decorating the tree in four months."

We have no children and very few gifts to purchase.

[Kaos Kitty]

I'm half-way done buying and almost completely done planning what to get everyone. For my mom and sister I actually let them know what I am thinking of getting them, to make sure its something they really want and can use. We've all started saying we've got enough "stuff".

No credit card spending, I'm using cash and Airmiles only. I'm trying to do "family gifts" rather than individual ones. For example:

Mom and Dad: $50 GC for a steak dinner (Airmiles)
Sister and 4 kids: "movie night" package of 4 new rentals /4 game rentals and popcorn (Airmiles)

I've also suggested to Dh that instead of giving each other gifts we get a family gift we would both enjoy. At Christmas I always feel like I get enough presents!

[MomToTwoBoys]

Wow, that sounds more cruel than when I grew up.

I actually have been thinking of Christmas since May (oh man) and got some stuff already for people. I always mess things up every year and wait until the two weeks before Christmas to buy stuff. That ends up killing our pockets. I was thinking of buying for my nephews this year but my sister is just a royal and probably wouldn't give them stuff. I wouldn't have anywheres to store stuff now that the kids have their playroom downstairs so I might end up having to save up the rest and buy right before we go to my inlaws.

It's now August and I have two books for DS #2 and some stuff for MIL and SIL. Ugh...