A very frugal Christmas

[Sara Noel]

"Simplicity and practicality will trump extravagance this holiday season, which might not bode well for some retailers' cash registers. But consumers have a way of surprising the experts......"



http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/5735396.html

[SHOPGIRL]

Sara,

This article makes me want to go to Minneapolis to shop. The Galleria is a beautiful shoppping mall. The Mall of America is fun, it's just loud and always has tons of kids. It's been awhile since I've visited Minneapolis.

I have to agree with this article. I always buy practical gifts and I enjoy receiving practical gifts in return. Oh, I've been known to buy an occasional impulse item, but this year I'm not. The big difference for me is I'm setting a budget for each person. I'm not going out to buy Christmas gifts till I know how much I'm going to spend on the person. Throughout the year I pick up gifts for people, so before I go out to shop, I'm going to search my house to see what I already have. I frequently forget about the gifts I already have, then I overspend.

I hate it when retailers start putting Christmas decorations out before Halloween. It really takes the spirit out of the holiday. Retailers receive their holiday items by August, but it sure would be nice for them to wait till November to start putting them out. Gee, pretty soon, they'll start in July with their Christmas decorations.

[AmyBoz]

Very interesting...