Friend's Christmas Tree

**kaykwilts** · 12-04-2007, 09:10 AM

A friend of mine put up her Christmas tree this past weekend. It's a fake pre-lit tree but it's very beautiful. She said she got it at Lowe's and paid like $200 for it. She got all new ornaments this year too. She changed themes. Very pretty tree with balls that are reddish brown and some that are white. The ornmanets look like they cost at least $5.00 a piece and she had a lot of ornments. You know what was going through my mind? Lady you could have saved hundreds of dollars if you had waited the day after Christmas and gotten that tree with the beautiful ornments 50 to 75 percent off! It just goes against my grain to pay full price for anything.

**wulong32** · 12-04-2007, 09:14 AM

Thats what I plan on doing. I got a really nice fake tree for $80, but I just bought a few dozen multicolored ornaments for $4, once the sales hit Im gonna stock up on ornaments. No way would I pay full price...

**latierra84** · 12-04-2007, 09:34 AM

same here. this will be the third year that ive used the same fake tree. i got it for $20!

**kabin63** · 12-04-2007, 09:36 AM

Kay,
I bought one of those $200 prelit trees last year after Christmas for $40. I put it up the weekend after Thanksgiving and I have to admit it's the most beautiful tree we have ever had. I did not, however, buy all new ornaments for it. Only a few, including a Christmas pickle, lol. Almost all of my ornaments are vintage hand me downs. The only thing I bought for the tree that I couldn't wait on was new garland. It took 4 packages to go around the tree, but it really is a pretty tree. It's 7 1/2 feet tall. Too bad your friend didn't wait a little longer.

**DAAC3DEC** · 12-04-2007, 09:42 AM

It is my life's mantra to never pay full price for ANYTHING!!!!

**Katybird** · 12-04-2007, 09:56 AM

I can understand why she bought it before Christmas, a few years ago I found a magnificant prelit white Christmas tree, it was one of the most beautiful trees I had ever seen. I wanted it the moment that I saw it but being frugal, I decided to wait until after Christmas and of course it was long gone after Christmas and they have never gotten them back in since then. I wish now that I had just went ahead and paid full price and got it when I found it.

**yonksgirl** · 12-04-2007, 10:04 AM

When My hubby and I bought fist bought our house 5years ago we went all out. I am sad to say we spent $700 that year on christmas decorations. We just "had to get them" you know we have kids.....thank goodness that mindset is gone! LOL! The good thing is we got a fake tree and have not had to buy much since then!

**Emjo** · 12-04-2007, 10:36 AM

My mom bought a beautiful pre-lit tree after Christmas last year for half price, maybe less...she's the one who taught me frugality!

My tree is hand me down from my grandmother, and all of ornaments are "vintage", no theme. I even have an ornament made out of tinfoil, a toilet paper roll and some sparkles that I made when I was 3!

**PrairieRose** · 12-04-2007, 01:52 PM

I completely understand Kay, I feel the same way. For the past 3 years I've been shopping at the after Christmas sales, replacing my old ornaments and decorations for a fraction of the cost. For about $200 I have a whole tree full of new, expensive ornaments, wreaths, centerpiece for my dining room table. These decorations didn't come from Walmart, but from a high end flower shop with normally very large price tags. I can't stand to pay full price for things either and like Katybird I once missed out on my dream tree by waiting till the after sales. I did however find one the next year on sale at Hobby Lobby for 30% off. I jumped on it since I don't live in the city and couldn't be sure to be there when the sales started the day after Christmas.

**Momto2Boyz** · 12-04-2007, 07:31 PM

I got a 7 foot pre-lit tree at our Dollar General store's going out of business sale for $3. I swore I would never buy a fake tree, but hey, I'm saving 40+ dollars a year and only paying $3 for it!

The most beautiful tree I have ever had, I had last year. I had left over maroon/tan homespun fabric, and I tore it into strips and tied them onto the tree, added white lights, and went out in the back yard and got a TON of pine cones. I hung the pinecones on ornament hangers I already had, and I had a "brand-new" Christmas tree for nothing!

This year I just did standard "vintage" ornaments (all the ones we've collected and been given over the years) and it looks great! And I have to say, not having the stress of untangling lights to put on the tree was awesome!

**cottageliving** · 12-04-2007, 08:06 PM

I buy a real tree each year and will do so this year, but will look for marked down fake ones after Christmas for future years. My daughter still lives with me so I'll continue the real tree tradition for one last year and spend approx $50 (!!!)- next year she'll be on her own, so fake for me....

**i.m.cheap** · 12-04-2007, 09:21 PM

We bought one of the pre-lighted trees for $39.99 in 2001. Most of the lights don't work any more, but I didn't go out and buy a new tree, just a couple of strands of clear lights for $2.00 a box. Just like a "new tree".

**pip** · 12-05-2007, 08:55 AM

We've pretty much always had an artificial tree. Our first one we bought the first Christmas of our marriage, on sale. And, used that tree for 19 years. We just got another one last year, on sale, and hope to use it for many years to come.

**halloweenfreak** · 12-05-2007, 09:30 AM

we bought ours on clearance sale 2 years ago for 20 bux. its nice nothing special, but coop made and painted his ornaments for it so it looks perfect now. our neighbor across the street told her husband she wanted a new tree this year and it could be her christmas present. that sucker was nearly 300 dollars. why??? its just going to be crammed in a box in storage for a year here in a few weeks.

**DaisySue** · 12-05-2007, 10:39 AM

My hubby and I both grew up with artificial trees and the ONE and ONLY LOL thing we agree on is we will spend the $ to buy a real tree. We put ours up right after Thanksgiving and don't take it down until New Years Day usually.

That is pretty much my only expense tree-wise. I usually buy one or two new ornaments a year. I have always loved country/primitive so I have been buying these types of ornaments for years or making them. Plus the ones my kids made blend in perfectly. I don't change themes.

I reuse lights from year to year and am now on the 4th year for the ones we have on the tree. Outside we had to replace two strings of icicle lights, but the garland and the bows over the windows are probably 10 years old now and still look great!