Holiday Shopping

[Snave]

There was a poll on Money.com asking where you will do your holiday shopping this year. The answers to choose from were mall, discount store, online, or won't be shopping. When I took it, over 35,000 people had responded and 46% said they won't be shopping. While I don't believe that number will be entirely true, it doesn't look like folks are planning on spending as much this holiday season.

How are your holiday shopping plans changing because of the economy?

As for my family, my wife and I put a small limit on what we would spend on each other last year, so my guess is we will do the same this year. I think we said it had to be around $100. We do buy some stuff for our families (parents, etc...), but those are just smaller things. We have a little one, so we end up doing things like pictures in a frame or a calendar with pictures of him, etc... As for our son, we did go a bit over last year with toys. It was the first year he really understood what was going on and it was fun for us. This year we are going to limit it. He really doesn't need anything and he gets a bunch from our family anyway.

[maat55]

I've always been Scrooge in our family. I personally think that Christmas is pagenized by consumerism. In the past we have had our kids buy toys for less fortunate kids, to at least teach them the meaning of Christmas.

As far as the economy, i'm pushing hard to cut back on spending. My kids are in their 20's and DW still buys santa gifts for them, UGH. Bah Humbug.

[scfr]

I did a fair amount shopping through the organization I volunteer with (fund raising items), bought one item each at Target and on-line, and DH today picked up some Lammes Longhorns (that's a type of candy for you non-Texans ... like turtles) at the outlet mall today to wrap up the holiday shopping for the 2 of us for this year. We spent a total of $146 which is a little bit more than we normally would spend, but about $40 will go to the non-profit I work with, so I thought of that as a donation which I was happy to make. We will also gift $100 to the niece's & nephew's college funds. We scaled back on our gifting many years ago, and feel it is at a very "sustainable" level, so no need to cut back at all this year.

[creditcardfree]

Honestly, I think things will be about the same for us. I may be able to get away with a little less this year...since my kids know about you know who. I still need to buy for the same people.

The only thing different here is how I've come up with the money for gifts. Selling stuff primarily. Garage sale, craigslist, ebay, surveys. I'm even still in the accumulation phase. I was looking to avoid taking the money out of our regular budget...so far it is working!

[stressedmama]

No change in plans for us. Our family plans to spend the same on gifts this year as last year. Since I've been shopping earlier then usual this year, I have done the majority of my buying in stores. Anything I need to get after Thanksgiving I'll probably buy online b/c I dread wasting my time in long lines in order to spend money.

[Pitman]

Originally Posted by Snave

How are your holiday shopping plans changing because of the economy?

I told my close family members, this year one gift per person, I usually try to get our neighbors 13yr old a pair of sneakers, last year I bought him a pair for $100, but this year, he might be dissappointed because frankly I can't afford it.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Within the immediate family we never have been real big on gift giving, though there has always been something for each person. We never did Santa. Outside of the family, we mostly give gifts of homemade foods. Breads, stollens, cookies, candies, tarts, etc. Our shopping will mostly be in grocery stores. The sales on baking items are beginning now, so it is stock-up time. I think we'll probably spend comparably to last year, but I'm not preparing a budget.

[disneysteve]

We don't do that much shopping normally. We buy for our daughter, our moms, our niece and my one cousin. I also give gifts to my office staff.

This year will probably be about the same as usual. Actually, we may spend a bit more than usual. We talked about getting our moms digital picture frames loaded with photos from DD's Bat Mitzvah. Either that or having photo books made.

[kork13]

Things haven't really changed for me very much due to the economy, so my holiday spending isn't significantly impacted... I normally only get gifts for my family and maybe a couple close friends, but this year I actually just came up with an idea to give them all a personalized, (relatively) hand-made gifts... I'll still have to pay to get it actually put together, but I'm actually really happy that I don't have to go out looking for gifts in stores. I'm framing one of my own photographs with a personalized quote/poem for each person, so I just need to go out with my camera looking for the right shot for each person.

[Ima saver]

About 5 years ago, we started cutting down cause we have everything we need. This year won't be much different than last years.

[PrincessPerky]

al,ost half of folk are turning humbug? I don't believe it.

we are spending marginally more...I usually give out a lot of fudge, and last year I was a pregnant humbug..or tired, whichever you call it.

The folk who get personalized gifts we will be keeping it about the same, we usually do an outing for the nieces and nephews, a stocking and one thing to open for the kids. nearing the finish line on those....just the difficult folk left. (no offense MIL)

[disneysteve]

I also don't believe the 46% number. Heck, we were in Walmart the other day and I saw more than one person with an overflowing shopping cart of Christmas items - toys, games, wrapping paper, decorations, etc. One couple each had a full cart. I think people will still be buying but they may be a lot more price conscious. I think stores like Walmart are going to have a good season while more costly retailers may have a rough time.

[simpleyme]

I will probably spend more than usual , we are doing okay and more family than usual is going to be in town, we onlly buy for children but there are a lot of children coming for christmas !

I hope to buy all the kids gifts while on vacation later this month in Disneyland maybe a bunch of" Auntie went to Disneyland and all I got was this stupid t-shirt" shirts LOL ;-)

[rizzmo]

My wife and I decided we would spend $50 for immediate family and our closest friends. We are getting ourselves a new bed for christmas.

I agree with disneysteve on the 46%. I have seen no noticeable reduction in peoples shopping habits, but I'm not sure how applicable that is to holiday shopping.

[Aleta]

We'll probably spend the same amount or less. We have 2 Grand-daughters this year. The little one was born in October, so that's a nice extra. I'm thinking more of giving to people who I know who are having a really rough time. There are children out there that probably won't have great holidays this year. If everyone could give a little something extra to a child or children that you know will not have much for the holidays would really be a great way to show what giving is all about it.

[GREENBACK]

I've been doing the gift card thing the last few years and will likely do the same this year for most on my list. It's quick and easy, although is perhaps rather lacking in "thought" I guess. I'm happy to get a gift card or anything else so I'm ok giving them. I think I'll spend about the same as always.

[KatieNK]

I will do some online, some in stores. It is just DH and I but we love Christmas and work extra to be able to afford gifts for eachother and things like a fresh-cut tree, etc. This year I am buying DH and flat screen LCD TV!!! I got a PT job to pay for it but I have no clue where I am gonna hide it! I also go clearance shopping after Christmas for presents for the ILs and I also get a couple extra cheapy things just in case so I am already set for that, probably only spent $15, lol! For my sisters, we always make eachother and our mom presents so that is cheap too.

[PennyPrincess]

We have been trying to cut back the last few years, so this year won't be too much of a shock. For a while there the spending was quite ridiculous.
But today we went shopping and places were mobbed.