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Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Artega - 10-13-2005
Are they not usable without the batteries? If they are, then I imagine some fun could be had out of them; the kids probably end up making up their own sound effects while using them, anyway.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - DeeBye - 10-13-2005
ShadowHM,Oct 11 2005, 07:45 PM Wrote:Good Lord, DeeBye
I just get home from the Thanksgiving closing up of the cottage, glumly noting all the Hallowe'en paraphernalia adorning so many homes on the trip back, thinking about what the purchasing expedition that lies ahead, and you have already started buying Christmas presents???
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The credit for early Christmas shopping lies solely with my wife. Truth be told, we have been actively buying gifts since about January. She can sniff out a good deal like no-one I know, and she is dogged in her persistance to get it. She has also got a lot of forethought, so we've already bought a bunch of great Christmas gifts for our nieces and nephews way back in January when they were on sale for dirt-cheap prices.
We both check every flyer and ad we get in the mail, as well as browse the online ads for local stores. If we see something that we like and know it will make a great upcoming gift, we buy it. If we know that a certain store is having a particularly great season-end clearance sale, we pick a day of the week to make a trip.
This is not to say that we buy cheap stuff though. We buy nice things for a lot less than full retail.
Here's an example: Not too recently, Toy Story was released on DVD and every store had them on "sale". Most "sales" were about $2 less than retail, which was about $25 (CAD). We really wanted to buy it, but held out for something a little better. A couple of weeks later, a local store had a flyer advertising it for an amazing $6.88.
Not too surprisingly, that store was sold out about 5 minutes after they opened. This was fine by us. So we took the flyer to another store that had a "price match" policy (that is, they will match any current Canadian retailer's advertised price). This was perfect for us, because we also happened to have saved a coupon from that particular store for "15% off your next DVD purchase". We price matched the $25 Toy Story DVD for $6.88, and saved an extra 15% on top of that. We also happened to have a few more 15% off DVD coupons so we bought a couple more. We got $75 worth of new release DVDs for less than $18, all above-board.
Everything we did adhered completely to the store's policies, so it's not like we ripped them off. We were just smart about the way we shopped.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Doc - 10-13-2005
DeeBye,Oct 12 2005, 09:58 PM Wrote:The credit for early Christmas shopping lies solely with my wife. Truth be told, we have been actively buying gifts since about January. She can sniff out a good deal like no-one I know, and she is dogged in her persistance to get it. She has also got a lot of forethought, so we've already bought a bunch of great Christmas gifts for our nieces and nephews way back in January when they were on sale for dirt-cheap prices.
We both check every flyer and ad we get in the mail, as well as browse the online ads for local stores. If we see something that we like and know it will make a great upcoming gift, we buy it. If we know that a certain store is having a particularly great season-end clearance sale, we pick a day of the week to make a trip.
This is not to say that we buy cheap stuff though. We buy nice things for a lot less than full retail.
Here's an example: Not too recently, Toy Story was released on DVD and every store had them on "sale". Most "sales" were about $2 less than retail, which was about $25 (CAD). We really wanted to buy it, but held out for something a little better. A couple of weeks later, a local store had a flyer advertising it for an amazing $6.88.
Not too surprisingly, that store was sold out about 5 minutes after they opened. This was fine by us. So we took the flyer to another store that had a "price match" policy (that is, they will match any current Canadian retailer's advertised price). This was perfect for us, because we also happened to have saved a coupon from that particular store for "15% off your next DVD purchase". We price matched the $25 Toy Story DVD for $6.88, and saved an extra 15% on top of that. We also happened to have a few more 15% off DVD coupons so we bought a couple more. We got $75 worth of new release DVDs for less than $18, all above-board.
Everything we did adhered completely to the store's policies, so it's not like we ripped them off. We were just smart about the way we shopped.
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I shop like that. And people call me a stingy miserly penny pinching bastard. A shoe store was closing it's doors forever. They had a Birkenstock clog on sale for 62 bucks. These clogs normally sell for about 150. They have a removeable cork footbed. The Oklahoma model. Well, this store was out... But I took their quoted price to another shoe outlet that promised to beat anybody's price. I also had a special coupon for this particular outlet, one I had been holding on to for quite some time. (No experation date) This coupon entitles the holder to buy one pair of shoes, and get any second pair of shoes for half of whatever you paid for the first pair. (Or equal or lesser value.)
So I went to the shoe outlet... They said they would sell me the clog for 60 bucks. I said I would take two pairs, and whipped out the coupon. Got the second pair for 30 dollars... Which really irked the manager, but there was nothing he could do. I got that coupon when that outlet opened, first day opening sale, and boy did it pay off.
Saving money is a good thing, and being miserly is not a bad thing, it's a virtue. You just keep saving money DeeBye... Only a fool pays full price.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - jahcs - 10-13-2005
DeeBye and Doc, you folks are lucky. Our stores around here that offer a price guarantee will not allow you to combine the match with any other offer or coupon. It's one or the other.
And smart shopping is not being a miser or a skinflint.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - ShadowHM - 10-13-2005
jahcs,Oct 13 2005, 12:11 PM Wrote:And smart shopping is not being a miser or a skinflint.
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Agreed :)
Of course, since shopping of any kind is at the bottom of our lists of fun things to do, we tend to give Christmas presents that arise from hubby's hobby of making stained glass items. He cannot stop making the stuff, so we end up giving it away for Christmas/birthday/wedding presents, etc. And that does fulfill the miserly side of us - 95% of the store value of such items is in the labour cost of making it, not the cost of the glass, copper and solder.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Taem - 10-14-2005
DeeBye,Oct 9 2005, 09:19 PM Wrote:I wanted to open it up and inspect it further to be sure it works correctly, but my wife saw through my cunning scheme to play with it for myself and said no.
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:lol: So many times when we're out and about in town, or when my wife is doing one of her customary shop-fests, I will unconsciously steer us (the children and myself) towards the Toy Store/Video Game Store section of the mall. I must admit that I enjoy watching my childrenâs enthusiasm towards examining each and every toy and new video game title but truth be told, I also enjoy examining these toys almost as much as they do. And the funny thing is after my wife does her thing and us "kids" have done ours, everyone feels refreshed and generally in a good mood even thou us "kids" almost never get anything â of course unless it's B.day or Xmas time.
Unlike most parents, I let my kids pick out their presents. Iâve always hated getting presents that sucked when I was a child and didn't want to impose that restriction on them during the holidays, so I let them pick their present usually a month and a half before the incident and their anticipation grows. I know surprising them is also fun for some parents, but that's simply not my style - except for that one present "Santa" drops off for each "good" child ;) .
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - ShadowHM - 10-14-2005
MEAT,Oct 14 2005, 08:32 AM Wrote:Unlike most parents, I let my kids pick out their presents. Iâve always hated getting presents that sucked when I was a child and didn't want to impose that restriction on them during the holidays, so I let them pick their present usually a month and a half before the incident and their anticipation grows. I know surprising them is also fun for some parents, but that's simply not my style - except for that one present "Santa" drops off for each "good" child ;) .
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I am glad to know that I am not the only one who does that. I let mine choose what they want (with the caveat that it has to be affordable), but no instant gratification. They have to still want it by the time Christmas arrives. A week or so of pondering the choice they made in the store has often resulted in a change of heart and a change of list. :)
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Minionman - 10-14-2005
ShadowHM,Oct 14 2005, 07:51 AM Wrote:I am glad to know that I am not the only one who does that. I let mine choose what they want (with the caveat that it has to be affordable), but no instant gratification. They have to still want it by the time Christmas arrives. A week or so of pondering the choice they made in the store has often resulted in a change of heart and a change of list. :)
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That's kind of like what my mom does. Me and my brother will give her lists, she gets some things off of them, some new things we didn't expect. The waiting excitement comes from not knowing exactly what happened, but it's also fun to get something off the list that's really good that we were waiting for.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - DeeBye - 12-22-2005
I opened up the giant box and yanked out the battery and charger. It is charging as we speak. It will be ready for my son.
This is gonna be awesome!
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Ashock - 12-22-2005
DeeBye,Dec 22 2005, 01:39 AM Wrote:I opened up the giant box and yanked out the battery and charger. It is charging as we speak. It will be ready for my son..... and for me!
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That's really what you mean, don't you?
-A
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - DeeBye - 12-22-2005
Ashock,Dec 22 2005, 09:53 AM Wrote:That's really what you mean, don't you?
-A
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No.
...YES!
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Doc - 12-22-2005
DeeBye,Dec 22 2005, 11:33 AM Wrote:No.
...YES!
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I nominate DeeBye for father of the year. Or at least cool dad of the year.
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - Jim - 12-22-2005
Hi Happy Holidays,
LIFE, it goes by in a "Blink" !
Enjoy it while it lasts, these days will be the ones you will remember for the rest of your Life :D
This Xmas he is 3 years old..."BLINK"...Xmas time, and he's 21 years old :o
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - jahcs - 12-31-2005
DeeBye,Dec 22 2005, 12:39 AM Wrote:I opened up the giant box and yanked out the battery and charger. It is charging as we speak. It will be ready for my son.
This is gonna be awesome!
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How about an update? Did the present go over well? Did the wife have to tell both of you to put the truck away several times?
Christmas shopping for my son is fun! - DeeBye - 12-31-2005
jahcs,Dec 31 2005, 02:49 AM Wrote:How about an update? Did the present go over well? Did the wife have to tell both of you to put the truck away several times?
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The present went over VERY well. I think that my son was kinda scared of it at first due to the massive hugeness of it. When I plugged in the battery pack and it began making noise he overcame his initial fear. He lunged at it and said "ME LOVE THIS TRUCK THANK YOU SANTA!".
He's not very good at the controls though :( He's a bit too young to be able to manipulate both the forward/reverse and the left/right sticks at the same time, and it really frustrates him. He often hands the controls to me and just tells me where he wants his truck to go, giggling the whole time. He does like pushing the horn button on the remote though.
He gave the truck a kiss and a hug before he went to bed.
I'm pretty sure my wife hates this truck because it is ungodly loud, but she adores the fact that my son really appreciates it.