December 19, 2011
I’m still working on this deceptively short but ridiculously time-consuming list of things to do to save money for the household. And I’ve added several items. Lists make life seem more manageable. Until you have lists of lists, at which point the system starts to break down.
1. Benefits seemed easy but it’s spawned more paperwork for life insurance purposes. I say thee, tomorrow. I shall complete the last bits tomorrow. Or at least make the next sets of phone calls to finish the last bits tomorrow.
2. Auto and property insurance research was utterly demoralizing. ie: took hours and was still nigh-on impossible to nail down a good comparison.
3. The mortgage stuff we’re getting a start on but we’re not at the point of dealing with the actual refi.
4. I’ve been madly dashing around at work trying to get everything to the right point for the upcoming new year and battling madly but quietly for my next step.
So ….
Check! I have finally wrapped five gifts purchased earlier in the year. But we’re still down at least five gifts. Yeeks!
Check! PiC blew our gift budget on ME. It wasn’t the classic (stupid) car commercial but it was a big gift I wasn’t expecting.
_____ And has been mum on the subject of his family’s gifts so they really may be getting socks. [see, blew our budget]
_____ We’re traveling a little for the holidays and then hosting a full house for a few days so we’re double whammy on the stress of preparations.
_____ I still haven’t planned anything for our anniversary. He wanted to do something special for our 1-year engagement anniversary.
_____ And I’m working on Holiday Gifts for the Office.
Check! Mission: Find Non-denominational Seasonal Cards was accomplished, though! I triumphed in the face of great mobs and traffic. *shudder* I had forgotten the state of any mall and parking lot in the end of December, since all the shopping’s been online lately.
That’s not terrible, eh? How’s everyone else doing out there?
January 1, 2010
I’m weak. I swore that I’d stay within budget this year, and wouldn’t buy any supplemental gifts. Usually I’m great on that score — I don’t allow myself to feel guilty about “underbuying” if I’ve been surprised with a gift.
But this year’s a bit different than the usual. This is our first Christmas without Mr. S, and his son’s heart is sore. I had to do something, anything, to help. How about …. a cosmic entity of Doom? For those unfamiliar with the Cthulhu mythos, I’d say this little guy is a handcrafted knit godlet of Doom, Cthulhu’s cuter, younger cousin. Thanks to Mrs. Micah!
And then we went to the “Premium” Outlets I tend to avoid because outlets really aren’t that much of a deal. Then I saw a vest like this one at Gymboree:
Baby clothes are irresistably cute. It was marked down substantially, though (60%), to all of $8.25 after tax.
I almost spent $30 on these shoes so my nephew and I could match, but settled for taking pictures:
And because one cannot show up with gifts for the wife and the child, but nothing for the husband, Harry & David got my business for their aromatic chocolate covered espresso beans.
I think I’ll be happy that I only went ten dollars over budget instead of being upset that I went over at all — the gifts weren’t overly pricey and they are pretty perfect for the giftees. If I do say so myself.
🙂
How did everyone do this year? Over, under, on budget?
December 18, 2009
Is it cheating if I should get two more gifts, and can’t think of good ones? I think the answer to that is “yes.” But I’m pretending that it’s not right now to conform to my rules below.
Edit: We’re in the clear — I happened across a great Groupon deal, and though it meant that I had to ASK them if they’d be interested in the event, bought them rock climbing packages.
My official list was shorter than ever this year. I’m not going to reveal the gift recipients, but thus far I’ve stayed within my guesstimated budget from the November Snapshot of $150-200.
- 1 tauntaun sleeping bag from ThinkGeek.com — $116.98
Holy mackeral shipping was expensive! Ground shipping cost $26.99! But at least I know that’ll be delivered in time. And it’ll be totally worth it — half the fun of this gift is the surprise, the other half is that it’s been a running joke, one way or another, for years.
- 2 t-shirts from Threadless.com — $
28.99 22.99
When the prices dropped again, I canceled the first order and submitted another one. They still arrived in time to be wrapped and sent back out.
This is the most I’ve ever spent on shipping for a gifting season, but I’m also ordering from non-standard stores. I missed out on the Threadless tees I really wanted (Polar Farming or Cheesy Friends), but the two that I did find were funny enough and fit the personalities of the recipients.
Lastly ….
- 2 of the following: 1 hr lesson, full day of climbing and all equipment rental: $30
Total spent: $169
Over the years, I’ve developed the following gifting rules:
A) Gift must be something the recipient would love and not think to get for him or herself
B) Gift must be a reasonable price
C) Gift must be something the recipient could actually use: no knickknacks or future clutter
D) Always use coupons, sales or any possible combination thereof
E) Creativity trumps all
F) No obligation buying! No throwaway gifts for people I felt I should have bought for if they don’t also conform to the rules above. Scratch E, thoughtfulness trumps all. If I don’t know them well enough to find something they will love and use, then I shouldn’t get them a gift.
How are y’all doing with the gifting season?
September 2, 2008
This weekend, I tried every which way to put together an outfit appropriate for making an excellent first impression in a business-casual encounter. Not for quite a formal Interview, call it a prelude to an interview sort of dealie. I wanted to establish a (preferably black) trouser, crisp button down shirt and belt combination as a go-to staple in my wardrobe.
Unfortunately, my attempts to look sharper at work on a daily basis have reduced my best black pants to second-best. They’re still nice, but they’ve lost that sharp, crisp look that gives off *professional* so well. Alas, they’re a bit worn. That’s what happen, y’understand, when you actually wear things on a regular basis and possibly also when you’re most frequently shopping bargain bin. At my size, bargain bin and quality don’t always go hand in hand.
In my frustration, I groused to a dude friend about the pants I didn’t think would be tailored quickly enough, and he convinced me to go shopping.
Macys, I decided. Macys would have a grand Labor Day Sale and I was armed with a coupon and gift card. To Macys!
To Macys we went, and seven pairs of trousers later, my attention span somewhere between my heel and the tiger bandaid on my foot to fend off a threatening blister, I was about to give up. I had, for once, been smart enough to wear heels of the approximately appropriate height that would normally be worn with the pants. Smart, I say! Except my feet were tired within twenty minutes and being somewhat less of a shopping maven as, say, my dude friend, I was ready to give up. He refused to hear anything of it, “we haven’t even gotten started!” and chivvied my lazy bum out to the next stores.
Le sigh.
It was a good job he did though because we hit the jackpot at Ann Taylor Loft. I only had a $30 gift card there, but I found three pairs of pants, all 00P, and promptly sent him to scour the sales racks while I found the dressing room. Had not yet gotten my hopes up since the price tag I saw was $79, when I tried on the first pair and my jaw dropped. They FIT. Perfectly. Seriously, they fit absolutely perfectly. Waist, length, tush, rise, everything. The only possible objection was that the fabric looked like a softer, heavier cottony material, instead of that more coarse, crisp polyester blend that’s commonly accepted as the more professional look. It also buttoned across the front, so it didn’t have belt loops. The next pair was the preferred material, and just about a perfect fit as well. It turned out they were the $79 pair, though, and for more than eighty dollars after tax, I’d like to see some lining in the pants. The first pair were *only* $60, machine washable, ever so comfortable and once again: fit perfectly.
I bought them immediately. So, chalk one up as a win for the wardrobe, and a $30 hit to the pocketbook. Overall? No blister = a good day.
Caveat: I would normally never advocate the immediate, impulse purchase of a nonsale item, but … it happens. And it happens more often because the good quality 00P sizes don’t occur very frequently in nature. This is an unfortunate, incontrovertible fact. I promise to take very good care of them.
P.S. I suck. There was a printable 20% coupon online valid this weekend. Drat. Should have checked before I left.
November 13, 2007
DSW: Buy a $50 gift card and receive a $10 bonus card. The bonus card is only good between January 14-February 3rd, though.
Borders: Has a 40% off the list price of any single disc CD (limit 3).
AMEX: If you have an American Express Business card lying around, you could order gift cards fee-free between Nov. 1, 2007—Dec. 31, 2007 using Promotional Code OPENGC07. You do have to use the AMEX to pay for the cards, but the purchase fee is one reason I’ve never liked to give AMEX gift cards.
