What are you guys buying for Christmas? I definetely do not want to give gift certificates or cash. Tell us about your creative gifts...
My kids have given me 'certificates' on occasion for several years. They make up fancy little cards with art and sayings like 'this card redeemable for one bike ride without complaints from the rest of us' or 'trade this card for one lawn mowing'. The best ones involve doing something together that they'll treat me to. Time is often more important than money, and I'm lucky my kids know this too.
My wife and I do these for each on occasion. Some of the "coupons" are very "adult oriented". We have so many "things" I don't want more. Favorite music or videos are good. I am "giving" my family a Christmas get together at a Lodge this year. (20 of us). An article of clothing they would like but would never buy for themselves. Only the giver knows what their loved ones would like. I reserve gift certificates for the obligatory relatives who I do not know very well.
My wife and I could probably be considered minimalists. When we get something new, it usually equates to donating/recycling something else. Our clutter factor is pretty low. So when I got Priapus, I realized that it was a very big ticket item - in fact, the largest check written to date. My agreement was that I do not want anything for Christmas/anniversary/birthday for at least three years. On each of those occasions, I will get in the car of my dreams that my wife let me purchase and run some errands. For her, I'm currently considering: * Air purifiier * Anything from Starbucks (per a subtle hint from her) * There's a beauty or spa line called Origins and she wants something called Philosophy * A massage/day spa treatment This is a pretty good thread because someone will come up with a great idea that I didn't think of. Since my wife and your wife will most likely never meet, neither will know that I stole the idea.
I hate to say it, but gift certificates, or straight up cash in envelopes a-la Soprano's... There are exceptions here and there, like if I know someone wants something specific, but for the most part, I don't get too worked up about it. h34r:
Maybe a pair of metal Dance Dance Revolution pads for myself and the missus. We have some very nice hard foam pads now but we're getting good enough that we're pushing the envelope on their performance. We've been using DDR for staying in shape during the last year so it's not too hard for me to justify the expense. Much better excercise choice than a stationary bike, stepper, weights, etc. The competition and fun keeps us interested. B)
For the partner, the Logitech Harmony 880 Remote:880 Remote Hopefully this will remove our remote clutter, and from what we've seen/read of it, it sounds quite promising. We have way too many devices hooked up to our tv. And what I'm asking for: Edition 1 model Soda Fountain By getting a home soda fountain, we hope to achieve a few things - decreased expense for beverages, decreased intake of sugar (and real sugar, instead of the nasty high fructose corn syrup), and hopefully decreased intake of carbonated beverages in general. -m.
My family wants iPod Nanos and one wants his own DVD player. My college daughter and son love getting gift certificates to restaurants and fast food places. Their funds are limited and really appreciate any lightening of the load. They have jobs and are somewhat self supporting at this point. Been thinking about books on tape for my dad with his failing eyesight. The older folks find gift certificates too confusing - they feel they have to keep track of how much is left on them and it's too stressful. I think I'll keep checking this thread for more ideas.
I'm finally getting a RAZR & a 30GB iPod. I've also requested the last few items on my wedding registry... mostly kitchenware & gadgets. I purchased a flatscreen monitor for my husband (Shhh! He doesn't know about it)... a smaller iPod, a nano perhaps, for my brother.... and for my mom, some very functional furniture from my new favorite store, IKEA. Everyone else is getting cookies. LOL
We've got a few teenagers on our list who are pretty tough, gift-wise. My wife bought those Visa Gift Cards last year and they went over extremely well. Kind of beats gift certificates in the sense that the cards can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.
Amongst these lines, can you believe how many parents are going to get JUICED for $400 because of Xbox? I wonder if $400 today is equivalent to $100/$150 in '86 when I pestered the heck out of my parents for a Nintendo. h34r:
Squid, That's $400 IF they're "lucky". Over on ebay they're paying another $100-$200 for the core system.
For my husband (he's too easy), he sent me an email with all the Nightmare Before Christmas collectibles that he doesn't have yet. So I'll be getting him 1 or 2 of those plus a dvd that I know he'll want (Mr and Mrs Smith). For my best girlfriend, I found an online store where I can buy a tin of Serendipity's Frozen Hot Chocolate mix that she loves so much when she visits New York...I'll get that, and a chick flick dvd: Must Love Dogs or something similar that I know she'll like. For my brother, he's a huge country/Cash fan, so I've decided to get him the new Johnny Cash Legend gift pack. Will also be co-gift for his girlfriend, as they're both into Johnny. For my mom, I was planning on getting her a dvd-pack of Into The West, that miniseries that was on television a few months back which we both loved, but I think she loved it more than I did. Or if I can't find it at a reasonable price, then the first season of Lost. For my dad, I'm planning on getting a WWI or WWII dvd-pack that I saw at Costco. He's addicted to those docu films and falls asleep on the couch watching them late at night. For everyone else, I was considering doing either dvd's that have just recently become available, tailored to each person's individual taste (old movies for the g'parents, cartoons for the nieces/nephews, action-packed movies for the younger relatives, etc). Costco has an excellent selection of gift ideas, at pretty decent prices. I'll also be scouring the web over the next week or so to add to my idea list... For myself, I asked for the following for Christmas: Roomba, Harold Lloyd dvd collection, book "The Historian", dvd "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", a compact elliptical machine (~$150...not too pricey), the Beavis & Butthead Mike Judge dvd collection (I know, I know, but I love them!), and any gift certificates for movie theatres, restaurants, or the spa for massages. I really will be happy with anything though...
I just wanted to add that browsing websites like Amazon.com and Overstock.com can really help give you good gift ideas, and good deals can usually be found on both. Overstock's shipping is $2.95 on anything...
donate $/goods to a worthy cause/charity in their name. do good for someone/people who have not. invite your friends along as their xmas gift. make it a combined effort. just an idea... ppl in pakastan still could use help w/ that recent earthquake. and there's katrina stuff still. and there are people homeless in many cities.
My brother just dropped 900 dollars for the new XBOX! He's an f'en moron. And I've had very good luck with Overstock. I bought a couple of things from there and both times I was very happy with the product. The items shipped fast, too. RE Katrina: During my visit home for Thanksgiving I discovered that a good number of families are still living in tents. The lucky ones have FEMA trailers. We're donating christmas gifts to children whose families lost everything after the hurricane.
