how are you guys affording xmas presents this year?

[bk4sky]

hi. i was just wondering how everyone id doing with xmas shopping? so far it hasnt been that bad for me. in the past i would wait until dec 23rd and then go and charge it all and think...oh ill pay this back later! now i have started a few weeks ago and ive found some great sales already. my BF likes alot of brandname clothes, and every year we always get each other alot of things, well i was able to find some excellent deals at macys on some of his fave brands, and then i got some of his stuff on overstock.com for half the price it usually is! everytime i get paid i been picking him up 1 thing and i already have him done. its all the stuff hes going to like but i got it for so much cheaper, but thats my secret! maybe if i would have been doing this all along i wouldnt have to be filing BK, so im really starting to learn alot about managing money and living without credit cards, and its actually not as bad as i thought it would be.
then i figured what the hell....i called my BK atty and asked if i can skip my december payment on my BK and he was fine with it! so xmas is not going to be bad afterall. you guys should check out that overstock.com, they have some awesome deals and shipping is free....any other things you guys are doing so you can bargain shop for xmas this year?

[Flamingo]

What a lot of folks are doing this year is telling each other not to buy each other presents (adults). I have been approached by a few family/friends already who are not doing bad but feeling the economy like everyone else. They have asked us not to get them anything this year and we told them the same. What I did when I was in Chapter 13 was bake cookies or breads to take into folks at work as a general gift left in the kitchen. For family we did two things. We saved our extra change in our pockets/wallet every day and tossed it into a large jar which we did not touch. At the end of almost a year you'd be surprised what accumulates. We used that for presents for our children/grandchildren. Also, if you get paid bi-weekly and budget out bills, you have two extra paydays a year and we used one of those extra payday sums to either save the funds or utilize for other needed purposes. Good budgeting and some tricks up your sleeve can pay off for Christmas, birthdays, unexpected weddings, etc.

Note - family/friends should NOT expect any presents from you if you are in BK or planning to file BK. I would ignore adults and focus on children only.

[parsoc48]

We generally just buy for grandkids but may do a family gift (there are only 2)..like Blockbuster gift cards, they all like movies. We also do Steal a Gift, which gets the adults involved and the $$$ limit is kept reasonable. We have 3 birthdays around this time but we usually keep those pretty simple too. I hate getting all the catalogues, I try to get them to the trash before DH sees them!

[bk4sky]

luckily i have a small family, basically just my mom, dad and BF....BF has a huge family who always buys for me, so i think what we are going to do this year is me and BF are going to go half and get them each a 20 mall cert....something small but a little bit for everyone. the only people who know im filing is my mom and BF.

the baking cookies is a great idea i might actually use that! and with the economy im sure lots of other people not even in a BK are going to be cutting down this year!

[chloe0724]

We drew names in my family so that way you only have to buy one gift. We also put a dollar limit on it, so it's fair.

[HRx]

Just resorting to the good old IOU method this year...

[Flowers]

I think with the economy the way it is, most folks are cutting back anyway.
So I am kind of telling ahead of time I am doing that. I also have a small part-time job which should fund the upcoming holiday.

Also, don't forget to do something for charity, even if it is only some change for the salvation army kettle.

[Chrisi18]

No presents this year, just celebrating and spending time with the family!

[anime-chicka]

No birthday/Christmas presents for now - we have several December birthdays - they'll be taken care of when things settle down. Which is not at all unusual, as people in both our families have been known to send Father's Day cards in the middle of November.

[jennordhavn]

We're drawing names this year for both sides of the family and our annual "Progressive" so I only have to buy 3 gifts (plus 3 from my husband and 1 from my DD). Then a few small things for my kids, but they get a ton of stuff from family, so mainly just stocking stuffers. I had a gift card so I got a few things already for stockings. If I get a bonus, which is unlikely this year, I will get my husband something small too.

[relief13035]

In our extended family we only buy for the young kids (2 nieces & 2 nephews). All the rest of us play the white elephant game. It's a riot. Everyone finds the weirdest gift they can (either from around the house, garage sale or 99cent store). Then you wrap it up as pretty as you can. Then you draw numbers and pick a gift or you can steal somebody elses. OMG - we laugh so hard I almost wet my pants!

[BigJohn]

I buy for the wife, maybe a few friends, and maybe buy a new bone for the dog.

We probably will not have any lights or a chrstmans tree.

At least on Christmas day I will get to sleep in.

[hopeforus]

Thankfully we have never made a huge deal of gifts on Christmas ... we don't do Santa with our children so I guess that has helped. I sew... so I usually make American Girl doll clothes w/ matching outfits for my daughter, bean bags... etc. If I didnt sew I'm not sure what I would do! We make their birthdays more about the gifts though than Christmas.

[Over our heads]

I am hand making/baking family gifts this year. Too many of us to buy for. We are praying that DH gets a xmas bonus this year, his line of work in this area is actually doing fairly well, but it is a multi-state company so who knows.

I have been watching the store sales on baking ingredients like mad. I should be able to open my own store soon lol!

[epiphany]

hi. i was just wondering how everyone id doing with xmas shopping? so far it hasnt been that bad for me. in the past i would wait until dec 23rd and then go and charge it all and think...oh ill pay this back later! now i have started a few weeks ago and ive found some great sales already. my BF likes alot of brandname clothes, and every year we always get each other alot of things, well i was able to find some excellent deals at macys on some of his fave brands, and then i got some of his stuff on overstock.com for half the price it usually is! everytime i get paid i been picking him up 1 thing and i already have him done. its all the stuff hes going to like but i got it for so much cheaper, but thats my secret! maybe if i would have been doing this all along i wouldnt have to be filing BK, so im really starting to learn alot about managing money and living without credit cards, and its actually not as bad as i thought it would be.
then i figured what the hell....i called my BK atty and asked if i can skip my december payment on my BK and he was fine with it! so xmas is not going to be bad afterall. you guys should check out that overstock.com, they have some awesome deals and shipping is free....any other things you guys are doing so you can bargain shop for xmas this year?

We have to buy presents???

Seriously, what BK payment are you skipping? The payment to your attorney? Your chapter 13 payment, what?

I hate to be Scrooge, but I don't think either is such a good idea.

I am glad you are making progress but you really aren't where you need to be if you have already deferred necessary expenses (your bk payment) in order to buy luxuries. I was in the middle of my mess last year during Xmas and I sooooooo feel your pain but I also know that Xmas is just as wonderful without the material things. There will be more sales. With this ecomomy, the sales will probably continue into next summer.

And I know this isn't an answer to the question you were asking but I seriously just want the best for you and am sad that you spent money you need for your BK.

ep