How do I stop buying 'bargain' presents for DCs?

[cowssheephens]

Haven't bought anything yet but once I start I just can't stop!!

Ever year I say that I'm cutting down only to spend and buy more. It's a norm now for them to have 30-40 gifts each under the tree.

As a lot of them ar bargain price I feel it doesn't count and then don't bother sticking to the budget.

I have normally started to buy by now, I'm thinking if I leave it until October, I will have less time/funds to buy. Good idea?

Anyone else like this? Any advice?

They do need a new bike each, so that will be their main present. I never spend the same amount on them as DD has SEN and her bike will cost £££

You still haven't said how much you spend overall OP, there's a difference between 40 presents with a total value of say £100 and 40 presents with a total value of £1000.

My children have their birthday a month after Christmas so we try not to be excessive on either occasion.

We have a spreadsheet and the children are asked in November to list what they would like for Christmas and Birthdays. It goes on the spreadsheet with prices and I sort it to roughly equal value and divide it into sub lists for grandparents, aunts, godparents etc. for both birthday and Christmas.

Each child usually has about 5 parcels on their birthday from us and perhaps 10 at Christmas. A number of the Christmas parcels will be small things like Chocolate coins, hair clips, a book or DVD.

I actively don't want my children to think that Christmas is about presents.

I do this, and it was really crazy last year.. Much as I love buying them presents and seeing their faces on Christmas morning I just don't have enough space to put everything!

Of course if your DC are getting new bikes, OP, they will need new accessories to go with them, helmet, handlebar bag, bell, attachable water bottle etc.

I think one of the problems is that internet shopping is too easy and convenient, you can do it any time, don't need to ensure that the DC aren't with you at the shops and won't see what you've bought. No struggle to get purchases home. The items mount up without you really noticing, unless you keep a list or spreadsheet up to date.

I do appreciate that shopping with a child who has SEN and hates crowds is difficult and that is why you shop online.

I do lists upon lists but just keep adding to them.

I do think my biggest problem is starting too early and then I just keep on buying.

math attention and time together my parents did by the bucket loads. I was very fortunate to have a lovely childhood. only yesterday I was telling DF I couldn't have had a better Dad

How much I spend overall can vary...DDs bike will cost about 2k, waiting for an assessment before knowing the exact price. I do spend a good amount each on them every Christmas, definitely more than £100 but only once spent over 1k and that was when DD needed her last bike.

I am lucky with the DCs, they don't expect grand or a lot of presents. Back in June DD had told a very important school visitor four times that "Christmas is about Jesus not presents!!" This was after she had asked the woman about her pandora bracelet and she had said that x bought her this charm for Christmas, y had bought her this charm etc.

Xpost girly I didnt take that long to write the post postman called and we have plenty of spare eggs at the moment so went to collect them for him.

DDs accessories are just being transferred over to the new bike. She wants it exactly like her old bike but bigger so that's easy, but will need a new helmet. DS will need new stuff as he's outgrown fireman Sam.

The thing is DD actually likes shopping when there's nobody there! I wish I could close down the nearest shopping mall that's 80 miles away for 2 hours. struggles with crowds, no sense of danger and will just walk away if I don't hold her hand. She's amazing though.

I think I need to join this thread op. I've not even posted on the bargain thread but I've already purchased toys as a result! I love the excitement of Christmas, but it was quite present focused as a child. Dp had the opposite experience, still celebrated but no mountains of presents. Perhaps it would be an idea to plan other festive activities to do with dc, such as making Christmas decorations or planning food. Then we'll still get that Christmas hit, without the overspending and acquisition of more stuff.

Once you start will you be able to stop? I've lurked but haven't bought anything for the DCs yet. I have started to buy for parents, cousins etc.

Planing festive activities has already started. Father Christmas is booked, theatre is booked but will need to start planning home activities too. Any ideas? Will note mine.

Baking Christmas cookies,
Ginger bread house,
Late night shopping to see the lights and buy a Christmas decoration each,
Picking and cutting down the Christmas tree? Or might buy artificial...
Normally do a cinema trip but depends what on,
Visit to see our local-ish deer

I went overboard one year and put it down to starting too early then getting caught up in the buzz of it all. I hold off now until mid Nov and get far less.

code I do think that's my biggest problem, going to try my best to not buy anything for DC before October.

When my DC were little (they'll be 16 and 13.6 at Christmas) we put the little gifts in their Christmas Stockings (wrapped to keep them busy when they wake at 5am and try to open them quietly)

Then under the tree, a Big Box Present , and 3-4 smaller ones (then they had the family presents)

Older DC, the presents get smaller and fewer but but ££. (Earrings, make-up,clothes,gift voucher for DD. Microsoft points, money, Young Driver Lessons, X-Box Games for DS) . Costs ££ but the pile looks teeny.
And DS has a December birthday .

More difficult to find small stocking gifts that are under £5 (my upper limit for stocking gifts) that are fun and useful.

Lots of bargains. I want to be more organised this year so I am making a list of present ideas, then will look for bargains. On my list at the moment is- Barbie house, toy shop, toy castle (dungeons/dragons type. Not pink princess),pirate ship, iPad mini or decent tablet with camera for making animations, if anybody sees any of these please can you share?

We used to make paperchains from strips of wrapping paper. Foil types are good, just secure the loops with sticky tape. It doesn't have to be expensive paper. If you want extra bling you can glue on sequins too. We also used to cut out 'snowflakes' from white paper and stick them to the windows. Making decorations is a handy activity for bad weather days.

cowssheephens wow you already have lots planned for the festive season. I don't have a thing planned, but as you do perhaps we need to think of other ways to resist the bargains.

Where do you find out about them? Do you shop online or instore? If instore do you specifically go shopping for the bargain or just pick them up when you see them?

I went overboard the first time I joined the xmas thread and I literally had enough gifts for xmas, and birthdays next year and the following xmas. What helped me to never do it again is to put the price column and a reduction column in my spreadsheet. You get a thrill seeing how much you saved vs how much you paid but eventually, you think hoooooly Xmas wreaths, I've spent HOW much?

Also, I found I love spending in Jan sales stocking up for next Xmas and buying too much stuff throughout the year sort of dilutes that.

I do still keep a lookout for new items someone ebays, as prices skyrocket after September to near retail level or more.

I'm exactly the same, and the reason is always because I start early, usually because if I didn't we wouldn't be able to afford all the gifts. Solution would be not to start early and only buy what we can afford.

Usually I start in June, although I've made a conscious effort this year not to buy, so far I have 2 umberellas for dd's, a shoulder bag, catapult pencils, make your own lip balm, a card game, 2 scratch art things, American sweets and some of the 4 for £10 books Amazon had on offer recently. Plus a few other bit's that I've already forgotten about????.

I'm terrible for impulse buying 'bargains' which are only really bargains if you need them, my children usually end up with a whole sack of stuff they haven't shown an interest in, just because it was cheap in Home Bargains or Amazon.

My kids love the rubbish stocking fillers, it's their favourite part of Christmas so I always try and make a big effort with them, although it get's harder to find surprises. Although to be honest they just love Christmas and would be grateful for whatever they were given. It's me that has the problem.

I keep trying to remind myself that the toys ds enjoys and plays with now, aren't going to suddenly disappear on Christmas Eve. I try to keep in mind that the toys I'm buying him for Christmas are in addition to the ones he already has. Helps me stay focused and not get carried away.

I personally don't like getting rid of toys that he still enjoys just to make room for new ones.

I also try and think of the resale value of a toy if it doesn't get much use. I have never actually sold any of his toys on before, and may not sell any in future. However if I imagine myself getting very little money back through selling it on Ebay, I find that it stops me being too frivolous / silly. I know deep down I probably wouldn't Ebay things off, it just stops me overspending.

Whenever you feel the urge to buy something put that amount of money in a pot instead. See how much it adds up to - in September, October, November. Get them a Christmas present by all means - you've already decided on a bike - but see how much you can save instead of how many presents you can accumulate. With a bit of luck you'll get as addicted to and get as much pleasure from seeing the money pile up bit by bit. I did this a couple of years ago and put enough in my pot to buy a new piano.

We dont buy anything for our DD's now on the run up to christmas as if they want something they ask Santa for it.

So DD1 wants disney infinity 3.0 and an ipad and lego

DD2 wants playmobil, a bike and my little pony

Well it's nearly September and I haven't bought anything for the DCs yet. Had a quote through for DDs bike and I won't be able to overspend this year tbh. I have made them a list of things they need and want and will try to stick to it. Will wait until October before I buy anything.

It's online I buy, it's just so easy to spend.

I need to keep this thread going as I feel myself being sucked into the Christmas bargain thread! We started writing down absolutely everything we spend last November and set budgets, but because I started buying earlier than that, I have no idea if we overspent on Christmas (but I am pretty certain we did). I need to go through each months spreadsheet and add up my total spend so far for Christmas this year as I think that will help keep me in check. I've only bought for dd so far and have parents, siblings, dp and cousins left to buy for!

Last year I bought so much I has no ideas left to give dps parents when they asked what dd wanted. It's hard when you see such good "bargains", especially online as you said op. I'm thinking I will change my focus to decluttering for Christmas and getting a cleaning routine started so it's not all a big stress in December and we might actually have space for incoming gifts. Also booking things for Christmas, planning activities and figuring out where to go for Christmas day.

Try not to buy something just because it's a bargain. I'm awful at this! Reading the 'Bargain thread' is not recommended but I become addicted. Last year I just kept buying and ended up with ridiculous stuff (a lot was books, games and useful things) but there was just far too much. I'm really, really determined this year is going to be different.

I agree with the poster upthread who says buying on the internet makes it far too easy.

I sometimes despair at the thought that I have (and do) spend far too much time and effort researching presents for my kids, buying them etc than I actually do PLAYING with them (the kids that is). It's such a sobering thought that it has kept me in check so far (and hopefully will continue to do so!!!).

On an aside, the bargains I have bought so far include books, underwear, craft kits and those beautiful Cinderella fancy dresses from Sainsbury's. We are also spending Christmas with a family member whose child gets a much smaller stocking than mine have. Another good reason to keep things under control.

Re family members - I ask them to contribute to big presents e.g. bike, doll's house etc.

I would LOVE to be able to advise, but I just can't help twitching and every single year, without fail, I end up buying things I hadn't planned. I currently largely do this for two reasons: They are a bargain, or I just want to buy something off the cuff because it's nice and most of my sons presents are bought online (due to his tastes, largely), so buying something I've physically seen, without searching, is a lovely feeling - it's the thing I really miss from when he was little, traipsing round Woolworths, Toys'rus etc and just seeing things.

The other issue for me is I just love buying presents, it makes me happy and I can't help myself. I have curbed it a bit over the years, about 13 years ago I remember there were 60 presents under the tree, all for ds and all from me . That has lessened as he's got older and presents get bigger more expensive yet smaller and he doesn't need a shed load of plastic toys!!!

So, it will probably get easier as yours age.

I guess my advice would be to do as much shopping as you can in physical shops, so you get more pleasure from it (opening a box from Amazon just isn't the same, is it?).

Then if you get the urge, and love the buying for people, like I do, if you don't want to go mad with presents for the kids, go present shopping for charities, childrens homes etc do the shoe box appeal and things like that. I know people mock, moan about and are downright rude to people who can't stop buying presents, tell us we're spoiling our kids etc etc but it's part of Christmas spirit -giving to others, so may aswell make the most of that positive thing and put a smile on the faces of those in need or with less, right?

Ok, I'm nearly done and within budget...but I'm twitching, already twitched twice yesterday! The problem is I really love Christmas, anything to do with it makes me happy.

I've decorated a box and filling it weekly with groceries to take down to the food bank via Chapel. Also bought toys for a local charity.

Just waiting to buy a chess board for DS and then everything bought.

I've packed nearly all of DC gifts, just waiting for another two in the post and then will pack them ASAP. I don't really like packing so hoping it will put me off buying anything else.

Anybody else struggling with the twitch ATM?

Yes. So bad. I'm finished DS. He had a nice amount then I decided he needed a rollercoaster thing which is a huge extra. It's not even December!!! Did restrain myself from some toot toot stuff on lightening deals tonight though

So glad it's not just me fuel the rollercoaster sounds fab though..please DONT link! Lol.

I'm going to try and not buy any gifts for the DCs during November. If I stick to that then I might be ok.