CARLA wrote: Uggh I hate the Christmas count down.. :-5 Just make me even more aware of the fact I will be broke again in 4 months...
Thats why I start now!
Quite a few years ago I used to buy it all on Christmas Eve. But one year I found all the good stuff AND the cheap stuff was gone, and only expensive rubbish was left! I spent a fortune on stuff and NOBODY liked their presents! And Boy, did they complain!
Since then I've spread it out and it works much better. I love buying on Ebay! Some people (who don't use Ebay) think it is all second hand junk, but a huge amount of stuff is actually brand new! I like to buy from the USA Ebay site because you can get stuff that just isn't available in the UK.
For instance, my daughter loves the Powerpuff Girls. On UK Ebay I can buy magazines and odds and ends, but the USA Ebay has HUGE cushions in the shape of each powerpuff girl, so I bought her all 3 for last Xmas.
This year she fell in love with a Tinkerbell bedding set. Isn't it gorgeous?
But its very rare and costs nearly $200, which is ridiculous! It's also for a Queen size bed, so waaay too big for her bed!
However, I found a lady selling the fleece with this pattern for only about $10 and another lady sold the matching pillowcases for $5! This will suit her much better and I know she'll be thrilled when she receives them!
I also bought her this adorable little polar bear rug for her room.
It was only £4 to buy and £3 postage, which is much cheaper than you'd buy it for in a shop! And its really cute and cuddly!
Next week I'm going to strip my son's walls and paint him an underwater scene. He's mad about Spongebob and so hubby (the artist) is going to paint spongebob and patrick on them. I've got some small wooden boats and a tiny treasure chest that I'm going to hot glue to the wall and a wooden fish mobile to hang. I've also got a treasure map which I'm going to stain with tea and hot glue to the bottom of the wall (the sea bed!)
I bought him a gorgeous book called 'Pirateology' for Christmas and from USA Ebay he's got a spongebob fleece and a spongebob rug!
Sorry to rabbit on so much, but I really find that if you buy stuff as you go along, you can REALLY buy all the stuff they want AND not be stoney broke come Christmas! Then you can buy lots of scrummy food and drink and something nice for yourselves because its not all gone on the kids and those distant rellies that you only see at Christmas!
Whew! Rabbit over! hehehe
