Christmas shopping vent & share your vents

Luckystar2

I am getting annoyed with seeing everything cheaper than when I bought! I didn't feel like deals were fantastic on Black Friday but saw some deals cyber Monday, etc.

But I keep seeing better sales. I feel like I may just procrastinate next year! Yesterday 2 sweaters I bought dh were cheaper ($5 each) and a doll I got dd was over $10 cheaper. I saved $20 yesterday rebuying stuff. I hate the games stores play! I know sales change but this is getting ridiculous lately!

The clothes are the most annoying because Old Navy always does this. I bought originally during a higher percentage off sale than yesterday but the starting prices were jacked up. So even though yesterday's percentage off was less they were cheaper.

Any other vents?

egpitt22

My vent is that I wanted to run into ross park mall last Friday around noon to grab a gift card....that's all I needed, I had other errands to run, I figured I'd be in and out with no problems. 

WRONG!  That place was mobbed.  I am not exaggerating when I say I drove around for almost 10 minutes looking for a place to park...any spot at all!  Nothing!  I had to leave.  there were people creating their own spaces up on a curb beside guard rails.  it was crazy!

lala5507

You may get a better deal by waiting, but I always get nervous that they will sell out of something if I wait.  I was going to buy myself a sweater at Loft but I thought maybe I'd wait.  I went online to check it out yesterday and the are completely sold out of every sweater in my size.  I couldn't believe it! 

Luckystar2

egpitt22 said:

My vent is that I wanted to run into ross park mall last Friday around noon to grab a gift card....that's all I needed, I had other errands to run, I figured I'd be in and out with no problems. 

WRONG!  That place was mobbed.  I am not exaggerating when I say I drove around for almost 10 minutes looking for a place to park...any spot at all!  Nothing!  I had to leave.  there were people creating their own spaces up on a curb beside guard rails.  it was crazy!

This is why I do a lot of online shopping!!! It amazes me how crazy stores are! I live 5 mins from a mall and driving near there around this time of year sucks!

AmandaJLewis

I live 5 minutes from a mall too, and try my best to avoid it as much as I can this time of year. It isn't just that the lots are crazy full but people looking for a parking space can be so freaking aggressive about it. 

I also hate the whole "sale" concept.  I would much prefer a single price all the time than a fake inflated price followed up with a series of "sales" and coupons to make people feel like they got a deal. I was very sad that JCP backed away from their fair and square pricing strategy so soon after implementing it.

JNK71083

I'm sorta upset by the fact that I found out the boys are getting more gifts from one relative than they are from Santa!  I feel like that is just a slam on DH and I for feeling like they don't need a crap ton of toys they don't play with half of what they have now.  We will so be enforcing the no toy rule for their birthday's in Feb again this year!

BethieB

egpitt22 said:

My vent is that I wanted to run into ross park mall last Friday around noon to grab a gift card....that's all I needed, I had other errands to run, I figured I'd be in and out with no problems. 

WRONG!  That place was mobbed.  I am not exaggerating when I say I drove around for almost 10 minutes looking for a place to park...any spot at all!  Nothing!  I had to leave.  there were people creating their own spaces up on a curb beside guard rails.  it was crazy!

This scares me. I need to run to Ross Park on Friday afternoon to return something to Nordstroms. I typically avoid the malls like the plague around the holidays, but figured it can't be too bad to just return something right? Rethinking this now!

egpitt22

Beth-maybe you'd have better luck waiting until 2 or so on Friday?  I'm wondering if a lot of the people there were either going to eat there for lunch, or running to a store on their lunch break since it was right at noon.  Good luck!!

AmandaJLewis

JNK71083 said:

I'm sorta upset by the fact that I found out the boys are getting more gifts from one relative than they are from Santa!  I feel like that is just a slam on DH and I for feeling like they don't need a crap ton of toys they don't play with half of what they have now.  We will so be enforcing the no toy rule for their birthday's in Feb again this year!

Yea I totally understand this! Who needs santa when you have grandma?  This year it was the trips out shopping multiple times before her birthday and christmas which brought a stack of books and a new toy into the house every other week that was driving me crazy.  Not that I mind getting books. But a trip to the library is really prefered. We only have so much room to store childrens books she may want to read twice.

kris356

Ross Park was not that bad at all last night. I met my sister's around 6 and got a spot close to the door at Nordstrom. I think that the daytime is way worse than evenings.

I really don't have any issues except with the Gap and their horrid order processing this month. So bad, even if it is Christmas.

MaryM

JNK71083 said:

I'm sorta upset by the fact that I found out the boys are getting more gifts from one relative than they are from Santa!  I feel like that is just a slam on DH and I for feeling like they don't need a crap ton of toys they don't play with half of what they have now.  We will so be enforcing the no toy rule for their birthday's in Feb again this year!

I agree with this! My DHs sister does this. Last year she bought my 5 yr old an American girl doll (customized) and a ton of other stuff for it. This year both my kids are getting tablets from their grandma! All we get for them is a few small items and it totally irritates me that everyone has to go overboard! Not only that but I have to be the one to go online this year and bid and buy on eBay for the damn AG item my kid now wants for Xmas, as its sold out in the stores/catalog. (Side note: people on eBay really jack up prices- and I had to pay double the manufacturer price. That is snother rant all together). The point is, I wish they would realize the implications of such extravagance...It opens some doors that I don't want to open. Like the tablets: is gram gonna be the one who has to set the parameters on that? No. Instead I will be the mean mom and they are saints for buying them. It sucks. Thanks for reading.

Luckystar2

I hear ya on other people and gifts. Dd is the only grandchild on both sides and both sets of grandparents are out of town. And on dh's side he was 1 of 4 boys with no sisters so dd being a girl only makes it worse.

I try to be ok with it because I know everyone likes to buy gifts but the gift overload is crazy at times!!! We went down to the in laws for thanksgiving and mil bought dd multiple gifts...Christmas is just around the corner!

Mil at least asks us some and asks for ideas on what to get. My mom goes rogue all the time. I had to put my foot down early on. I remember dd's first Christmas. The "big" gift from Santa was an activity table. I wanted a very specific one that was hard to find and I ordered on amazon. And my mom bought an activity table too. Wouldn't tell me what she was buying like it was a surprise for me. Hello! Can't we coordinate?!? My kid doesn't need 2 of the same thing. And mine was expensive to ship back to return so I didn't. Not to mention she got my parents gift first. Not that it mattered much her first Christmas. But I told her I didn't want this happening when dd was older!

JNK71083

I can't even figure out what half of the toys out there are I got educated by my 4 year old nephew on what Imaginext is.  Makes me feel dumb. 

northhillsbride

I told my Mom one year that I would rather them put the $ from toys into an account for the boys and my Mom was actually relieved. She said that, with my older nephew and niece, she felt she was throwing $ away bc toys only last so long. So, my parents has the boys' SS#, has accounts for them, which I know nothing about, and spends about $35 on ea kid in toys.

As for the going out of your way to buy things on eBay or spending more $ on something for the kid - I wouldn't do it. I love my boys, but I can't keep up with the Joneses and the boys have to learn that they can't always get what they want. I would rather wait until after Christmas and get them what they wanted, if it's something you really want to do. Last year, Gavin was asking for a DS but it just wasn't in our budget. "But every kids has one." Yadda yadda. We ended up getting him one in July, since we were moving and had a long car trip in front of us and he had had a good school year.

I also wouldn't give two cents if a relative gives my kids more than I do. The child, at a young age, is not going to remember this in the long run. If it truly bothers you, you set the limit with the relative. And tell them if they don't follow it, you're donating the new toy to a charity.

sarahandtim

I haven't been able to get Logan our normal brand of diapers since November. We use toys r us supremes and apparently "because of the amazing sales" people just keep buying them. I don't care what I'm paying, just bring back the darn diapers! Or overstock them or something! I ended up buying 2 little packs to get him through.

Oh, and at 10 a.m. on Tuesday I could barely find a spot at TRU, so there's that.

4EvR&4AlWz

I hear you on the relatives buying gifts.  We try to buy the gifts and let grandparents pick if there's anything they want to buy.  We have a strict rule that I must know what's in the box before the kids can open it (aunts, grandparents, etc) because I don't want someone buying something that Santa is bringing.

This year, for my nephews, we are giving them a night at Kalahari.  I am paying for a big 3 room suite for my sister's family and my sister in law's family.  That's their gift.  I'm tired of throwing away $$ on next summer's yard sale.

Oh, and I hate the multiple prices.  Disney Store and their 25% off last week...well, I rebought everything and with free shipping, they're the ones losing out on it because I'm returning everything (that was still in stock that I could buy) that I bought on Black Friday because I got it cheaper last week.

Luckystar2

An update to my vent. I had reordered a couple sweaters on ON for dh since they were cheaper. I ordered some more things for him because they are good prices and make sure I hit free shipping.

ON had a 25% off code and free shipping. At first it didnt go through so I closed the window and did it again and everything processed and gave me a correct total.

I looked at the confirmation stuff today and nothing went through! It was $23 more expensive plus $7 for shipping. Ugh!! I called and supposedly they will credit me but still annoying to have to wait on hold and now will have to make sure I actually get the credit.

And hopefully I actually get it by the 24th. It was guaranteed, but their shipping has been so slow!!! I'm still waiting on part of my order from the 2nd!!!

northhillsbride

I ordered ND gear for DH back around Thanksgiving from Fanatics.com. It all came on time - I went to wrap it all on Wednesday and they sent a Tennis shirt instead of Hockey.

No offense to ND Tennis, but that's not what I wanted. And the shipping slip stated it was a Hockey shirt. The company slip says they charge $5.50 for returns - they'd better not on this one! I tried calling before I sent it back, but was on hold for over 30 minutes so I gave up and figured I would just watch my credit card.

I get mistakes happen, but ... sigh.