A Christmas shopping tip for cash strapped parents

 
Call a family meeting. Explain to the children what is happening in
the economy and with your budget. Tell everyone the family will have a
bountiful Christmas but with one big difference: Christmas day will be
delayed until January 25th! Why? To allow gift shopping at deeply
discounted prices! Proceed as follows:

Right now, dispel the "Santa Claus" myth and tell your children the
real truth. If it is your religious persuasion, explain the TRUE
reason for the season. Lay the gift budget out on the table for the
kids. Explain how "less can become more" with after Christmas
discounts.

On December 26th, buy the family Christmas tree and ornaments at a
discount. Or, pick up a tree from the side of the road on trash day
for free. Start your Christmas shopping for gifts and stocking
stuffers. After the New Year, take advantage of inventory reduction
and tax sales.

Celebrate the twelve days of Christmas from January 14th until the
25th. Enjoy the season and the savings one month later than most!

  On Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:09:26 -0800 (PST), in misc.consumers.frugal-living


LOL.. just do your Chrismas shopping for the next year the day after Christmas
and hold on to the stuff for a year.

 On Nov 26, 1:43 pm, nos...@nospam.com wrote:

Nah, by then all the crap you bought won't be trendy and cool. Just
quit buying the stuff altogether.

 Quality_is_job_one wrote:

Well, you've totally stolen my idea, except my thought was to just
wait a week or two.  Then you're still in the Christmas frame of mind
somewhat, and the kids (if any) don't have to wait as long.  (Kids can
be a tad bit impatient, especially when it comes to Christmas gifts!)
The after-Christmas sales only last a few days anyway, so if you are
organized, you can get all your shopping done in maybe a week.

I've actually (jokingly) suggested this to my family already, but nobody
seemed to go for the idea.  I guess we're all fairly traditional when
it comes to Christmas.

   - Logan

 

In a way, the post Xmas shopping has stolen the thunder of pre-Xmas.
Retailers can not base their marketing and pricing on a Dogs of the
Dow mentality though. There is plenty of crap to buy out there. What
happens when people stop buying and start saving? I say it will be a
good thing, but my job may get outsourced to some one with more
seniority as a result.