Who gets the benefit of a sale when giving gifts?
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So during my Xmas shopping for the skids and my bios I have hit many sales. Many things were purchased for far below retail price. I am trying to make things fair and even (eye roll) so I was making a list of what I got everyone and how much it all cost.
Not sure how to tally the items bought on sale. Do I count the price I actually paid, or do I tally it as the retail price. Example: I found a 50 dollar coat for bs that was 60% off so t only cost me 20 bucks. Do I give him the credit for the sale price and only count 20 towards his total, or do I tally 50 for the coat since that's what its worth and finding the sale was just a benefit to me since I saved myself money?
OK, so you tally the sales
OK, so you tally the sales price, not the retail price.
We always had to make sure
We always had to make sure the skids had the same NUMBER of gifts so that was not an issue.
We tried that last year, but
We tried that last year, but due to the big age difference between the skids and my bio sons, the skids ended up having over three times the money spent on them. (Ya know, an iPod can hardly be seen as compare able to a matchbox car).
So this year we are trying a dollar amount per kid, rather than number of gifts. I have actually kept the numbers fairly close and this question just popped up as I was doing a final tally as I was wrapping ng.
Yeah, I guess all three of
Yeah, I guess all three of our kids (2 skids and my DS) were very similar in age. But I KNOW for a fact because I saw it myself that SD would count the number of presents she got versus the number of presents the others got.
I actually saved presents to give my DS when they were not around. For anyone who has an issue with that, my DS's father or family was never involved. So skids got Xmas at our place and BM's place AND BM's parents place (they were rich) while my son only had ONE Xmas.
Yeah, even last year when she
Yeah, even last year when she had so much more spent on her in comparison to BS, sd9 was still pissy. She didn't even bother to count gifts, she just assumed that she got shafted and had attitude anyways.
I am just tired of constantly shafting my kids out of fear that the skids will get their undies in a bunch. Even when they come out ahead they aren't happy.
Duplicate post
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Since I did the work of
Since I did the work of finding the sale my gift is worth full value when I give it.
Your gift to me of course is fully discounted so you owe me two of everything.
If I buy items at a sale
If I buy items at a sale price, then I do not go and get something else that will then equal the full retail value of the original item.
For example: For SS10, I purchase lego sets that I find throughout the year that are on sale. He is getting five different lego sets on Christmas morning. Each of them were 40.00-50.00 at regular retail price and I picked them up at half price so 20.00-25.00 per item. If I were to get him MORE because they were on sale, then me shopping for sale items would be completely useless. I think the kid is getting too much as it is (lego's are not the only things he's getting), but alas, that's just me.
Another issue for me would be that SD9 likes Monster High. This brand is NEVER on sale, therefore, if I got her what is equal to SS10's retail value, I'd be broke quicker than anything.
I shop for sale items in order to get more for my money & to be able to save what little I can.
^^^^^THIS^^^^^ It is easier
^^^^^THIS^^^^^ It is easier to teach kids the value of things when we shop wisely. They get spoiled when we spend a certain amount on them, rather than getting them a great gift at a great price and letting them appreciate that gift. If you are throwing away the benefit of the great deal, you aren't being wise with your money, either! People shop at Walmart to save money, but while they are getting groceries, they get all kinds of other things they didn't really need, thereby spending more than they would have at the grocery store and now they have crap all over their house that they never needed. Same concept. Take the extra money and invest it or put it into college funds. Or give it to the needy.
I think of it this way - the
I think of it this way - the kids will never know how much you spent on a gift. Maybe if they're teens they might have an idea of how much something cost, but I doubt it.
Sales price vs actual cost really shouldn't matter that much.
It only matters if you have to return it, you'll only get the sales price back.
I made a budget and then
I made a budget and then bought whatever I could within it. Thanks to my thriftiness and knowing where bargains are, the skids (and everyone else I buy for) make out pretty good. This year, because of some inside connections, I got SD a very fancy designer top that was literally worth hundreds of dollars - but I got it for a song. But it matters not in the long run. All her clothes wind up on the floor anyway!
It's still a shame since I know so many people would probably kill for these kinds of clothes.