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It is so hard to be gracious about holiday gifts when trying to banish clutter! - Page 6

post #101 of 116
12/29/06 at 11:20am
Christmas is so hard. My inlaws got my stepson 4 gameboy games and a portable DVD player. Cause, you know, any time without electronics is time wasted.

It's really tough, because I've talked to DSS's mom about this at length, and she hates him having the Gameboy, too. It was a gift from other grandparents. She said, "I never wanted him to have video games, period. But now I just think it's inevitable." Blech!

Not to mention all the other stuff they got him, of which there was a ton. My DH made him a really cool wooden shield and sword, painted silver and blue and gold. And DSS hasn't touched them- he's too busy with Gameboy. So now I sort of feel like we are to DS what ILs are to us- givers of stuff we don't need/cannot use. :
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post #102 of 116
12/29/06 at 11:51am
I have to say that my family was good this year. they only bought things off our lists. My Mom is usually really good like that. She will even call me to triple check to make sure she is getting the right thing. My il's gave ds a zoo pass for his birthday and for christmas he got a game and a savings bond. My mil always looks for clutter free or at least low clutter gifts. Which is really funny since their house is filled with clutter. They rarely get rid of ANYTHING. They finally shoveled out their attic last summer and had to pretty much pitch everything because it was ruined from sitting there for years.

But I am trying to figure out what to do with all the liquor that came home from work with dh!!! He got gift cards and hard liquor. Expensive hard liquor. So we now have 6 bottles of liquor and we don't drink. Well Dh has a beer once in awhile, but no whiskey or Bailey's and whatever else in those bottles.
post #103 of 116
12/29/06 at 1:25pm
Send the whiskey & Bailey's right over.

I imagine your clutterbunny mil knows full well about the pitfalls of clutter & that's why she is so thoughtful about not doing that to you. A blessing on her!
post #104 of 116
12/29/06 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CariOfOz View Post
Apparently sil picked up bits & pieces all year from the dollar store to make our kids stockings as well as hers : At LEAST a dozen items are already in the rubbish as they broke, didn't work, or were just plain CRAP! She did however, crochet me a WONDERFUL throw cover for the sofa : Best gift EVER! hehe
Awwww...see, this is what makes me really sad and depressed at the holidays, when this kind of thing happens. My family doesn't have a lot of $ and usually sends $ store type stuff. Then it breaks immediately or doesn't work, and ds is frustrated b/c he's trying to get it to work, and I feel bad about throwing it in the trash b/c it's useless or broken. I can understand that people can't spend a lot on gifts- we are in the same boat- but I'd SO much rather $10 spent on a quality small toy, chocolates, or a GC to somewhere, than $10 worth of useless plastic that will just go straight to the landfill. I feel so sad that people don't have a lot to spend, but the little they do have gets spent basically on trash

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach'smom View Post
But I am trying to figure out what to do with all the liquor that came home from work with dh!!! He got gift cards and hard liquor. Expensive hard liquor. So we now have 6 bottles of liquor and we don't drink. Well Dh has a beer once in awhile, but no whiskey or Bailey's and whatever else in those bottles.
Uh, I can think of a good use for it. Shall I send you my snail mail address?
post #105 of 116
12/29/06 at 5:50pm
Send that liquor right on over. Let's see three takers and 6 bottles, hot tamale!!! Not that we are huge drinkers either but occasionally...:
post #106 of 116
12/29/06 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mightymoo View Post
Maybe we should brainstorm a list of responses for where something is when someone later says 'What happened to the X I gave you?' (If you don't mind a little fib to save hurt feelings of course)

"Oh, I had it out DS/DD bumped it and smashed it"
"I didn't realize it wasn't dishwasher safe"
"DH/I meant well, but he/I just doesn't know how to do laundry, he shrunk it / washed it with a red shirt / forgot it should have been dry cleaned."
"The cat/dog/parakeet got to it while we were out"
and of course if it was a cheap item, you could just say 'Oh, it was too bad it looked so good but it broke the first time I tried to use it!'
'I lent it to a friend'
LOVE THESE!!! I am currently committing them to memory....
post #107 of 116
12/29/06 at 8:41pm
post #108 of 116
12/29/06 at 8:44pm
When I was returning the plastic fountain to Big Lots last night (sigh), I saw a big giant slate fountain someone had returned, & when I asked the return lady if it worked, she said, "Oh, yeah, but the guy who was bringing it in said that ' it was not elegant enough for their home.'"

We were like, hello, you're in Big Lots . (But we had to concede that's why I was bringing the plastic one in!)
post #109 of 116
12/29/06 at 9:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach'smom View Post
But I am trying to figure out what to do with all the liquor that came home from work with dh!!! He got gift cards and hard liquor. Expensive hard liquor. So we now have 6 bottles of liquor and we don't drink. Well Dh has a beer once in awhile, but no whiskey or Bailey's and whatever else in those bottles.
Send it my way!! Or regift it down the line.
post #110 of 116
12/29/06 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach'smom View Post
But I am trying to figure out what to do with all the liquor that came home from work with dh!!! He got gift cards and hard liquor. Expensive hard liquor. So we now have 6 bottles of liquor and we don't drink. Well Dh has a beer once in awhile, but no whiskey or Bailey's and whatever else in those bottles.
Dh got 2 jackets (with company logos on them, so I don't want them), a couple of useful gift cards, 2 gift baskets (one Godiva, I'm fine with that ), about $300 worth of booze, and about the same in liquor store gift cards. I have to try and get a cash refund on the booze, as we don't drink whiskey or brandy, but the gift cards we are stuck with. If we drink $50 worth of booze a year, that's a lot.
post #111 of 116
12/29/06 at 10:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsybitsy25 View Post
Awwww...see, this is what makes me really sad and depressed at the holidays, when this kind of thing happens. My family doesn't have a lot of $ and usually sends $ store type stuff. Then it breaks immediately or doesn't work, and ds is frustrated b/c he's trying to get it to work, and I feel bad about throwing it in the trash b/c it's useless or broken. I can understand that people can't spend a lot on gifts- we are in the same boat- but I'd SO much rather $10 spent on a quality small toy, chocolates, or a GC to somewhere, than $10 worth of useless plastic that will just go straight to the landfill. I feel so sad that people don't have a lot to spend, but the little they do have gets spent basically on trash
My grandmother does this a lot, she doesn't have a lot of money, but has always made each of us grandkids and now great-grandkids a gift bag with little items. I think she did pretty well this year since she asked what to get DD and I said she loves art supplies (both my grandparents were artists) so she got a ton of that sort of consumable stuff, markers and paper, etc so I loved that I didn't have to feel bad about it this year!
post #112 of 116
12/29/06 at 11:34pm
Use the liquor for cooking and baking. I've even made a whiskey pork tenderloin with horseradish sauce from the Atlanta Junior League cookbook, "True Grits." I felt like a drunk buying a bottle of whiskey to make it; not a big drinker myself. I think the book is still packed-up or I'd give you the recipe, but maybe you could search for recipes with the particular types of liquor?

Funny... when I google pork and whiskey I found a site for the Pork & Whiskey festival, but apparantly it's a secret: http://porkandwhiskey.com/ Gotta love the South!
post #113 of 116
12/30/06 at 1:34am
I have a pork roast I need to make tomorrow, but no whiskey! Damn! (Do you have a vague inkling of the recipe? Whiskey can be gotten...)
post #114 of 116
12/30/06 at 11:53am
I have way too many gift cards now- I got a $25 best buy from work, plus a $100 store credit from best buy as I returned an IPOD fm transmitter my mom got me. I got one from MIL that was simpler ( $50 ) that I kept instead- this will be pretty useful since I love my IPOD. I also have a lot of JCP items to return with gift receipts- clothes that are not my style but my MOm tried at least. One was a sweater with sequins on the collar, another a v neck shirt that is too small. I also got a gc to Victoria Secret- $25 that hopefully will at least buy maybe a bra. She spent too much on meAA!A!!

I also have a $10 gc to Barnes and Noble that I got from year end work at my job- not sure if that will buy anything much or not. Overall I am very gratefull- the kids got some junk though like play makeup ( my girls are fairly young) tht I am not happy with- and my 4 yr old got a baby bratz that actually has lingerie on that I am going to try & take back to toyrs since that is where it was purchased.
post #115 of 116
12/30/06 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlazx2 View Post
...I also have a $10 gc to Barnes and Noble that I got from year end work at my job- not sure if that will buy anything much or not. ....
cup of coffee & a magazine...assuming you have a free hour or two. I love B&N gc's
post #116 of 116
12/30/06 at 3:08pm
I wouldnt mind a few hours at B & N sipping some coffee and reading a few zines...

We got checks from both side, so I just went depositing...

I think I will hit my goal of saving before Jan 31st with this.
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