And there's still 2 months till Xmas!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
And there's still 2 months till Xmas!
4
Tue, 11-01-2005 - 9:16am

There's still 2 months until Christmas, and my husband keeps picking out one expensive item after another for me to get him for a gift, as if he isn't remembering the gifts he's already told me about. And he doesn't say them like, "Add this to my list", he just says he wants them! Ugh. A month ago, he wanted a Compound Miter saw for his workshop, so I did some research, found a great model for the lowest price I could find ($99), and I bought it and happily wrapped it. Now, this morning, he forwards me an email from some computer company saying that they have a 320GB external hard drive for $200 with a $30 mail-in rebate. Ok, so I have the money in the account, and it's not going to cause a financial hardship, so I order it for him on the card, move the money from our bank account over to cover it (they should both cancel each other out by the end of the day), and now I figure that he'll have one heck of a good holiday with $300 worth of gifts under the tree that he really seems to want. BUT then he calls me and says that he'd love to have one of those corded Dremel handheld tools because his cordless version is "a pain" and keeps running out of battery charge. I reminded him that he hasn't used his dremel in about six months, and even when it was new, he only used it every few months or so. Still he wants it. But I'm putting my foot down. All I was going to ask for for Christmas was just a few candles! They could be from the dollar store, I'm not picky! But $300 for him is enough. He can convince a friend or relative to get the dremel if he wants one for Christmas.

I can't wait to find out what he's going to be asking for next. Maybe I should pull out the credit card statement and show him that although we're not putting any new debt on the card, our balance sure isn't going to go down if he keeps telling me to get these expensive things for him for Christmas, and I keep giving in.

No more shopping....no more shopping....no more shopping... :-D

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-07-2005
Tue, 11-01-2005 - 2:51pm
My dh keeps asking me what i want for our 10 yr anniver. coming up in two weeks. I keep telling him that from what it sounds like I think I'd like to have our gas bill paid this winter. ;) I say stand your ground. $300 is alot already but we hardly ever exchange pricey gifts mostly because usually we can't afford it. But, the pricier stuff we want for the house I think we should both be in on. Maybe ask him what he wants the most off his lengthy list and good luck.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-28-2005
Tue, 11-01-2005 - 3:05pm

I know what you mean!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Tue, 11-01-2005 - 5:26pm

My husband is the same way. He says he has to have a brand new computer every three years, and it's the usual whiny voice saying, "But honeyyyy....I haven't had a new computer in threeee yearsssss!" He says that when he gets each new computer, then his old computer goes to me, and my old computer goes to our son, so each of us technically gets a new computer. I just know that when the computer boxes arrive, all three computers will be laying in pieces for a week while he sorts through all the pieces and swaps items.

On the upside, I went to check our P.O. Box today (we get all our bills and bank statments there to prevent identity theft), and there was a check from our 2nd mortgage company. We did our refi on the 5th of October, and the loan wouldn't be "paid out" until the 11th, so I made my 2nd mortgage payment on the 9th like normal....and they were sending us back our overpayment, plus a little bit more (interest most likely), and the funny thing is, it's within $10 of what it cost me to order that 320GB drive that my Dh wanted so badly this morning. Pennies from heaven. Now he can have his drive, and I can send this check to our credit card like planned! :-D Wahoooooo! :-D

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Thu, 11-03-2005 - 11:39am

I don't remember if it was on this board or Frugal Living, but there was a discussion about Christmas gifts and kids, and many people were saying they had a four gift rule: Need, Want, Read/Play, Wear.

In some ways I envy you because my DH NEVER tells me what he wants! We always agree however that Christmas is really for the kids and try not to do a lot for each other. Plus, our anniversary is Jan 8 (Elvis' birthday--lol), so if we forgo Christmas gifts we get KILLER deals for our anniversary on the after-holiday sales. One year our TV died just before Thanksgiving, and as I was writing the check for the new one (we bought a floor model--saved a ton) I looked at DH and said "Merry Christmas!".

Hang in there!

Kathy

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