Comments on: Taking a Break

By: Follow-Up: Thrifting for Holiday Gifts

Follow-Up: Thrifting for Holiday Gifts — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:49:04 +0000

[...] the Readers: Is It Okay to Buy a Christmas Gift from a Thrift Store?Black Friday — Or Not?Taking a BreakAsk the Readers: Best Part-Time Holiday Jobs?Which Online High Interest Savings Account is [...]

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By: Randy

Randy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 08:40:08 +0000

Have a great holiday.

If you are looking for a utility to draw names for Christmas, try my website, NameDrawing.net.

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By: kick_push

kick_push — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:38:44 +0000

happy thanksgivin’ jd..

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By: Ryan Lynch

Ryan Lynch — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:14:31 +0000

I am going to spend my bonus on paying off student loans.

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By: elisabeth

elisabeth — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:29:08 +0000

The various “let’s make rules for gift giving” seem to me to underline the “exchange” aspect of gift giving, and that seems the opposite of what I want to be involved in. We have been in a different income space than lots of the people we give gifts to (first we had a lot less, now we have more), and I’m very happy that we’ve never been asked to limit our gifts to a certain price (which can become a floor not an upper limit, it seems to me) or to only buy a gift for a certain person… Not that we spend all that much–we never buy the “in” gifts of the season (one of the reasons I’m not tempted by Black Friday and can happily participate in Buy Nothing Day). Instead, and really partially for our own amusement, we choose a theme every year and enjoy the hunt for items to put together to make a group of gifts for each family — we give family gifts not individual ones, but that’s our choice, not a family decision, and others in the family do other things. We also almost always include at least one person who isn’t expecting a gift from us, and from whom we aren’t expecting a gift, which is always fun. One year, the theme was “water” and we got everyone umbrellas, water toys, picture puzzles with water falls or bodies of water, water themed perfume, candles supposedly rain scented, novels about the sea, and so on. Another year, we did salads–spinners for everyone and tongs, dressings, Nora Ephron’s essay collection Crazy Salad, etc etc. This year, it’s honey and bees — but to keep it interesting we’re avoiding anything to do with the Bee movie and all Burt’s bees products.
And, we used to love participating in the Salvation Army Angels gift program, but not so much any more. They used to really describe the recipients, and the gifts they were hoping for, and you felt like you could get something that would make a particular child happy. It’s not quite as inspiring to get a “12 yr old boy” gift.

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By: willie

willie — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:33:05 +0000

Giving gifts to only children sounds good in theory but kids now a days have way more “things” than they know what to do with. My parents this year (their grandparents) are going to spend a special day sometime this year with each grandchild as their present this year. That would mean so much more to the kids than more things and I love the idea. It makes my house seem bigger.

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By: Schizohedron

Schizohedron — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:11:16 +0000

Sometimes I interpret Black Friday as Support Small Local Merchants Day — used bookstore, bakery, stationers, indie record shop, even a garage sale — so if I need to buy anything, it’s not feeding an increasingly hostile global maw.

JD, enjoy the time off, you’ve more than earned it.

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By: mjmcinto

mjmcinto — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:45:21 +0000

I can’t partake in buy nothing day. I won’t be doing the typical black friday shopping, but since it’s finally cooled down, I’ve started working on my yard, and getting it ready for the spring (my wife and I purchased the house this summer). I need some things for the yard, and since I have friday off, I will be going to the hardware store to get what I need. So I’m not really doing “black friday” shopping, but I am going shopping on black friday. here’s hoping there’s not a mob of crazy people at the hardware store

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By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:55:31 +0000

I wish we got bonuses.

Christmas bonus, spot bonus, performance bonus, “holiday” bonus – ANY type of bonus. We get nada.

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By: plonkee

plonkee — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:26:33 +0000

A gift might be given with no concrete expectations, but let’s be honest, in practice at Christmas it’s a gift exchange.

Not everyone wants to reveal the true natures of themselves or their family members.

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By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:28:50 +0000

To your first point of “gift exchange”: I’ve always found this term a bit odd.

Shouldn’t a gift be given with no expectations on the part of the giver and no obligations on the part of the receiver? Otherwise it is more of a barter or something we do just because we “have” to. I think many of us are very poor receivers of gifts. When we are given one we feel some kind of debt to the giver when in fact the giver (a true giver, not one that expects something in return) is simply expressing his/her thoughts about the receiver.
How about you try this: don’t have a plan. Give gifts to those you want to say something to and insist that there is no obligation for you to receive anything in return. This could reveal the true natures of both you and the members of your family …

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By: Chief Family Officer

Chief Family Officer — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:08:27 +0000

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

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By: Money Blue Book

Money Blue Book — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 03:32:29 +0000

I’ve given up trying to compete with other hardcore shoppers for Black Friday Deals. The best early bird specials are always taken right away!
-Raymond

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By: FinanceAndFat

FinanceAndFat — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:14:00 +0000

Nice! Enjoy your time off.

Oh, and sign me up for Buy Nothing Day. I’ve never even considered shopping on Black Friday and I never will! I do enjoy watching video of the crazy people on the Today Show from the comfort of my home though.

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By: Jordan

Jordan — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:25:18 +0000

Ahh Thanks Giving…a wonderful time of the year. For the first time in ages I have black Friday off. I wish I could say it will be a buy nothing day for me, but I saw the gift I wanted to get for my girlfriend drop by about 30 percent so Ill be in with the herd… blech.

Have a good break!

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By: Mike Huang

Mike Huang — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:21:37 +0000

I agree to your comment about Black Friday and I gotta say I have experienced it for the past 3-4 years. People tend to buy A LOT of stuff because it is very cheap, but I have noticed that a lot of the items purchased are USELESS!!

Anyways, Have a good one!

-Mike

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