A Mish-Mash of Mad Dash

Tony Wolk, circa 1937

I have written before about how my goal this year was to not hate Christmas. And I had been doing pretty well with this, but woke up today in a bit of a funk. I had worked the past few days and the house was a mess and as much as I have trying to not be pulling gifts together at the last minute, I still had a number of holes to plug.

So after my older son awoke at 2:00 P.M. and took his hour long shower, (Yes, he’s at that stage) we ventured out into the craziness that is December 22nd Christmas shopping.

And didn’t come home for five hours. This is what we did:

• Stopped in at CD Game Exchange, where my son picked out a used game for his brother. I was looking for a used DVD of “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which is my 11-year-old son’s current obsession. They didn’t have one, however I did find two pennies on the ground.
• We then took a detour to the Ben and Jerry’s next door, where my son bought a pumpkin cheesecake flavored ice cream cone with a leftover library summer reading program voucher.
• Walked over to Buffalo Exchange, where we sold a pair of hand-me-down Levi’s and bought a brand new pair of Vans for my younger son. I also found a pair of fingerless gloves with “Nightmare Before Christmas” characters on them. (Perfect for the stocking!) I found a penny on the ground here as well. Because we brought our own bag, we were given a 5¢ token to put in one of three charity bins. One was for free veterinary care for homeless people, one was for a gay rights youth group and I forget what the third one was. I let my son choose, and he picked the gay rights group.
• My son and I then nipped into the credit union, where I deposited a check for my maid services, plus a $10 check I earned doing online surveys. We donated $10 to the food bank here.
• I then pointed the car in the direction of the children’s consignment shop and bought a pair of pajama pants for my ten-year-old nephew. I am giving my family and my sister’s family pajamas to open up on Christmas Eve. I had been able to find Goodwill ones for all but the nephew, and was happy to find  a $3 pair, especially because I had $2.75 credit from clothes I brought in last Spring. I also bought a $24 Columbia Sportswear Winter coat for my 14-year-old. This is more than I would have preferred to pay, but I had been keeping an eye out and not found anything. My husband has been threatening to buy him a $70 coat, so this purchase was defensive.  His coat from last year was more like a tank top than anything else at this point.
• We then headed over to the Broadway Goodwill where I bought nothing but a small something for my mother. I was looking for frames for particular gifts and what was there looked mightily picked through. This Goodwill is next to a mall, and traffic was nasty, which helped me feel very happy to not be part of that scene.
• A quick stop over at my father and step-mother’s house was in order at this point, as we were in the neighborhood. Although no one was home, we partook of the indoor plumbin’ and I borrowed a photo of my father in 1937 that I wanted to scan. This particular photo is so adorable, that it melts my heart every time I see it.
• At this point, my son and I were getting pretty hungry, so we splurged on a nice meal of yakisoba noodles at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant. Although I was happy to drink tap water, I told my son he could order a drink. I had thought he would order soda, but he chose lemon herb tea instead. Man, I love this kid.
• Thus fortified, we braved the main Goodwill and found much to our liking. I bought two terrific frames, a $1 Starbucks teddy bear, (my younger son collects these, and I always have one peeking out from the top of his stocking) a cool Asian style shirt for my older son. Although it looked a bit worn, he won me over by being able to read the kanji on the sleeves. (He’s been in an intensive Japanese immersion program since kindergarten.) I also found a $1.99 copy of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Sure, it was a video instead of a DVD, but it really makes little difference.

We finally got home around 8:30 P.M., at which point we both collapsed. But you know what? I think I’m done with my Christmas shopping. I will make a quick stop at the Asian mega grocery store for yummy treats for the stockings, but that’s it.

And because I put everything in reusable gift bags, wrapping my presents is a snap.

And I think, unlike other December 22nd’s I am not hating Christmas. I actually think this Christmas will be better than any year, ever. Seriously. And I didn’t have to break The Compact.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

Tagged as: Blogging, Blogs, Cheapskate, christmas, Compact, money, Money Matters, The Compact, Tightwad Gazette, Voluntary Simplicity