It’s that time of year again. Gift-giving time. Need to buy a lot of gifts for a lot of kids, but don’t want to break the bank? Check out places like TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, Ross and even HomeGoods.
They have great prices on a variety of toys. Sometimes there is a blemish on the packaging, but most of the stuff looks brand new — it’s just cheaper. Here are some examples of things I have bought there recently.
Paint your own tea set $9.99
Fancy Nancy Game 7.99 (I’ve seen it other places for $12 and even $14)
- Dora/Diego the Explorer Craft sets — huge in size so it feels like a decent gift even though it is only $5.99. I think they are made by Elmers – like the glue
- Disney brand Princess Accessories Kit ($14.99 – I think that’s what I paid at Ross. I originally saw it for 19.99 at the Disney store). I’ve found a lot of Disney stuff there.
- Batman Dark Night Figurine ($4.99 – I confess I don’t know what this normally costs, but it seemed cheap to me)
- Spyrograph (Yes, like we had when we were little $12.99)
- Melissa and Doug Bead Kit – make your own necklace ($4.99)
They also have a lot of baby toys, some cute home furnishings and some good brand name clothes. ( I don’t really care about brand name stuff, I just like what I like). I like to hunt, so I really like places like that.
Another thing you can do with friends is decide not to exchange gifts. I am doing that with some of my closest friends. Our kids don’t need anything and we can save ourselves the trouble and just plan a get together instead. I prefer the fellowship anyway.
You can also direct the gift giving to someone in need.
For my own kids, this year I have also shopped at consignment and garage sales. You can get so much more for your money and in all likelihood the kids won’t notice or care. I look at it as recycling.
I also got a GeoTrax Airport for my son for Christmas for $30. It usually costs $50. And it had an extra aircraft with it that doesn’t come with the $50 set.
How do you save money when shopping for gifts?
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