General Etiquette > Family and Children

No, really, it was cheap!

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platys:
Freakyfemme's last post about her earrings reminded me of a question I meant to ask.

I'm a HUGE bargain shopper.  Which means I often find pretty nice things pretty darn cheap.  For example, the gift shop in my office building is going out of business.  On the day that they went to 75% off everything, I bought a bunch of silver earrings with various semi-precious stones in them.   Even before the 75% off price, nothing was ungodly expensive (the most expensive was 28 dollars - most were in the 15 dollar range).  So, all the female relatives are, as part of their larger presents, getting earrings that I thought they'd like.

Anyways, at gift giving time, it can seem like I"m being overly generous, when really, I just bargain hunt like crazy.   But it seems awkward to be like "Okay, so it seems like I"m giving you a bunch of awesome stuff, but actually, I spent 2 hours on the internet finding a really nice pan that you'd like that fit into my budget".

guihong:
First, can you come to my house?  ;D You're a shopper after my own heart.

I think it's more rude for a gift receiver to say anything like "Oh, this is too expensive!"  Someone in Freaky's post pointed out that that can hurt the giver's feelings. 

Finding a really nice gift at a steal of a price is not the same thing as having a pompous, "Look what I can afford" attitude, which would ring loud and clear the other 364 days of the year, were it true. 

Were someone to mention price (tacky), all you'd have to say was "They were a great buy".  Otherwise, don't worry about anyone thinking "platys throws money around".

I hope that was even the question...

gui

dawbs:
I do understand the problem, but I just say "oh, don't worry about it, we kept everything well within our Christmas budget" (that way "m saying "yes, we thought about the cost" and "yes, we can afford it" and "if there is an agreed-upon limit, we stayed w/in it" all in one sentence")

I find it more a problem w/ the appearance of fairness...I'm a bargin shopper...but some things are easier to 'bargin" for than others. 
(example, I have 2 sisters.  They are very VERY different.  ONe sister is a bit picky about brands.  Her underwear and socks usually come from specific stores.  I found her a Christmas gift she'd love, and spent a total of $50 to get her some sweaters and books.  The other sister is flighty w/ "younger" intrests.  Because I ebayed, I got her a 2 year subscrition to magazines she pines after for $15 (instead of $40) and was able to get her some ikea furnishings fo rher new apt, some books,  and a gift card...all for the same $50...
However it looks a bit disproportionate under the tree!
Luckily they're both mature adults who dn't (to my knowledge) compare such things openly and who understand I bargin shop.)

Clara Bow:
I'm the queen of cheap, and I do love a sale. Last year at Christmas at work we had a 25 dollar limit on gifts. I was able to get one lady an FSU purse that she loved (they're usually in the 50 range, got it for 23), one girl got Old Navy pajamas (marked down to 20) and another girl got Nautica pajama pants and a tank top (total was 19, love the outlet mall). They were all shocked and I had to reiterate numerous times that I stayed within the budget limit....

CrayonOutlines:
Yeah, our grad school cohort's (class) Christmas party was last week and there was a $15 limit for the gift exchange (we played the Cheeky Santa game [or whatever you call it]) and I brought Aggieopoly (the Monopoly game with a Texas A&M theme), which usually sells for about $25.  When the person opened it, my friend said, "That's not in the budget!"  So I had to pipe up (and blow my own horn -- pardon my mix of metaphors) and tell everyone that I got it on eBay for $13.99.  Boo ya!!!!

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