I started Christmas shopping back in August. My oldest son has been asking for "Bakugon" toys and I stumbled across some back in August, which is a good thing since they are now sold out everywhere. All I have left to buy the kids is stocking stuffers (usually new toothbrushes and bath stuff).

I still have my in-laws, parents, and nieces and nephews to buy for- but we do a gift exchange for the nieces/nephes them and we won't draw names until thanksgiving.

I'm with Honeychile. My family usually ignores Christmas until Thanksgiving day. On that day, the whole family (read the small extended part which makes us a group of ten) decides what the theme for Christmas will be. We usually do something like made in Oregon/food/things to do with the family. The immediate family does lists the day after Thanksgiving, if they ever give a list. I have never been to any of the black Thursday sales, but I think I might try this year.

My brother and sister-in-law live only 1 mile down the street and can't even get their kids to "thank you" to our faces when we give them presents.:mad:

Plus after they didn't get us a wedding gift I've decided they're getting a family gift and I'll be damned if I'm going to hunt down stuff for their 5 kids.

The Wii system I got this summer was the "big gift" for my boys - they will get new games for it. My youngest daughter will get an i-pod, and I'm stumped for my eldest daughter. I need to get her an electric guitar, but the music store I had good credit with changed banks, and I can't get a new account - even though I NEVER missed a payment for her last guitar. Sigh.

There will be no adult gifts this year. I have my nieces and nephews taken care of thanks to clearance sales I've come across throughout the year. My children will have their usual bountiful stockings, but no other gifts from me. I love Christmas shopping, and hate that I can't do more this year.

I'm making sure that I'm paying cash for everything. I just don't want to go into debt for Christmas. Since I get paid every other week (26 times a year), I really only have pay household bills out of 24 of those paychecks so I get ahead of myself twice a year. We're at that point so I'll spend one whole paycheck (minus gas, groceries, misc. cash needed for the pay period) on Christmas. I don't buy for that many though.. 2 kids and their Dad, My dad, his wife, my brother and then three aunts/uncles. I get something for my boss too. The aunts/uncles will get something ordered online from somewhere like Figi's, Hickory Farms or Mrs. Prindables Apples. I'm waiting for lists from Dad, His Wife and Brother. My girlie is getting that phone. It's up to the kids, but I'm going to suggest a digital photoframe for their dad, loaded with pics of them from birth to current. I get my brother stuff on his list, usually DVDs, CDs, and U of Mich stuff. I found a bottle coozy that said Michigan on it from Walmart a while ago and got that already. My son can't think of what he wants other than 3 video games and some video editing software. I want him to come up with something better!

yeah...when u start getting ungrateful folks, regardless of a recession or a progression (do economists ever call it that?)that's money that shouldn't be wasted.

They'd be lucky to get THAT from me. A thank you implies some kind of appreciation for said gift. No thank you = no gift.

Lack of Thank You notes
 

One year I gave the nieces and nephews personalized stationery. No thank you notes. The next year I gave them etiquette books. No thank you notes. So now I make a point of spending as little as I can without looking totally cheap. I got 3 of them Webkinz - they were 1/2 price. And the minute they turn 18, that's it, cupcakes. No more gifts.

My mom used to make us give her a list BEFORE Veteran's Day, then on Veteran's Day since she had the day off work she would go to Buffalo and spend the day getting things from our lists. When we got older, it got crazier - when I was in undergrad she used to go to Erie instead, then make me try on everything she wanted to get me, then she would take it all home and wrap it.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, she made me e-mail her a list (with links) so that she would have pictures to reference. Every year she always did the 5 for $25 undies at Victoria's Secret for all the girls in the family (me, my sister-in-law, cousins) and she always picked the craziest stuff they had. One year I got mesh underwear. Christmas shopping was one of her favorite things to do, and she was always done by Thanksgiving. Last Christmas was pretty tough without her - I felt so bad for my dad that day.

This year, we told my dad that all we wanted was steak knives. Because all us kids (me, my boyfriend, my brother and his wife) are pretty skint this year, we're going in on a GPS unit for him because that way we can afford a pretty decent one without breaking the bank.

My limit for almost everyone is $50. Mostly because I (STILL) don't have a job, so I'm living on savings right now, plus add in the fact that now I have my boyfriend's family to think of, too. My boyfriend gets a little more - we set the ABSOLUTE limit at $150 but both promised to try to keep it under $100. I got the Nintendo sneakers - I'm probably going to get something else smaller to go with them, then he's done.

Got some Vera Bradley bags for my mom & youngest sister at Marshall's back in September.
Got my other sister a cute hoodie from Primp. It's a sheep print, her sorority mascot.
I also sent them some goodies from Sephora for an early present - the philosophy cookbook & a pack of Stila lip glazes.
For my dad - TBD
For my husband - I actually may get him...slippers. He put on an old pair of loafers when he comes home and it bugs me. Maybe something like uggs??? I don't know... We're going away for the holidays to Paris so we're not trying to spend a lot!!

Seriously, I didn't think there was much worse than no thank you note. But there is- the thank you notes that my nieces send. One year it read "Dear Aunt FR, thank you for the outfit. I returned it for a sweater". Another year it read "Dear Aunt FR, thank you for the watch. I couldn't figure out what time it was with it so I returned it for earrings". Besides the disturbing thought that a freshman in high school can't read a standard watch, my niece actually had picked the darned thing out!

ETA- these thank you notes came from different nieces- they are sisters though!

We do a family gift exchange--my mother's siblings, their spouses, children, and grandchildren. There are about 20 of us, and we're pretty close and see each other regularly.

I don't think I've ever received a thank-you card, thank-you phone call, or even an acknowledgement of the gift's receipt. The past three years, I've shipped the presents to California, and the only way I know they receive it is when the UPS shipping confirmation e-mail comes into my inbox.

Why do I still do this blasted exchange? :mad:

I haven't started shopping yet. Thank goodness what my family/friends want shouldn't be out of stock.

But I WILL NOT be going shopping on Black Friday, I'll be working it instead.

I <3 Christmas and everything about it. I've only gotten one present so far cause I saw it and I thought of my friend. (It's a lyre ornament for my A Chi O friend.) I'm planning on making some scarves, and I have yarn for that already.
I know what I'm getting for a few people but I have NO idea what I'm gonna get for my boyfriend. We haven't been dating that long yet...he said he wants a unicorn though. Lol! I was going to knit a scarf for my roommate but she told me how happy she is that she isn't exchanging gifts with her bff because of the cost and time...blahhh! Fine! She hates Christmas, too.

More on ungrateful nieces and nephews
 

When I went to Walt Disney World for my 40th birthday, I got all the nieces and nephews gifts - and my then-childless brother's dog a gift, too. The only thank you note I got? From the dog. :)