Monsoon is finished, too

With a remaining balance of $7.74 left on Monsoon's $100 budget, I took to the stores to stuff his stocking.

Batman Underwear - $5.54, paid w/ GC

3-pack Play-Doh, x2 - $2.94, paid w/ GC

Swiss Miss cocoa mix w/ marshmallows (one of his favorite special treats) - $2.04, paid w. GC

Bubble Gum-filled canister bank - $1, paid cash.

This brings Monsoon's grand total to... $103.78. Yes, I went a tad over, but only a tiny little bit! Plus, most of his gifts were purchased with Gift Cards, which were all free.

Only stockings are left for Monsoon

I've been waiting for ToysRUs to put the game OPERATION on sale all season, but since it hasn't happened, I broke down and "paid" (with a gift card) the $16.99 retail price. It pained me, but it's the only thing he has picked up and carried around at three different stores while we shopped. I figure he'll be glad to have it - and we love to play games as a family, so I know it won't sit around collecting dust.

Previous balance for Monsoon was $75.27. Add the $16.99, and get a new balance of.....

$92.26 spent on Monsoon.

That leaves $7.74 left for stocking stuffers. Unfortunately, none of the other gifts he has will fit in his stocking, so I'm going to have to really stretch that seven bucks!

Monsoon's almost finished!

We set a $100 budget for Monsoon. It's been the most challenging part of shopping this year. Not only do we have less money than in years past, but we set the budget to keep ourselves from going overboard. He just doesn't need that much stuff, and this has put into perspective my habit of grabbing from the shelf, thinking "oh, he might like this so why don't I just pick it up now?" I have to keep reminding myself to think about what he really wants, needs and will use.

Here's the latest:

Bat Cave. It's his "big" toy this year, and one of the few items for which he specifically asked. Original price: $44. Price paid: $34 ($10 coupon), bought with ToysRUs GC.

Mr. Potato Head Jumbo Set. Original price: $24.99. Price paid: $12.50, bought with ToysRUs GC.

Peter Pan pop-up book (huge, elaborate book - one of his favorite stories). Original price: 29.99. Clearance price (b/c they have updated the artwork in a new book): 6.99, bought with Borders GC.

I did purchase 2 other items, but returned them. One was something he'd enjoy, but ultimately took up too much space, which we don't have. Another was a race track, but my Dad got him something similar, and we don't need two.

The total purchases for Monsoon this week came to $51.49 (although we spent $0 cash), added to the previous weeks equals $75.27 spent on Monsoon. That leaves $24.73 left in his budget. I'm going to start thinking about stocking stuffers with the remaining balance.

Will Monsoon mind if it's used?

Monsoon is 4. We spend time at libraries, consignment shops, used book stores, etc... He doesn't know the difference between the items at those places and the stuff at "new" stores - except some of the stuff is wrapped and you can't play with it right away.

I said I planned on sticking with new items while trying to have A FREE CHRISTMAS, and I have for the most part. But the frugal - and the environmentally friendly - part of me can't help noticing how the exact same toys are more than half price used, and they're certainly just as much fun. I own sanitizer. I don't mind cleaning them. For pete's sake, washing them up will still take less time than prying them out of steel-trap packaging that's all the rage nowadays.

Monsoon won't notice. I don't mind. So why not go used for some of his toys? ...and this concludes the "reduce/reuse" portion of our lecture today...

In fact, I bought him 3 pair of nice jeans, 3 picture books, and 1 floor puzzle (still in the shrink wrap) at the second-hand store for a total of $18.29. I feel good about it!

Budget Stats: $100 (minus) last week's $5.49 (minus) this week's $18.29 = $76.22 remaining.

Besides, even better than presents - new or not - is time spent with Mommy. He loves me, and I'll be playing with him on Christmas morning... no matter what gifts he recieves.