This picture shows what we’ve already picked up for my middle little sister. Total value here is around $130 dollars, total spent is around $35 plus $25 of spend it or loose it money in an HSA.

Here’s the breakdown:

All the first aid supplies - I had an HSA at my last job. It was one of the kind where you had to use all the funds by January 31st of the next year or you lost the funds. Because I had a baby in 2007 we had been very careful to save our HSA money and not use it in case we needed it for the birth of the baby. As things worked out I was double insured when Lil Sugar was born and ended up owing less than $200. This left us with around $1000 in our HSA that had to be used. As I got to a couple of days before my deadline I still had a couple hundred dollars in the account because my husband had been unable to make his eye doctor appointment so I went shopping at CVS and Walgreens and put first-aid supplies together for all three of my sisters with part of the money. They are all starving college students so this is a practical gift. It is also over and above what we would normally do. Since we wouldn’t let them reimburse us for these things we decided to make them our contribution to their Christmas stockings because for our family the Christmas stockings are just as fun as opening presents on Christmas Eve! We normally end up with overstuffed stockings that we’ve gone a little overboard on and I normally spend around $10 on my contribution to my sister’s stockings. Also I realized it after I put the camera away but for her stocking we also have a miniture frame that is a dog collar, this sister loves dogs and has one of her own so the picture frame is my personal touch for her stocking. I looked for deals and coupons and saved some on the first aid supplies but not as much as I could have if I’d spent a few more weeks gathering them. I’m not really sure what the original value on the first aid stuff comes to but I ended spending around $25 of that HSA money and then the miniature picture frame was originally $6 and I paid $1.50 for it.

The skirt was originally $38 and that is when I first saw it - when they were full price. I knew it was something she would love so I watched and eventually it went on sale and then on clearance and was marked down to $21.99 and then one day all the clearance items were 1/2 price so I was able to pick it up for $11.

The shirt came from a thrift store - it is a Merona, and is a style that this sister would really like and it is charcoal gray which will match the skirt perfect and not be another black shirt. I would guess that at a store it’s original price would be between $20 and $30. The shirt is in perfect, like new condition and was marked $3.19 at the thrift store, I bought it on 1/2 price day for $1.60

The picture frame is a Gund frame featuring bears and it says “My Sister, My Friend”. This sister loves and collects bears too - so I try to always find a bear something to give her. I found this frame at Tuesday Morning, original retail on it was $18.99 and I bought it for $5.

The last thing is the butcher block cutting board. I found it at Home Depot (of all places…) original price was $45 and I was able to pick this up for $15. All of my sisters are wanting to start collecting things they will need when they move out and this particular sister is already living away from home during the school year and really enjoys cooking so this is the perfect gift for her.

Item by Item - here’s how it comes out:

1. Dog Picture Frame Value $6, Cost $1.50
2. Plaid Skirt Value $38, Cost $11
3. Merona Shirt Value $20, Cost $1.60
4. Bear Picture Frame Value $19, Cost $5
5. Cutting Board Value $45, Cost $15

• Total Value $128
• Total Cost $34.10
• First Aid Supplies Cost $25 of Spend it or Loose It Money & save me $8.50 of what I would have spent on stocking stuffers.

Remember this is for her birthday which is in Mid-December and for Christmas.

For her birthday she’ll get the bear picture frame and the outfit, for Christmas she’ll get the cutting board and since I’m way below my “budgeted” amount for her gifts - which if you’ll remember from my first post on this subject is $40 a holiday I’ll splurge a bit and find her a knife to go with the cutting board at Christmas, even though I’m already way above my “budgeted” value for her gifts. I expect that I’ll be able to find a nice all purpose knife on sale at Kohl’s or Tuesday Morning for around $10. That’s the nice thing about shopping this way - you can do more than you would normally do and still spend less.

Also just for reference - my oldest little sister, who reads this blog so I won’t be putting a breakdown of her Christmas and Birthday presents here is also almost taken care of - her Christmas present has a value of around $25 and I paid $5 for it, brand new in the box at a garage sale. I’m still trying to decide what I’ll do to go with it. Also her birthday presents have a combined value of close to $80 and I’ve spent less than $15 and I’m done with her birthday. I still have to decide what to do for her “personal touch” in her stocking this year but she’s easy - I have lots of ideas for that!

My baby sister is a lot pickier and a lot harder to buy for, but I’ve got a start on her as well. Her stocking is done because she is lactose intolerant so while I was buying first aid stuff I picked up a box of lactaid for her because she uses it a lot and it gets expensive so I bought her the biggest box I could find. It isn’t “neat” but will be very appreciated. She also has a skirt like the one I’ve got for this sister it’s just in a different color scheme. I haven’t decided yet what to do for her Christmas but I have a few ideas, and she has lots of suggestions!

Next week I’ll talk about buying for kids early in response to a question I was asked last week. It is harder, but it can be done and I’ll try to explain my methods for you.

So, what do you think? Would buying for the adults in your life like this work for you?

Posted: 08|13|08 at 7:32 am. Filed under: Clothing, Money Saving Tips, Save By Buying Used Goods, Thoughts on Saving.
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