Christmas Gifts under $250...what are you wanting and what are you buying for others? (1 Viewer)

[Terminalxylem]

Gift for Wife- $250 - $37k - new car I just bought - kill me
Me - $250 worth of whiskey so I forget I just spent 37k on a car

What’s she getting? Are you gonna put a giant bow on it?

 

[AAABatteries]

Gift for Wife- $250 - $37k - new car I just bought - kill me
Me - $250 worth of whiskey so I forget I just spent 37k on a car

What’s she getting? Are you gonna put a giant bow on it?

Ford Explorer and no, due to issues with her current vehicle I wanted to get her something immediately- she’s already driving it.

 

[Ron Swanson]

my carbon steel woks are an incredibly cheap hack i'm almost embarrassed to share here...

Wth, I'm bored. I'll share because I've decided to hack three and give them to my sisters. One sister loves mine, so here's my incredibly cheap wok. I bought the first one cuz $5.76. Why not? It felt a little heavy and I understood the teflon wasn't going to last at that price, and I understand teflon is a bad idea for high heat wok-ing. So I didn't use it for stir fries and such.

Here's what I like about them. The handles. Nice to have two handles on big old 14 inchers. Handles have been the fail on all of my cheap-ish carbon steel woks. If not for discovering this dude, my next one would have been a welded handle from a restaurant supply. But these handles haven't budged. They are sturdy and already long-lasting. The size. 13.75" is perfect for me. 12s have been a little small. I have considered a 16, but then I found these. Carbon steel. Most of the teflon coated pans in the world are aluminum or stainless. Carbon steel is by far best for a wok. The flat bottom. I prefer flat to round but the cheap-ish flat ones I've had haven't been perfectly flat. This causes hot spots and possibly wobble. These are dead flat reminiscent of much more expensive woks. I also find the diameter of the flat bottom perfect. Some are smaller making the wok a bit unsteady. Some are bigger making the wok not so wokky. The weight. They are not heavy like some French carbon steel pans, but they're not super light like cheap-ish carbon steel woks. The weight is again reminiscent of high end gear.

The hack. When the teflon started failing, I realized I had a nice carbon steel wok under it and googled removing teflon from pans. It's simple and kind of strange. Coat it with Drano gel, put it in a bag, wait a few days and voila; it comes off no problem. The result was way better than what i saw on the google search. Not exaggerating, literally, a near mirror finish. It is lightly textured to help the teflon stick, but being so cheap, not nearly as textured as more expensive coated pans. I used a wet sanding sponge for metal at 400 grit and it wasn't a near mirror finish. It was as bright, shiny and smooth as any mirror. Crazy. Beautiful. Looked like a $200 pan. So I put it on the rocket stove outside and super-heated it. It blued. Like French armor from the middle ages. This blue carbon steel Made In wok was chosen as wok of the year somewhere. I think I prefer Walmarts sub $7 wok hacked. The blue remains gorgeous on the outside. The insides are now properly seasoned. Easily the most slippery pans I've ever had.

The problem. They may have been discontinued. I checked online before going to get them and it said out of stock. I hurried to my Walmart. Bought the last four. The price went up a dollar. $6.88.

I suspect few of you read all this and none of you will do it. Who knows? Maybe they're unavailable to you. But I think @Ron Swanson might be a good candidate for giving this a try. Wok Hei!! I yell that when I toss the food in my wok and get the flames right.

Even though I already have a wok I love I would be all over that just because. But, none are in stock anywhere near me.

I will give you one tip if you want to reduce your cost even further, Drano is a mix of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda/lye) and sodium hypochlorite (bleach). The caustic is what is removing the teflon. Caustic can be acquired in dry or liquid form much less expensively than Drano.

 

[Senor Schmutzig]

So far I have bought my wife a coffee grinder, like a real nice one, and some corded AirPods, wires and all.

Whenever I ask her what she wants for Christmas she always says, repeatedly, "I don't want anything".

I know it's a trap, I just know it, but damnit if I can't think of anything that she hasn't already recently bought for herself.

And I have a ****ty imagination for these things. We've been together 30+ years. I have run out of gift ideas. I'm done.

Meanwhile I have bought my 19-year old son a PS5 and some Beats headphones. The older the kids get, the more expensive their requests are.

 

[Peggy]

I know it's a trap, I just know it, but damnit if I can't think of anything that she hasn't already recently bought for herself.

There are at least 3 things I heard her mention needing, bought wrapped and under the tree, only to have Amazon deliver the same got dan things and she just opens the box and starts using them. Not even a thought that maybe she should wait until after Christmas. It's impossible buying something for someone who already has everything and just buys what she wants whenever.

 

[Dezbelief]

So far I have bought my wife a coffee grinder, like a real nice one, and some corded AirPods, wires and all.

Whenever I ask her what she wants for Christmas she always says, repeatedly, "I don't want anything".

I know it's a trap, I just know it, but damnit if I can't think of anything that she hasn't already recently bought for herself.

And I have a ****ty imagination for these things. We've been together 30+ years. I have run out of gift ideas. I'm done.

Meanwhile I have bought my 19-year old son a PS5 and some Beats headphones. The older the kids get, the more expensive their requests are.

I was looking for this thread earlier. Do you have one of those deep tissue massagers with a ball? I got one for my wife when I was looking to amp things up. Sometimes I get the desired results. Even if I don't my wife feels better when I'm done with her back.

 

[massraider]

And I have a ****ty imagination for these things. We've been together 30+ years. I have run out of gift ideas. I'm done

Experiences. It's a better gift, almost always. Send her to a spa, tickets to a show for both of you.

Botanical garden
Museum
Exhibit
Theater
Dinner show
Couple spa

My go to is this perfumerie i know. Where they can customize a scent to her specs, give her a bottle in the old school mister, and keep the recipe on file if she wants more. Batting 1.000 with this one.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

For her:
Dart board for under $100
(something we can do together and go out after we get some practice.

Black dress (she doesn’t wear any other color)

Something else, I forgot I wrapped it. Wasn’t expensive.

For kids College and HS senior.Nike stuff. Sweatshirts and sweatpants. Makeup

The wife buys it all and I wrap it

I bought myself
1970 Datsun 240Z ornament
Sami’s Aran Ornament
A Hat

 

[jobarules]

Bought the wife a pair of sneakers she wanted and a baseball related sweatshirt I thought she'd like.

Bought the son...
New baseball helmet
New cleats
Air pods
An SGA Thunder jersey
A Ceedee Cowboy jersey
Some mini football figures
Ps5 cards
Some sweatshirts

Yeah he's spoiled rotten

 

[Ilov80s]

Got my wife a pair of Puma shoes, a space heater, these Christmas McCallister socks that have the same print as a Home Alone hat- she loves that movie, a 3 month script to Bokksu Box (Japanese snacks), tickets to see Richard Marx at this small venue and dinner res at one of the hot new spots in Detroit and a new robe.

 

[mr. furley]

doubled up on air purifiers. wife, kids and dog have allergy problems. hoping the purifiers help mitigate some of it.