Did anyone else go nuts on Easter spending?

[Zikoris]

I guess it's a bit of a stretch to call it "insane", but I spent $44 on Easter chocolate. A bag of small dark chocolate eggs, three larger rice milk chocolate eggs, a solid dark chocolate bunny, and a hollow rice milk chocolate bunny filled with gummy bears. I blame it on discovering sources for quality vegan chocolate - I've actually never bought Easter chocolate in my adult life until now due to the hassle of finding vegan stuff, but this was glorious.

Anyone else?

[NinetyFour]

$0 here.

[marty998]

I usually go a bit nuts buying eggs today (Easter Monday). 50-75% off and I'm still eating chocolate eggs in September/October. It's quantity, not quality that matters. A hundred smaller eggs is better than 1 big one.

[Zikoris]

I usually go a bit nuts buying eggs today (Easter Monday). 50-75% off and I'm still eating chocolate eggs in September/October. It's quantity, not quality that matters. A hundred smaller eggs is better than 1 big one.

Not a bad idea - unfortunately for me, the one place that imports rice milk easter chocolate only order enough to get through the weekend. hen I picked up my second round yesterday, they were down to their last six rabbits , and about eight chocolate eggs (I bought three of them). They were sold out on everything else already, including vegan peanut butter chocolate cups, and I imagine the last bit is gone by now. I guess I can be thankful that they only stock it three times a year (Valentine's, Easter, and Christmas), so there's no chance of it becoming a habit.

[iris lily]

Each year DH gets me the same thing for Easter and it's very cute because it symbolizes our interest in spring: a set of garden gloves and a hand trowel. They will last through the year, bu just barely.

[MayDay]

I spaced in Easter basket loot for the kids, and went to target on rei day evening like every other schmuck in my town.  The Easter aisle was crazy- nothing in stock, 20 people trying to jam their carts around each other.

I ended up buying a bit much (although only two bags of candy) and I am going to return a few things tomorrow.  When I filled the kids baskets I decided that instead of jamming everything in, I ought to just get 5$ back. 

One thing I always do is buy garden tools and sidewalk chalk on clearance and then save it for their Easter baskets. 

[thepokercab]

We spend a bit, but mostly on travel expenses.  Easter is sort of a big event on the wife's side of the family; it's kind of like her family's annual get together.  It's a five hour drive, so between the rental car + gas, like $250 bucks.   Nice part though is that the grandparents end up buying all of the sweets, eggs, etc. for our kids.  Kids love it, grandparents love it, wife and I get to relax a bit.  Everyone wins. 

[1967mama]

Yes, overspent on chocolates, eggs, candy etc "for the kids!"

[kkbmustang]

We spend a bit, but mostly on travel expenses.  Easter is sort of a big event on the wife's side of the family; it's kind of like her family's annual get together.  It's a five hour drive, so between the rental car + gas, like $250 bucks.   Nice part though is that the grandparents end up buying all of the sweets, eggs, etc. for our kids.  Kids love it, grandparents love it, wife and I get to relax a bit.  Everyone wins.

Ditto that here. Trip to San Antonio to visit by brother and his family. We went to Sea World today (discount everything because they have season passes). We gave the kids (ours and our nieces) cash to spend at the park instead of chocolate. My 11 year old son came home with a pillow pet bigger than he was - not a bad exchange for a $6 bucket of rings on the ring toss. I've never actually seen anyone win at that game before.

Not to worry, the grandparents supplied the chocolate.

[Rural]

Bought a ham since they were on sale.

[lizzzi]

Easter cost $120 or so that I would not have spent otherwise. There were seven people here for Easter dinner, so I bought wine, snacks, flowers,  a fruit platter, and two desserts, plus some jelly beans, eggs to boil and decorate, and some more groceries needed for the dinner and also for Easter breakfast. I don't begrudge it at all. My cousin dropped off a huge Honey-baked ham as a thank you for some helpful things we've done for her over the hard winter…I think it was at least a $50 gift, and will make several more left-over ham meals, even with giving guests "care packages" of ham to take home. I'm really not concerned about the $120.

[oldtoyota]

$0 for me.

Grandparents gave some chocolate. It's surprising to know that shopping was crazy at Target for...Easter?? Is Easter the new Christmas?

[lizzzi]

oldtoyota, I was astonished today when the three grandchildren came over with a bunch of new toys that the Easter bunny brought them for Easter morning. Do people really do that now?

[renaite]

oldtoyota, I was astonished today when the three grandchildren came over with a bunch of new toys that the Easter bunny brought them for Easter morning. Do people really do that now?

My aunt mentioned today that she had a ton of video games, books, and DVDs in the trunk of her car for her kids' Easter baskets. I was shocked too! Apparently Easter presents are now a thing. (Adding to the craziness, her "kids" are 22, 19, and 16.)

[Thegoblinchief]

$0. Grandparents on both sides take care of the spoiling.

[tmac]

I picked up some jelly beans and chocolate at the grocery store this morning and we dyed some eggs this afternoon using supplies already on hand. The other people at the store were buying those stupid pre-made baskets full of plastic crap.

I can appreciate the excitement of finding vegan chocolate, though. :)

[gooki]

$5 for a bottle of cream, and a block of fair trade chocolate. Then spent Saturday morning making chocolate truffles with my daughter to give to our friends/family.

[Anatidae V]

We asked for no chocolate this year, or, if they must, a tiny amount of good quality. We are still in "the kids" section of our families. My parents got us a giant cat climbing frame they picked up at a garage sale for $40, his mum made us a tiny bay of lindt chocolates and we got a smaties Easter egg and rocky road from his dad and grandparents. Still much more than I'd have liked, but this is an improvement.

I am surprised people get their kids baskets of stuff. My parents always bought a few bags of little eggs, plus a bunny or large egg for each of us and then we had to hunt them down. All spoils were split evenly after the hunt, with extras taxed by them (had to have the number of each kind of little eggs divisible by 4).

[apennysaved]

I took my 3 year old daughter to three local Easter egg hunts (2 at community centers & one at church) that were free to participate in and then recycled most of that candy into her Easter basket this morning.  I did, however, break down and bought her the Frozen DVD at Target which was on sale for $14 to put in her basket. I also bought my five month old son a stuffed bunny for $5 and a basket for $1.50. This is actually the first year I did baskets as my 3 year old started asking about the Easter bunny and leaving out a basket for the bunny to fill...guess she learned about all this in pre-K or from older kids on the block.

The Easter egg hunts/celebrations were a lot of fun.  Two of them had bouncy castles.  My daughter won a stuffed bunny at another because she found a raffle ticket in an egg.  We got free pics with the Easter bunny.  Ran into some old friends.  Just great free family entertainment, so I will definitely try to repeat this next year.

[TheRedHead]

I bought a 'themed' toy set for my sons basket this year. It was an angry birds telepod star ship (he loves angry birds) that I got on sale at Target which went into his basket along with a high-quality dark chocolate rabbit. His 12 eggs were half filled with additional angry birds telepods (very cool little toys) and half with high-quality no GMO/HFCS candy. I really limit his candy and make sure that what he does get isn't full of scary dyes and corn syrup. That is why I bought the toys. I'd rather spend money on a cool toy he will use and play with (he spent all afternoon playing with the telepods) and have less sugar. We are feeling our way through Easter with him and how to do it and the idea of a themed gift that carries over to the eggs feels right for us. I bought 12 large plastic eggs that I plan on using year after year and we used some of our own African baskets as his 'Easter basket' and it worked great. Nothing disposable!

Plus he has an egg allergy so it's not like we are hiding real eggs for him.

[ruthiegirl]

Less that $20 for 4 kids.  I got them each a small bunny, split a bag of jelly beans and they each got a couple of peeps.  I reused grass and baskets that we have had for years. 

I did spend about $4 dollars on eggs to dye, but those will get eaten over the next week.
 
Just enough that everyone got a little something and my wallet felt fine. 

[JPinDC]

A friend and I put together an egg hunt for our friends, which included airplane bottles of liquor in "special" eggs. Since we split it, it was only $12, and it was so much fun!

[Jamesqf]

Another $0.  Not my religion, so I'm barely aware of the holiday.

As for chocolate, I can buy pretty decent dark chocolate in bulk at WinCo.  Made chocolate covered graham crackers yesterday.  Addictive.

[obstinate]

Spent around ten bucks on the fixings for a really tasty ragú with beef, veal, and bacon. The leftovers will feed us Tuesday. Breakin' da BANK.

[happy]

Well I spent $34 on quite a bit of chocolate marked down <half price. Still shaking my head a bit: not sure what possessed me: why  o why am I still buying Easter eggs for a 16 and a 19 year old, trying to stay up until they are asleep ( getting harder and harder),  tippy toe-ing into their rooms, falling over teenager piles of stuff, and depositing said chocolate? Every time I suggest its time to stop they regress and lose a decade, and do this sooty-la-la routine. (And I keep falling for it).

[danclarkie]

Spent about $400 on the weekend.

$200 on an Amazon Kindle that I had my eye on for quite a while.
$200 on a pair of RayBans as I was beginning to freak out that my cheap sunglasses had no UV filter and were dangerous.

So happy with both.
The Kindle is amazing and I'm already 2/3rds through "Flash Boys"

The sunglasses are incredible, glas I paid the extra for polarized lenses! Really good.

[GuitarStv]

Yes!  Close to 40$ in gas spent visiting family.

[Anatidae V]

Spent about $400 on the weekend.

$200 on an Amazon Kindle that I had my eye on for quite a while.
$200 on a pair of RayBans as I was beginning to freak out that my cheap sunglasses had no UV filter and were dangerous.

So happy with both.
The Kindle is amazing and I'm already 2/3rds through "Flash Boys"

The sunglasses are incredible, glas I paid the extra for polarized lenses! Really good.

I got polarised sunnies for $35 a few moths ago...

[danclarkie]

Spent about $400 on the weekend.

$200 on an Amazon Kindle that I had my eye on for quite a while.
$200 on a pair of RayBans as I was beginning to freak out that my cheap sunglasses had no UV filter and were dangerous.

So happy with both.
The Kindle is amazing and I'm already 2/3rds through "Flash Boys"

The sunglasses are incredible, glas I paid the extra for polarized lenses! Really good.

I got polarised sunnies for $35 a few moths ago...

I bet they weren't RayBan Wayfarers!

[GuitarStv]

Spent about $400 on the weekend.

$200 on an Amazon Kindle that I had my eye on for quite a while.
$200 on a pair of RayBans as I was beginning to freak out that my cheap sunglasses had no UV filter and were dangerous.

So happy with both.
The Kindle is amazing and I'm already 2/3rds through "Flash Boys"

The sunglasses are incredible, glas I paid the extra for polarized lenses! Really good.

I got polarised sunnies for $35 a few moths ago...

I bet they weren't RayBan Wayfarers!

Damn, I've just been wearing a hat that shades my eyes for the past 30 years.  Do I need a pair of 200$ sunglasses to protect my eyes from teh dangers????

[HappierAtHome]

I think I spent $15 on Easter chocolate for the BF. And we've spent probably $100 extra on groceries and alcohol, due to hosting social gatherings.

[OldDogNewTrick]

Blew out the grocery budget with a semi-boneless lamb roast and 2 bottles of excellent Malbec. Kids are in their twenties and I stopped the baskets when they were 12ish.

[danclarkie]

Spent about $400 on the weekend.

$200 on an Amazon Kindle that I had my eye on for quite a while.
$200 on a pair of RayBans as I was beginning to freak out that my cheap sunglasses had no UV filter and were dangerous.

So happy with both.
The Kindle is amazing and I'm already 2/3rds through "Flash Boys"

The sunglasses are incredible, glas I paid the extra for polarized lenses! Really good.

I got polarised sunnies for $35 a few moths ago...

I bet they weren't RayBan Wayfarers!

Damn, I've just been wearing a hat that shades my eyes for the past 30 years.  Do I need a pair of 200$ sunglasses to protect my eyes from teh dangers????

I would have to assume that the hat provides 0% UV protection.
If you live in a place that experiences heavy sunshine, you are exposing yourself to unnecessary risk of long term eye damage from UV light.
The effects of which have been frequently documented
epa.gov
who.int

Cataract surgery will likely set you back >$200.
I equally don't want to be the richest guy in the graveyard ;)

$200 is excessive for Sunglasses, but the thread asked if anyone "went nuts" :P
I could have got a pair for $40, no doubt.

Everyone seems to be beating each other to boast how little they spent.
I figured I would buck the trend.

[happy]

O_o

[ketchup]

1 green bell pepper
1 basil plant
1 lemon
1 bulb of funnel
5lbs russet potatoes

Around eight bucks.  Just what we needed to make our fancy roast chicken lunch and chili dinner.  Not too bad.

[GuitarStv]

^ there appears to be a dearth of chicken in your fancy roast chicken lunch.  :P

[starbuck]

My sister in law put together an easter egg hunt for the little kids, putting cereal inside all of the eggs (Kix, I think.) The four year old was endlessly entertained, shaking each egg and asking me what I thought was in it. Oooh cereal! Just like the last 8 eggs she cracked open. :)

[oldtoyota]

oldtoyota, I was astonished today when the three grandchildren came over with a bunch of new toys that the Easter bunny brought them for Easter morning. Do people really do that now?

I guess so. My sister told me that it was going to be "like Christmas" in her house. It had not occurred to me that idea was widespread.

[horsepoor]

Bought a ham since they were on sale.

Ditto. 

But then, I can't remember the last time I celebrated Easter.

[mrsggrowsveg]

My parents spent a lot of candy for all the kids and some cheesy toys.  Our only $ spent was a little gas and the ham we brought, raised on our farm.

[burly]

I spent $5,000 on a lump sum loan payment... That count?

[ketchup]

^ there appears to be a dearth of chicken in your fancy roast chicken lunch.  :P

Crap!  I knew we forgot something yesterday!

The chicken itself had been living in our freezer for a few weeks.  Well, not living I guess.

[begood]

I finally figured out to keep the basket and grass from one year to the next, so this year, I got the $15 Lindt "carrot" filled with little chocolate lambs, chicks, bunnies, carrots, ladybugs, eggs. We'll all eat the chocolate and it filled my daughter's basket nicely! I did get a box of four peeps at Wegman's on Saturday so it wasn't all just the chocoanimals. So $16 total. I'm sure that's less than I spent last year - baby step!

[MrsPete]

oldtoyota, I was astonished today when the three grandchildren came over with a bunch of new toys that the Easter bunny brought them for Easter morning. Do people really do that now?

Yes, at our "family Easter" a couple of us were talking about how people go overboard these days with Easter (and Valentine's Day, and it's just a matter of time before Halloween becomes a gift-giving occasion).  We all agree it's a mistake. 

When I was a kid, we used to leave out our baskets, and we'd find them full of candy (and a coloring book/crayons or some bubbles) the next morning.  This year my teens received a pair of springtime PJs and candy.  Not too much, not too little. 

Finally, hearing about people stressing and overdoing makes me glad for my family.  We had a casual cookout.  The host had a grill hot and ready, and two guys brought meat.  All the ladies brought side dishes.  At the end of the event, we all traded food so we went home with different goodies.  We had a great time, and IF anyone experienced any stress at all, I wasn't aware of it.

Damn, I've just been wearing a hat that shades my eyes for the past 30 years.  Do I need a pair of 200$ sunglasses to protect my eyes from teh dangers????

I have a pair of $200 prescription RayBans, and I love them.  My eyes are bad enough now that I don't like to drive without my glasses, nor do I like driving without my sunglasses.   I feel much safer having a good pair of prescription glasses behind the wheel -- I had reached the point where I had to choose between comfort in the sun OR being able to read street signs.  If you don't have poor eyesight, you might not be able to relate. 

Also, keep in mind that your insurance will cover a portion of the cost of prescription glasses -- even sunglasses. 
And at the end of the year, if you haven't used your coverage for prescription glasses, you can use your benefit towards a pair of non-prescription RayBans (or other quality sunglasses). 

Blew out the grocery budget with a semi-boneless lamb roast and 2 bottles of excellent Malbec. Kids are in their twenties and I stopped the baskets when they were 12ish.

No way.  I'll still be making my kids an Easter treat when they're 50.  My mom didn't give me a basket yesterday, but she did give each of us kids some fancy homemade candy, which we heartily appreciated. 

[soccerluvof4]

spent 32$ on 4 kids baskets (candy) but that was budgeted in our weekly grocery expenses which we remained under our weekly ave of 180$ for family of 6.

[RootofGood]

We never had the tradition of "easter gift baskets" growing up, and we're continuing to not have that tradition with our kids.  Just seems like another gimmicky holiday now.  We had some leftover chocolate golden coins from Christmas (bought 75% off) and we stocked some easter eggs with that candy.

We made green bean casserole and deviled eggs for a family potluck, so I guess we technically spent $4 or so on food.  But it wasn't any more than what we would normally spend on a meal cooked at home.

We will, however, celebrate in style and probably pick up some 50-75% off candies that should last for the next 5-6 months.  I doubt we'll spend more than $10-20 on the candy though. 

[skunkfunk]

Easter is always a net positive for me. I believe I made an extra $300 or so this time.

[dragoncar]

Uh... I went a little nuts eating chocolate, but didn't buy anything.  Yeah, my mom still made my adult ass a basket.

Still, I'm surprised the mustachians here didn't, you know, wait until the post-holiday sales to pick up their candy on the cheap?

[ichangedmyname]

$0. My mother-in-law spent some money though. Got my husband and me Easter baskets. I feel really awkward when she gives us something and I don't have anything to give her because I didn't know we were getting baskets and cards or because I just don't think we should be giving gifts on Easter.

[tmac]

Still, I'm surprised the mustachians here didn't, you know, wait until the post-holiday sales to pick up their candy on the cheap?

I'll have you know that our local market puts some basic items on sale on Easter morning, which is when I got our candy.

So there.