The Ice Caves – Its November 1, 2002, and I just lived one of the best Halloweens ever. Now we have Thanksgiving to look forward to, where we can travel to the Mystery Island and share a Grakle-Stuffed Turkey with all of our Neofriends. But others are looking forward to an even further holiday, one where we share gifts to all our friends, and anticipating gifts in return. This time of the season is when the prices of items will be around its peak. Here are some tips to save you some Neopoints and not get overpriced for underused items.
1) Buy now. Dont wait until December 24 to buy all of your Christmas presents, because thats the EXACT day when all the prices will be at their peak. Buy in advance. If you can (too late now), you could buy items in March/April, where prices are not that high because there are no good holidays there. But, since its already November, you should buy now.
2) Make a list of friends you are going to give items to, in order of importance. This way, you can budget yourself, dividing your neopoints into things you can buy for your Neofriends this Christmas. The first person on your list is where youre going to spend the most Neopoints on. I like to use the half half half method, which is to use half of your neopoints on the first person, then half on the second, and half on the third, and so on so forth. For example, lets say that you have 100,000 NP. You will spend 50,000 NP on the first person, 25,000 NP on the second person, 12,500 NP on the third person, 6,250 NP on the fourth person, and so on. You will have some NP left over after youre done, so you can start your savings again for the next year. I found this way to be the most effective because you are actually doing some kind of budgeting.
Because you are budgeting yourself to spend only that much, or less, on a gift, you will be happy to know that by the time you reach that 100th person on your list, you will have NP left to give them too.
3) Buy accordingly. I dont want to be a control freak and tell you what to buy for your friends, but what could you buy for that picky Neopian? Lets say that one of your friends likes collecting plushies, so why not buy him an adorable plushie he doesnt have in his collection. It will make him happy because its something that interests him, and itll make you happy knowing you made someone happy. Got a picky Neopian who fusses over everything? Pile of Dung work well :). I bet you all have a sense of judgment, so pick whats right for them.
4) Christmas related items are a great buy. If you cant think up anything to give, why not give them a Christmas Paint Brush or a Christmas Tree Negg? Get something festive and give it to them. But because prices of these types of items will increase by the time Christmas arrives, you should buy them now.
5) Put the items on the Trading Post. You can make certain lots for your friends. By putting For _(Friends name)_, Merry Christmas or something of the sort, you can keep yourself from trading that item for something else. It also helps you organize what youre giving away, and if your friend does manage to get a peek at those items, he/she will know what to get you in return.
6) Give to the Money Tree. After buying gifts for all your friends, you will have some left over. But what about putting that money somewhere where it will make another person happy? You can donate some of that NP to a person in great need, and that person will be happy, and maybe he/she will return that favor to another Neopian that needs help. What comes around goes around.
Merry Christmas (in a month), from youngking.
(All opinions in this article are those of youngking. Article was written on November 1, 2002, so some content may be outdated by the time you read it. Questions? Comments? Feel free to neomail me at youngking) – youngking