Surprise, Surprise! by veralidaine32 |  |
This article is in response to the great Holiday Shopping? article
by Ldfrostbite in Neopian Times Week 8. I know that I, and a lot of other owners,
hadn't thought much about Christmas and rewarding our pets. After all, they
provide us with fun and joyfulness all year round, so why shouldn't we reward
them? I am an owner with, typically, less than 1,000 Neopoints. I keep it that
way so I can concentrate on buying my pets toys, books, etc., not food, which
I find to be a bother. So, here are some of the things I did for my early Christmas
shopping (which saves money!!) and some ideas for you to try.
1. If you usually don't spend a lot of money in one area, buy a lot of those
types of items. For example, I bought my pets rare and delicious foods, a break
from the usual soups they have. If you don't buy the expensive books, buy two
or three for each pet. If your pet doesn't have a PetPet, buy them a special
one that relates to their type (like a Airax for your Pteri, or a Kadoatie for
an Aisha). Or, you may want to get a set of PetPets of a certain kind (fish,
faerie, spooky) so that no pet is jealous because they are all similar, yet
slightly different. This leads me to my next point.
2. Buy themed. Whether per pet or group of pets, buying themed items is a great
way to narrow down your searching and concentrate on a specific area. My sister
is doing an air faerie theme, and bought the air faerie book, Breathe, an air
faerie, a blueberry faerie bubble, etc. Or, you could buy your Usul all Usul
items, like Usukis, plushies, and posters. There are so many kinds of themes.
Some to try are: by world, by faerie, by colour, by pet type.
3. Buy a certain amount of items for each pet, and a certain category of items.
This makes it easy to keep track of what you've bought. I bought 10 items for
each of my three pets: 4 foods, 3 special candies, 2 books, and 1 PetPet. Depending
on your Neopoints, you could buy anywhere from 5 to 50 holiday treats for your
pet. Just keep them the same and you will have a much easier time figuring out
what more to buy and when you're done.
4. Limit yourself. It is so easy to go out and buy 5,000 NP worth of stuff
at once. Buy your things for each pet separately, maybe concentrating on one
pet a week. Otherwise you'll end up with a box full of stuff, with duplicates
and things you accidentally clicked on in your frenzy. The purpose is to surprise
your pet, not spoil them.
5. Keep the gifts safe. Don't be tempted to use them because you ran out of
omelette or are bored one day. Keep them in your safety deposit box, so the
Pant Devil can't get at them, and you won't be as likely to use them. If you
do give in to the urge to give, replace the gift you used right away.
6. Have fun. Don't feel bad if other owners are out buying Everlasting Apples
or 15 Gold Shoyru Plushies or Faerie Paint Brushes. Your NeoPet really doesn't
care what you get it as long as it knows how much you love it. As they say (or
used to say) in the NeoPets pound (Yes I've been there, and I regret it everyday)....
"A NeoPet is for life, not just for Christmas!"
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