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18 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Dec. 4, 1984 Every family has a Scrooge in it, the father or mother or brother or aunt who stashes his or her money away in a sock. So for the Scrooge on your list, try buying a "Pig Pocket' bank, guaranteed to bring a smile fo the cheapest of cheeks. At Luke's Country Store for $3.98. Lots of spirit but little cash? Christmas doesn't have It's that time of the year again and although many of you are crying out "say it isn't so," it's time to face up to facts. The Santa Claus Parade IS over. It snowed over the weekend. People are fighting in - earnest over Cabbage Patch dolls. The Port Perry Star is full of Santa Claus pictures. Chickens can't keep up with the egg nog demand. These are the facts. And they add up to one inescapable conclusion. Christmas is around the corner, JUST around the corner, and if you haven't started your Christmas shopping yet, woe is you. And double woe is you if you're silly enough to shop outside of Port Perry. There's enough gift shops and crafts- people in the vicinity to fill parcels under a zillion trees, and price tags to match every budget. Speaking of budgets, not everyone has the cash to run out and spend a hundred bucks on everyone they know. Some of us are limited. Very limited. Some of us can't spare much more than ten bucks a crack. With that in mind, the If there's a curious kid in your household (or an adult-sized mad scientist), a futuristic ant farm might be just the ticket for Christmas gift-opening. This "Battat Experiment' collection includes a chemical powdered car and other scientific toys, for children five and up. At Ted E. Bear's, $7.99 each. Bathrooms are by far the nation's favourite libraries so these nifty items are always popular. There's Games For The John, at $4.95, and a plastic water-safe book called The Shower Songbook, at $6.95 it's great for soggy opera stars. Both books available at the Port Perry Star. Star has rounded up a bunch of nifty gift ideas for folks with lots of Christmas spirit, but not a lot of green stuff. All the items listed cost less than a deuce. What can you get for under ten dollars, you may well ask? Well, you can't get a water bed, or a new car or a vacation in the Rockies. But you can pick up a Krazy Karpet tobbaggan for the kids for under two dollars at Home Hardware and a digital quartz clock, at the same store, for less than four. Any of the three drug stores in town feature neat little gift items for under ten bucks, especially for the women on your Christmas list. How about some fancy bath oil beads tucked into equally fancy coloured pails, at Bruton's? Or a cuddly animal ceramic candle holder at Guard- ian Drugs? Maybe a classy bottle of perfume is the stocking stuffer you've been looking for -- if that's the case, there's plenty to choose from at Smith and Smith. . 3 Stedman's Depart- ment Store, as always, is chock full of inexpen- sive gift ideas, For the Cabbage Patch fanatic in your family, there's a whole range of access- ories to choose from, including a bottle of Cabbage Patch Bubble Bath. Really! And it foams like crazy. The toy department is jam-packed with doo- dads to keep kids of all ages occupied on Christmas morning. But shop early if you plan to buy popular items -- anything to do with Go-Bots or Care Bears goes faster than the eye can see. Oh, and there's always plenty of under- wear and socks for mothers to buy for children. You never know when you might be in an accident, after all. Right next door to Stedman's (well, sort. of), is Canadian Tire, and as everyone knows by now, there's more to Canadian Tire than just tires. How about putting together a winter driv- ing kit? Try wrapping up some gas-line anti- freeze, windshield waslier, a litre of oil, a couple of chocolate bars and a box of car-sized kleenex. If there's still money left over, toss in a warm blanket, a flashlight with fresh batteries and a box of matches. If there's a camera bug in your family, pick up a couple rolls of colour film at WW One Hour Photo, also at the plaza. If you haven't tried it yet, you might like Kodak's 1000 ASA Colour VR film. On Christmas morning, when flash could ruin delicate gift-opening scenes, the 1000 ASA film can capture all the action without any blur. At Brock's where you can always find any- thing if you look hard enough, there's warm, warm, warm wooly socks under ten dollars, as well as cuddly mittens and hats. Mitts are always appreciated, especially by kids who lose them -- idiot string or no idiot string. And if you haven't ""Twinkles" is the name for the shiny metal free ornaments sold at Pearse Jewellery. The price of the glittering gifts in- cludes personalized engraving, so for $3.95 you can hang one on your tree, in the win- dow, from the doorway or even inside your car. A terrific gift for the paper boy or teacher. checked out the two newest stores in town, have a look at The Children's Den, with all sorts of pre-school 'to put you in poor house fashions under ten dollars, and "from my heart", a card and gift shop featuring gourmet Turn to page 19 Going to a tree-trimming party and not quite sure what kind of ornament to present to the host? How about a Christmas goose, or a gaggle of festive ceramic geese? There's Santa Goose, Mrs. Claus Goose and Gentleman Goose to choose from. At the Set- tlement House, $8.99 each. For future teenagers, a dream come true ---- a toy combining telephone and cars (the two necessities of teenaged life, accor- ding fo some parents). This telephone riding toy has a peek-a-boo hood that lifts up, a stur- dy back rest, a hidden compartment for telephone books and other treasures and bumper guards. For children one to three, at Ted E. Bear's, $53.98.