# How much should a X-mas Tree cost???



## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

OK, not absolutely critical to my financial budget, but I still try to look for a good deal. Today we picked up a really nice Frasure Fir at Rona for $45. A bit more than I wanted to spend, but it's a spectacular tree. I prefer trees with shorter needles. It's a 7 foot tree, so that works out to $6.43 per foot.

How about you guys? How much did you, or do you spend on a real X-mas tree?


----------



## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

$35, cut it down yourself. $35 for a Fir. $35 for a Spruce, $35 for a pine. $35 for a 3 foot tree, $35 for a 12 foot tree. Did it today. My 5 year old son picked it out, sorry to say to everybody else, but he picked out "The best tree EVER!!!" (His words).


----------



## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

I miss the days when my family would go and cut down our tree. We'd drive a couple of hours north of Saskatoon (1970's). Cutting down your own tree makes for good memories when you're a kid.


----------



## mind_business (Sep 24, 2011)

Just realized I posted this in General Finance. I meant to put it in General Discussion. Admin can move if they want. Thanks.


----------



## dogcom (May 23, 2009)

In Richmond BC it should cost you between 16-30 dollars.


----------



## Spidey (May 11, 2009)

We bought quite a nice one at Ikea (7 feet) for $20 and received a $20 gift certificate to use in the New Year.


----------



## Four Pillars (Apr 5, 2009)

I paid $40 at Loblaws today. It was a no tax day.


----------



## brad (May 22, 2009)

A few years ago we decided to cut our own tree, and that experience, coupled with the fact that we discovered a bird's nest in the tree when we got it home, made my girlfriend feel bad about killing trees just to have them indoors for a few weeks. She understands that they're grown for that purpose and they're replaced after they're cut, and she also understands that most birds don't reuse their nests, but she feels bad just the same. I won't have a plastic tree in the house; I'd rather not have a tree than have a fake one. So our compromise is that next year we're going to buy a wrought-iron Christmas tree from a blacksmith in Ontario who makes them. Not cheap ($180 for a 72-inch tree), but given the price of trees it'll pay for itself in about 6 years and should last us the rest of our lives.


----------



## Daniel A. (Mar 20, 2011)

I paid on average 75.00 for trees the daughter always picked the tree at the boyscout lot.

Now that the kids have moved out we stopped buying trees and putting up outside lights.

I see warm places for my Christmas,s in all future years.


----------



## Jungle (Feb 17, 2010)

$59+ tax @ Rona (on sale). 1000 tips, 300+ lights. 6 foot. Fake.

We bought a Charlie Brown tree at Canadian Tire for $49, but returned it. Looked too "holy." No pun intended.


----------



## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

brad said:


> ... I won't have a plastic tree in the house; I'd rather not have a tree than have a fake one


good for you. I have been known to make a few rakish ones from shrub prunings. Mock orange shrubs have marvellous long straight 7-8 foot stalks that were originally used to make first nation backpack cradles because they were so straight, so one of these makes a good "tree" trunk.

once the lights & decorations are added, a few presents beneath, nobody ever notices. It's not all out into the compost after xmas, either. The long stalks get used as plant stakes the following summer.

i remember i saw some lady in a fashion mag had painted her homemade "tree" made of shrub prunings pure white. Hers had branches sticking out at wild angles. The thing stood outdoors for years at the beach house for hanging towels, t-shirts, bathing suits.


----------



## Teen Trader (Sep 1, 2009)

We've bought our tree from the same guy (just down the road from us) for as long as I can remember. He just raised his prices from $25 to $30 two years ago. Any size you want, all beautiful ('organic') trees, all the same price,


----------



## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

Jeez, Calgary prices are ridiculous. My 7' from Home Depot was $30. I buy them there because they usually look pretty good and I know they are farmed. I'm not sure if it's really for the better or worse but I feel better knowing they are grown to be cut, and they aren't just cutting down some forest for Xmas trees. The guys on the corner just cost too much, usually $10-20 per foot of tree. You get a stick for $20 there, and a full tree that is nice runs close to $100.

My dad always took my brother and me to cut a tree from this place way out of the city in NS. Those are my best Christmas memories.


----------



## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

brad said:


> A few years ago we decided to cut our own tree, and that experience, coupled with the fact that we discovered a bird's nest in the tree when we got it home, made my girlfriend feel bad about killing trees just to have them indoors for a few weeks. She understands that they're grown for that purpose and they're replaced after they're cut, and she also understands that most birds don't reuse their nests, but she feels bad just the same. I won't have a plastic tree in the house; I'd rather not have a tree than have a fake one. So our compromise is that next year we're going to buy a wrought-iron Christmas tree from a blacksmith in Ontario who makes them. Not cheap ($180 for a 72-inch tree), but given the price of trees it'll pay for itself in about 6 years and should last us the rest of our lives.


That sounds like an interesting idea. Does the blacksmith by any chance have a website do you know?


----------



## brad (May 22, 2009)

uptoolate said:


> That sounds like an interesting idea. Does the blacksmith by any chance have a website do you know?


Yes: http://wroughtiron.on.ca


----------



## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

jcgd said:


> Jeez, Calgary prices are ridiculous. My 7' from Home Depot was $30.


$5 for a license to cut down 3 trees, just outside of town.


----------



## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

Sampson, were do you get the license and cut? Thanks for the tip.


----------



## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

Hey jcgd,
Permit
and
locations

Its all crown land, and can make for a fun few hours and nice holiday tradition.


----------



## Guigz (Oct 28, 2010)

Teen Trader said:


> Any size you want, all beautiful ('organic') trees, all the same price,


I am curious about this: Aren't pretty much all tree organic? Does it matter if you aren't going to eat them?

I prefer real trees, but I can get them for free on our land. Of course, they make a mess when our cats climb in them so we get a fake one. IIRC it was around 50$.


----------



## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Some farmers will spray trees with pesticides, others fertilizer even others "paint" the trees in the winter so they look nice and green in your home.


----------



## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

How about a swag or wreath made of natural pine? Either are cheaper, easier and cleaner to handle and offers the lovely smell of a natural Christmas tree.


----------



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> How about a swag or wreath made of natural pine? Either are cheaper, easier and cleaner to handle and offers the lovely smell of a natural Christmas tree.


Hard to put that 50 inch big screen tv under it though.:biggrin:

Personally, I don't understand that we need to kill these trees. Birds make nests in them, and they help the ecology.

Why not just a conical wire frame with hundreds of LED lights, and a few pine scented "litte tree" car air freshners?
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-68932411/stock-photo-decorative-wire-frame-christmas-tree.html


----------



## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

But but but, a plastic, steel, or anything that's not naturally pined or have that piney-scent is not the same....so how about a compromise like a swag or wreath where the "tree" doesn't get killed? Also, the Christmas tree farmers wouldn't be too jolly about the lack of seasonal business. 

Re that 50" big screen tv - mom and dad would already have that mounted in their bedroom and not wrapped under the "tree" or hung in Santa's stocking by the fireplace's mantle. :biggrin:


----------

