When I go Christmas shopping, I have a strategy. (I am, in case you were wondering, three parts OCD, four parts nerd, one part responsible adult.) It might be imperfect, but I’m known as something of a decent gift-giver, so maybe there’s something to it.
FanDuel: Shopping for the biggest bargains
If you start at the most expensive point, you have to settle for whatever you can get. But if you start cheap, you know exactly what you have to splurge with.
Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE
I make out an entire list of the people I have to buy for. If I know what I want to get someone, sure, I mark down that item, but in general, the list is just the identities. With four siblings, all married, eight nieces and nephews, two parents, a handful of gift-worthy friends, and now friends’ offspring, the list in recent years has gotten somewhat long.
I also try to do all my shopping over the course of a few days, which means I can track my spending really well. I set aside my gift-buying budget and go.
But the main thing I do -- and this is the real point here -- is that I buy the cheapest gifts first. A distant friend, or my sister’s husband who complains when I buy him presents. For them, I’m tossing only a few dollars down, just enough to say “Look, here’s a thing.” And I move up the list, buying gradually more expensive presents. By the time, then, that I get to my nieces and nephews -- the ones I want to really splurge on -- I have a real idea of how much I can spend on each one.
In FanDuel, I don't start with the studs. If I splurge on Peyton Manning, Matt Forte, Demaryius Thomas, and I end up with $9,000 on just my third receiver and my defense, I'm stuck with whatever I can get. Here, Brother-In-Law, I got you an America Online free trial CD, because I spent all my gift budget on a race car for Nephew.
If you start on the cheap side, find values at the bottom, then you know exactly how much you can afford to splurge when you get to the pricier guys.
That in mind, this is my roster for my entry into the $45k Sunday NFL Spike. It has just over 10,000 entrants, and about 2,000 spots pay out. First prize is ... well, it’s nice:
| Position | Player | Opponent | Salary |
| QB | Drew Brees | Minnesota | 9,100 |
| RB | LeSean McCoy | Washington | 9,200 |
| RB | Pierre Thomas | Minnesota | 6,300 |
| WR | Calvin Johnson | Green Bay | 9,000 |
| WR | Marques Colston | Minnesota | 5,600 |
| WR | Brian Quick | Dallas | 5,200 |
| TE | Niles Paul | @Philadelphia | 5,000 |
| K | Josh Brown | Houston | 4,500 |
| DEF | Houston Texans | @NY Giants | 5,200 |
A funny thing actually happened here. A year ago, my brother’s girlfriend moved in with us, and with her came her daughters, my new nieces. When I was Christmas shopping for Nyva, I found this cool light-up globe that she’d have loved, only it was far too expensive for a girl who I didn’t really know. I finished the rest of my shopping, and realized I had come in under budget. So I went back and got her the globe. Whatever, it was too expensive, but it’s Nyva’s nightlight to this day.
Anyway, I started with my kicker and defense. Brown is literally the last kicker on the entire board, the same salary as Rob Bironas, who isn't currently a football player. At $4,500, I figured I couldn't go wrong; maybe he gets a few field goals and they lose 30-9. After that, I went with the Saints' defense, which went for $4,600. It's been a terrible unit so far, but with a home game against an Adrian Peterson-less Vikings team, I didn't mind it.
Later, when I moved on to the more expensive side of things, it occurred to me -- as I noted in my Wednesday piece, capitalizing on successful teammates is a real route to success. So I went all in on the Saints, grabbing Brees at a premium, then Thomas and Colston at relative discounts. I filled it out with the best wide receiver and the best running back in the entire game.
I was done. And I still had $1,500 left. I am not at all of the mind that you have to spend every penny, but with that amount remaindered, sure, go crazy. I moved back to defenses, where I was the least happy with my choice, and managed to upgrade to literally my No. 1 ranked defense for the week.
So, to recap, by starting cheap, I got my No. 1 ranked quarterback, running back, wide receiver and defense for Week 3, and combined two of the quarterback’s decent buy-low targets. I love this roster.
Normally, this is the point where I move on to the 50/50 roster. And I made one. And it was OK. I liked it. But as I went to enter it, I stopped. That roster up there, the one with a bunch of best-at-their-positions and Colston and Thomas? Seriously, I love that roster.
So I entered it in my 50/50 as well. Normally I like to diversify, but the heck with it. That’s a keeper.
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