as always, if the goal says "buy" something, you can't buy it in advance and get credit. if it says "have" something, then it doesn't matter when you bought it.
unless you mean you got the goal that said buy the tree stumps, and then bought them but didn't get credit. then you have a glitch.
No, I bought them earlier. I've never seen it explained like that, so thank you. However, how does one know if it is going to say buy or have until they get to the goal? When I checked the forum the info wasn't there at the time. Would it make sense to "skip" with gems, or buy two more?
it always makes more sense to pay coins than gems for me, because coins are easier to earn and i save my gems for decor. but if you're really saving up for coin expansions or something like that, i guess it might make more sense for you to gem skip.
and there's never a way to predict what items will be "buy" and which will be "have," though generally it's the stuff that comes later in the goal set that says "have." but really, the best option is always to check the forums, and if no one's gotten far enough yet to tell the rest of us what the goals will require, just buy exactly what you're told to, when you're told to. you may not get the decor you want exactly when you want it, but you won't have to re-buy any of it either.
Thank you so much for your help and advice. It's really appreciated!