No adult pressies this year...

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What about buying them a joint gift? A voucher for cinema / eating out etc..

Savvy_Sue

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newmrslockwood

We decided this year not to buy for the adults in the family. I have lots of siblings and they all have children except my youngest brother. I will buy my brother a small gift as he always buys for my children.
2 of my sisters never buy for adults anyway and i decided to go down the same road this year.
I have bought for my parents though they deserve to receive a gift!

I put the suggestion to my closest friend about not buying for adults and after a bit of descussion we decided to only buy for adults and not kids as kids get loads and adults dont get much.

piglet74

my hubby's family do they "secret santa" and after that you just buy for the kids,

all the names go into a hat, and eveyone picks one out, checks it (so you dont get ur OH) and the limit is £30, i know that might sound a lot, but there is 7 of them, plus parents, plus other halfs, so previous to the secret santa arrangement, you were buying for around 16 people, even at £ tenner a go, u were way over the £30, (and your house was coming down with shaving sets and bubble baths for a year!!!!)

then near christmas they all meet in one persons house and one of the kids picks names outta the hat again, and that person stands up, and then the "secret santa" for them comes forward and gives them their surprise prezzie,

its great fun, and you kow ur getting one decent prezzie worth £30!!

Splodgey

Similar idea to above, we are doing a 'Credit Crunch Christmas' - all the adults (10 in total) are getting involved.

We have had envelopes sent out to all concerned with an explanation and a page where they can write a list of ideas and suggestions of things they would like to receive.

These are all being sent back to my Sister-In-Law who is co-ordinating... the lists will then be randomly sent on and you have to spend £50 on one person. The lists are to help you buy things they would actually want, especially if you get someone you don't know 'that' much about!

£50 does sound quite a lot but that works out at £100 a couple and if you are used to buying presents of £10-£20 a person we will definately save money. I think it is going to be a lot less stressful as well than finding those token gifts noone really wants!

We are then wrapping everything in plain silver wrapping paper with just the name in capital letters.

Can't wait!!

tinseltoes

A couple of years ago we and my parents came to an agreement of only spending £10 on each of us (so we spend £10 on my mum, £10 on my dad and they spend £10 on me and £10 on dp), and it was upto us how we spend it, we can buy 1 thing that they really wanted or buy £10 of silly things that we otherwise wouldn't of got, its saved us all alot of money and headaches. We always buy them a lottery ticket for the draw around christmas as part of their gift.

nearlyrich

We stopped buying for adults with children a few years ago, it's not the money it's trying to find a decent gift that someone would really want. We always bought for my mum and OH's dad and they were the hardest to buy for, sadly both passed away earlier this year.
I have 5 siblings all married 4 have children, some of the children are now early 20's as are my two, it's probably time to say under 21 only get a present but I feel a bit mean.

RoxieW

bah humbug. no seriously we did this one year and it just didnt feel like xmas without gifts - naff or otherwise - under the tree to open. I know it can be a pain but xmas comes but once a year and I think a little bit of effort goes a long way. Gifts dont have to be expensive - for example, I'm making snowman soups at a pound a go. I hope poeple like them because I've spent time and effort doing hopefully something nice (albeit small) for my loved ones. I'd appreciate any such gesture in return

Emily_Hall08

piglet74 wrote: »

my hubby's family do they "secret santa" and after that you just buy for the kids,

all the names go into a hat, and eveyone picks one out, checks it (so you dont get ur OH) and the limit is £30, i know that might sound a lot, but there is 7 of them, plus parents, plus other halfs, so previous to the secret santa arrangement, you were buying for around 16 people, even at £ tenner a go, u were way over the £30, (and your house was coming down with shaving sets and bubble baths for a year!!!!)

then near christmas they all meet in one persons house and one of the kids picks names outta the hat again, and that person stands up, and then the "secret santa" for them comes forward and gives them their surprise prezzie,

its great fun, and you kow ur getting one decent prezzie worth £30!!

I think this sounds amazing