Am I being to tight??? - Christmas Pressie help

pollyanna24

I do think people go a bit mad at Xmas. I have no idea what to get for my brother, but I've got him a top from me and probably a bottle of gin from my girls. So total spend of about £25.


Now my mum has gone on and on about how much he has spent on me as he has shown her the present etc. She kept saying to me that he spent £70 and that she couldn't tell me what it was. To the point where I had to tell her to shut up as she blatantly wanted to tell me what he'd got me and I don't want to know. What's the point otherwise?!


I don't think the cost really matters. My brother's answer to everything is to throw money at it rather than actually doing anything. He earns more than me regardless, and works full time, and doesn't have to pay childcare, so I'd rather we didn't have a competition about who can spend more each year.

UserX

£20 is a perfectly reasonable amount IMHO! In my family we don't buy adults presents for birthdays other than for '0' birthdays and then it will be a joint gift from all the family. At Christmas we pick a name from a hat and give one adult a gift for about £20.

My kids I spend about £60 for a birthday. At Christmas it's about £300 BUT most of their stocking items are things I would have to buy them anyway - so, they always get a new outfit, new PJs, toiletries (ordinary stuff, not posh) and a book, dvd and cd each, then about £80 on a special item or two. I pretty much stop spending anything on them between end Sept and Christmas and anything they 'need' in that time gets bought and wrapped so the £80 bit is the only 'treat' bit

sonastin

£20 spent on a thoughtful gift that is going to be used and treasured is far more generous than allocating £100 to purchase something that "looks good" but shows you have no knowledge of the recipient or what they might want.

I aim to spend around £30 per couple or less than £20 each for individual presents but I will gladly go over those targets if I know that what I'm buying is going to be something the recipient really wants/needs. If the recipient is proving to be particularly challenging and I'm having to go down the "its the thought that counts" route, I try to reduce the cost even further and hope to be able to make it up to them in future if the opportunity presents itself to give something that they have more need for (time, resources or gifts).

Merry_Wanderer

Well I have spent about £2 each on pressies!! Adults have got a chocolate sleigh each, and neices got some handmade jewellery and a few fun bits from Home Bargains. I've no kids myself, and I always put thought into making/wrapping etc to make it special, and everyone does appreciate the thought. It really is about giving a little joy, a gesture to say 'Merry Christmas'.

Me and hubby set a limit of about £25 each spend and fill stockings for eachother with surprises - books, sweets, and so on.

whitewing

Those Santa sleighs are lovely.

flippin36

Well it looks like I can out 'tight' you all.:D

I spend £30 on each of my own children (2), £10 on DH, £10 on parents, and nieces and nephews (7) get a selection box each. TBH they are all a little spoiled so I don't have any guilt and I think the other adults are glad to not have to 'keep up' with extravagant presents.

OP £20 is very generous, don't get dragged into other peoples competitiveness. Have a lovely Christmas!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I'd much rather have an inexpensive but thoughtful gift. I'm not poor, but my parents would be appalled if I were to spend £100 per family gift.

One of the best presents I ever got was for my 18th- a picture of David Duchovny ripped out of the TV page of a newspaper (I was well into The X-Files at the time) and shoved into a plain plastic 99p frame. It was such a boy's last minute gift (he hadn't even trimmed the edges of the picture) that it just made me smile, and I had it in my bedroom for years.

floss2

OP, I think I might well have said to £100-spending-sibling:

"Oh that would be fab, thank you, £100 in cash or cheque would be great as it will all go towards the house deposit"...

You're being realistic, you have other priorities, and TBH, it sounds as though you get more pleasure from finding the perfect gift than your sibling

Blackpool_Saver

Wrong on SO MANY levels

moments_of_sanity

I don't think that is stingy at all. As an extended family, we have agreed to only spend on children so no parents, aunts, uncles, cousin's over 20 etc. The only people I am buying for this year is DH, DD's and pets.

People are too obsessed with the price of things..... What is they say 'you know the price of everything and the value of nothing'........