What sort of gifts do you get family members?

*~Zephyr~*

We don't do extended family anymore. Just imediate family: parents, siblings and their kids. It just gets mental otherwise. I mean, I don't know my cousins that well, we only see each other at weddings and funerals and significant age birthdays, so I'm never going to see something and think Oh that's perfect for so-and-so because I just don't know their tastes. I'm sure they don't want the additional pressure of trying to pick out a gift for me either - it's very hard when you don't know someone. Christmas is so busy anyway, and no one wants another bottle of bubblebath/Brut/plonk that they wouldn't pick out for themselves.

JeDi

I did handmade soap bars last year, itš chip and fast and looks good when they are wrapped nicely

balletshoes

deaston wrote: »

Y'know, all those cousins, aunties, uncles, step-brothers, half-sisters that you don't know very well but you'll see over the xmas period - what do you get them??

erm, nothing.

I only buy for my mum and a small token for my OH, no other adult gets any xmas pressies from me, and vice versa. Saves a whole load of stress and expense.

MrsCD

We only buy for my parents and our children. And a few close friends. We agreed among the extended family years ago not to buy for everyone as it got too expensive.

enthusiasticsaver

Nothing. I have been on a mission over the last few years to whittle down our Christmas present buying list to as few family members as possible as I have a real aversion to tat, don't want it and don't want to buy it for others either, in particular those I don't see very often and don't know what they want or need.


This year I have come to an arrangement with my mum and step dad, my sister and her family and two of our closest friends that we no longer do Christmas presents. I still have to convince two of our other friends to abandon the practice too. My mum and step dad were quite happy to stop as they find shopping too difficult now they are in their 80s and have everything they need, my sister also lacks the time to go shopping and we live 200 miles away from each other so unless we do a trip to London or they do a trip down here to Cornwall the postage costs more than the gifts sometimes to her and her family. The only people therefore this year I will be buying for is my OH, 2 daughters, son in law and granddaughter and my brother who does not have a partner or family so I am quite happy to buy for him. We use amazon lists a lot and my daughter who is amazon averse sends me suggestions for presents.

nearlyrich

Nephews and nieces under 21 and our own children and their partners and grandchildren and that's it ... token gift for DH. I wouldn't buy presents for people I don't know not sure why anyone would??

Smoosh

In my family we don't do gifts for everyone. My parents buy for me, my siblings, our partners, the grandchildren & my aunties and uncles. We buy for partners, parents, grandparents and nieces & nephews under 18.

We used to buy gifts for everyone but it just got silly because there's so many of us that people would waste money on "token" gifts that were rubbish.

Anatidaephobia

We still do presents for more than just my immediate family but my family isn't huge and we see each other regularly. I have eight people to buy proper presents, not token gifts for and that is my entire family (excluding great aunts, second cousins, distant relatives, etc who mostly live far away anyway) plus my partner and his immediate family. He doesn't buy for extended family as they don't see each other often enough to bother. I think that when my partner and I have children I will try to initiate a change in the gift giving though because I feel it will start to get out of hand as the family grows.

citrinejenifer

I don't buy gifts for people I am not close too. However, if I am meeting them on special occasion such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, I may choose some token gifts or something that is less on value and good at giving.
Handmade chocolates and candles are good to give. The token gifts suggested by chanie are also good.

samsamesggsandham

For family members and other friends we try and get something that will be useful/interesting/add value and avoid the disposable presents which are all too common.
For example for my little cousins (toddlers) we have found some great alphabet toys which whey will love and they learn at the same time!