Gifts for family

MrsRogers

Hi al,

DH and I have been reviewing our finances and totter up on what we have been spending on gifts for family. We have cut back somewhat as we buy for both sets of parents, nieces, nephews & godchildren only.

We have a budget for them but not sure if it's to little / excessive.
We have no children of our own so feel if we cut to much people will think we are tight

Each niece, nephew, god child gets £15 each per birthday & xmas (there are 9 in total so it mounts up)
Each parent gets £40 per birthday & xmas. They ruin us so this one we don't mind.

What do you all spend and any ideas on how to cut back.

SmlSave

I guess I spend £10 each child but I generally get their presents in the sales.

balletshoes

are all your nieces, nephews and godchildren still children, ie still all in full time education?

babyblooz

Ditto me for the sales. I like to look for good quality things at half price-ish then stash them away for Christmas. Buying them throughout the year also helps as I don't really notice the money that way.

barbiedoll

There's nothing "tight" about having to budget for presents, if you don't have the cash, you shouldn't be spending it! And I'm sure that no-one in your family would think that anyway, most parents are grateful for any gifts for their children, most of us don't think about how much something cost. If it's in wrapping paper, it's all good!

Places like Primark are good for little bits and pieces, especially if you have to buy for girls. And don't make the mistake of ensuring that every single present has to come to exactly £10 or £15 or whatever you budget for, sometimes a gift costing a couple of quid will be more gratefully received than an expensive one. My son's best ever gift was a plastic bow and arrow set, which cost me all of 50p, brand new!

If you give cash, a tenner is fine. There's not a kid alive who doesn't get a bit of a thrill from seeing cash fall out of a birthday or Christmas card.

Don't fret about it, if you can't afford £15 for everyone, then don't spend that. It's the thought that counts.

Kynthia

Like others have said, if you are genuinely short of spare cash then only selfish people will think you are tight.

Many families only buy for children under 18 years. £15 each is fine and if you make savings on some, perhaps the perfect gift for one is only £9 and some others you got in the sale or when argos/ELC does their 3 for 2 toy promotion, then you could keep the difference or use it to top up an older child's gift if something suitable for them is a little more.

£40 each for parents sounds plenty to me and more than I often spend despite being able to 'afford' more. My parents don't want me to spend more and get lots of gifts from their children, friends and a few siblings. I'm able to get nice things under that, perfume, clay pigeon shooting, books and pyjamas, afternoon tea,,theatre tickets, baking accessories, cinema tickets, etc. Plus at thst amount if join up with a couple of others you can get a group gift of up to £120 should you see something special. January and July sales are a fantastic time to stock up.

Alikay

Even if you're not short of cash, your gifts seem generous to me. If you wanted or needed to cut back, I'd probably suggest making the Christmas presents to children something cheaper, or maybe a joint gift (like a DVD, board game or big tub of sweets) if any are siblings. It's also quite common to cut out presents when they reach 18 or so, and just send a card.

rach_k

Kids often surprise you with what they like best. My 7 year old recently asked me why they get normal and boring presents from us (e.g. Lego, books, board games, clothes, lovely dolls - nice things that they do enjoy!) when their friends get 'cool' stuff when we go to parties. For friends, I normally spend £10 or less and get something like a craft set (often a box with cheap packs of glitter etc from the supermarket), journal and pen or sticker books, so basically cheap stuff. I remember clearly my best ever Christmas present as a child - Father Christmas brought me a whole shop display box of plasticine. As a parent, I like to buy quality stuff for my own kids but I know that the presents that go down best are actually the cheaper/tackier ones.

My kids are also really excited if they ever get money - a £5 or £10 note is worth more to them than a present for £20 because they get the excitement of thinking about what they might like to buy, going out to get it and then using it.

hazyjo

I also buy in January and in sales throughout the year. Already got my mum a chunky gold bracelet from Hobbs for £11 down from £39, and a bag from Ollie & Nic for £20 down from £69.


Shop outlet stores (Accessorize and Next are good).


Older kids are loving Lush stuff - try Bath Cosmetics instead - I got this lovely little set for a friend's daughter. I also won a book which I may give to her too https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bomb-Cosmetics-Luxury-Ballotin-Assortment/dp/B000XFU4K8/ref=sr_1_3_s_it?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1476093894&sr=1-3&keywords=bomb+cosmetics


Lots of book competitions on MSE at the mo - I've managed to win a few as they're often giving away several at a time and they tend to be low entry.


Good luck


Jx

hazyjo

Still some good deals on Ollie & Nic http://www.ollieandnic.com/collections/offers


Couple of bags from £60 to £15 10% off first order.


Jx

catkins

I usually spend £20 on each of my siblings for their birthdays - don't buy for their OH's. For Christmas I spend £40 each and also buy for their OH's (spend £40 on them also).

I spend the same for parents - £20 birthdays and £40 Christmas and for my nieces and nephews.

When my nieces and nephews were younger I only spend £15 on their birthdays. They are all in their 20's now.

I do try and shop around and buy Christmas presents all year round. If I see something reduced from say £30 to £20 I will often count that as £30 (depends how hard up I am each year)