Advice on how to tell people you are not gift giving

candygirl

Ilona wrote: »

I echo what everybody else has said. JUST STOP NOW. Do not buy any presents. None for this year, none ever again. No announcement needed.

I stopped a few years ago, I don't care if other people think I am cheap, I am a tight @ rse and proud of it. I live within my means, I spend my money on what I want to spend my money on, not on what other people expect me to. I am not a sheep.

ilona

Brilliant advice:T:T:T

HampshireH

I used to buy for my friends kids birthdays and xmas.

Now there are 3 kids whom I may see at a push once a year but I now have 4 nieces/nephews to buy for xmas and birthdays so I no longer buy for my friends kids.

Sent a birthday card to the a friends eldest this year and my friend for theirs and didn't even get a text acknowledging it until I sent one a week later to check it was received.

Last xmas I wasn't going to gift but then a parcel arrived at my house (1st time in 2 years) so I panic bought in response

This year i will send a xmas card to them all. I just cannot afford to buy gifts for kids I don't really see.

Generally I have stopped all xmas/birthday gifts for everybody except my family as nobody wants tat anymore and the things they truely want they already have.

Fireflyaway

BrassicWoman wrote: »

Buy an oxfam goat. Tell them you’ve bought them all a share in a goat. They’d be pretty brass necked to object.

Next year buy them a share in a clean toilet. And so on.

This is exactly what I was going to suggest.
Years ago I worked in a large open plan office. Some people I knew well, some not. I didn't want to write cards to everyone due to not wanting them to feel obliged to give me a card. Some people also didn't celebrate Christmas but I didn't want to leave them out.
As an alternative I bought an Oxfam gift ( I think it was a goat!) And let everyone know.

flybynight

andydownes123 wrote: »

I had a friend who (it was a wedding actually) adopted elephants for the bridesmaids to say thank you for their help. Really did show who was a real friend then when some started to complain.

I've been well made up with an elephant.... especially of there was a picture.

mmmsnow

My mum went the "no presents" route with everyone when I was 6 or 7.
She got annoyed with the crap I was receiving (one of my aunts gave me a calendar with semi-nude women draped across cars - at age 6!) and just told them not to buy anything for me and not to expect anything in return. It made her life a lot easier - at that time, she was working long hours and suffering from very severe endometriosis so she'd come home some days and have to go straight to bed. I never missed out on the presents and I've implemented the same thing in our household.

I buy for my parents, my OH's parents and our nephew and that's it. I'm a minimalist so I abhor the tidal wave of stuff that sweeps from one household to another at Christmas. A good meal, one thoughtful gift (usually I give experiences for my nephew rather than things - this year he's getting a teen driving experience) and that's it. I know many people believe I'm mean spirited or stingy for this approach but I've become increasingly anti-consumerist in the last few years.

chesky

Perhaps you could send them a card with a message saying that you've decided not to send any more presents as they seem to get lost in the mail as they don't seem to have received them.

sheramber

Several years ago my son decided to stop sending Christmas cards and donate to charity instead.

He sent an email to everybody telling them this and telling them what charity he has donated to.

HIs email is the form of a Christmas wish.

JulieElizabeth

stop
worrying
what
other
people
think

System

flybynight wrote: »

I've been well made up with an elephant.... especially of there was a picture.

I thought it was a great idea. It's so hard to get things people want, especially a group.