Who do you buy Christmas presents for?

jennystarpepper

I would go for a family gift / hamper for each family (as someone else also suggested).   I don't think it is mean to want to cut down, I think you have to set limits or it never ends. 

So maybe a hamper containing biscuits, chocolate, posh crisps and a bottle of wine for the adults (you can buy X number of the same things when on offer at the supermarket), or a voucher towards a family meal Nando's or Pizza Hut?

I have no contact with my family so no spends and Mr Pepper stopped Christmas buying for his siblings andtheir families as he was sick of ending up with just beer being bought for him and no effort being made.  

 I think too much pressure / expectations and sometimes greed is not what Christmas is about,  I usually take a gift to our local homeless shelter Christmas eve or NYE, I always get a very genuine thank you from the people waiting outside waiting to get in it really is the best gift I could have 

thepurplepixie

I buy for my 4 kids, their partners, my 6 GC, my niece.  I usually get a couple of selection boxes for an old colleagues children and give something to our postwoman and the dustmen.  DH and I don't really bother getting something for each other, we might go away for a couple of nights in January and one pays the hotel and one pays for meals and petrol and we enjoy that more than a gift, to be honest we have enough "stuff" so I definitely don't want anymore clutter.
It must be hard with a big family.

sheramber

Immediate family only.

Spendless

I think when you've put you buy for neices and nephews who are children I wouldn't start including any adults in a gift hamper. I think you'll add to the costs that way with no 'get out' clause as the children become 18. Whether it'd work for just the children depends on the family set up and how many siblings the pair of you have, more expensive if you'e got the majority of them with just 1 child and possibly  more difficult if you've got families where you have to incorporate both toddlers and teenagers.

Ibizafan

Over the last few years, with agreement from all parties, my OH and I only buy for our grown up children, and grandchildren. No siblings, nieces, nephews, and even my 89 year old mother suggested we stop a few years ago, but I still buy her a few foodie bits as treats. Even my OH and I only give each other a token present, as we buy everything we want anyway. More important to us is getting together as an extended family, and just enjoying time together.

tealady

Stopped buying anyone presents a few years ago (by mutual agreement). You could almost hear the sighs of relief as people realized they would have extra cash. In fact what I said to people was to use the money that they would have spent on me to treat themselves.
Still send cards though.

Couldsavemore

For me, immediate family only. So mam, dad, son, sister and her husband.
I do buy my son a gift to give to his dad and dads wife. 

I don't have neices and nephews or god children.

For you... it needs to be a discussion within your family and how soon depends on your finances now. Perhaps you could talk in february and make agreements for next christmas

I do think there is a huge pressure to give give give. 

AmberPick

How I understand you, these relatives are endless. And they all show up only once a year and only at my house, with no gifts, no greetings, as if that's the way it should be. At first, I was patient, smiling, and then I refused to accept them. We are distant relatives, and I have no desire or strength to put up with them for weeks.