Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Non-Romantic Relationships
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-18-2015, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,566,864 times
Reputation: 28462

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabbythecat View Post
We buy stocking stuffers - cute post it notes, pot holders, etc. Those are optional, though, and given anonymously. We get a consumable type present for the parents - they are elderly and really dont need more stuff that will just clutter up their apartment

Dh and I dont exchange presents. If there is something we want or need, we just buy it!! I dont miss shopping in crowded stores...and wrapping a lot of presents was a massive waste of paper and ribbon...gift cards - I agree. All you are doing is passing around $50 or whatever.
I love the stocking stuffer idea! What a great way to get something useful that doesn't take up a ton of space.

You mean I'm not the only one who hates gift cards? You really are just passing the money back and forth....pretty silly. And there's no thought in it!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-18-2015, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Niagara Region
1,376 posts, read 2,157,140 times
Reputation: 4847
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabbythecat View Post
We buy stocking stuffers - cute post it notes, pot holders, etc. Those are optional, though, and given anonymously. We get a consumable type present for the parents - they are elderly and really dont need more stuff that will just clutter up their apartment

Dh and I dont exchange presents. If there is something we want or need, we just buy it!! I dont miss shopping in crowded stores...and wrapping a lot of presents was a massive waste of paper and ribbon...gift cards - I agree. All you are doing is passing around $50 or whatever.

I heard this story from my sister about a friend of hers.

The friend was complaining about how the inlaws were, when it came to gifts. Everyone was to pass around 'lists' of what they wanted - adults, cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles even. As the family grew larger, one person suggesting the pulling one name out of a hat idea. So they did that, and then the following year apparently there were gripes about one person spending $12 on a gift and another spending $80. So they suggested everyone spend, say, $50. (Horrible for the ones who could not afford it). After that, there were complaints that the gifts were not well thought out for the receiver. lol.

The following year they solved the problem completely by (I swear this is true) exchanging $50 bills.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2015, 01:33 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
1,715 posts, read 2,830,999 times
Reputation: 1514
Nothing

No one
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-18-2015, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Garbage, NC
3,125 posts, read 3,009,957 times
Reputation: 8245
We get off pretty easy.

In fact, the husband and I have a tradition of going on a three-week cross-country trip every year in December, so we miss out on most of the holiday "fun."

We take any extra money that we would have spent on one another and put it into our trip instead, such as an extra extravagant dinner. This year, we splurged on tickets to a big UFC fight that's going to be hosted in Vegas while we're there and will be going out for a nice dinner at Top of the World at the Stratosphere. We buy things that we want/need all year long, so spending the money on something really fun to do together is better.

We do buy gifts for my mom, my dad, my dad's girlfriend, my brother, his mom, his brother, his sister and his nephew. We spend about $50 on each.

We also do the gift exchange with my dad's side of the family, so we each have to buy a $25 present.

We spend about $25 on my four-year-old second-cousin (cousin, who's close to my age's daughter).

The only reason we buy more for my family is because he doesn't have a big family.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2015, 04:12 AM
 
4,097 posts, read 11,451,229 times
Reputation: 9124
We get presents for my 83 year old mother because she likes to open presents and we have a good idea of what she enjoys. This year we ordered her favorite calendars (they have patterns in them and she saves them to use), a book by a favorite author, a big bag of yarn, and gift cards for a craft store, grocery store and a restaurant she visits. She is on a limited income.

I sometimes collect funny gifts for my brothers and send them sometime around Christmas unwrapped.

Husband and I are not exchanging gifts. We get what we want when we find it.

I am already tired of Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2015, 04:39 AM
 
Location: Europe
4,848 posts, read 3,286,596 times
Reputation: 5904
I buy online Christmas gifts for my teen daughter and I am busy making her an advent calendar with asian beauty gifts and mini asian fabric makeup bags. My partner he dislikes gifts after years of gifting him after-shaves and nice shirts which remained unused in the closet I gave up and now just gift him a wine and snacks basket.
My best friend lives in Ohio I send a small mail gift for december/january.
Some very elderly relatives who used to get food basket gifts died so it is only us. It is not custom to gift rest of family here in northern EU.
My partner is very busy with work so I buy some online little gifts for myself he has no time to go to the shops.
I myself I can not go shopping due to severe heart failure I am home always these days.
That is something I sometimes miss used to really like visiting the shops around christmas time, even if just one or two times.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-19-2015, 10:20 AM
 
Location: Garbage, NC
3,125 posts, read 3,009,957 times
Reputation: 8245
Oh, I forgot. We also get a shared present for my grandparents. $50.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2015, 01:45 AM
 
Location: Portlandia "burbs"
10,229 posts, read 16,267,652 times
Reputation: 26005
Quote:
Originally Posted by Office Politics View Post
Tell us about your gift giving for Christmas. How many people do you buy gifts for? Do they say thank you sincerely? How much do you spend? Is the process enjoyable for you? Or do you buy things just to keep the relatives happy?
My husband and I exchange several gifts because we enjoy it. I also try to send one of my brothers a gift package because he's alone now and he appreciates it. But I do not send gifts to my other brother, as he has a large family and we don't communicate as much.

That's it for family. Husband doesn't buy for any member of his own because there are way too many of them and we seldom see them.

I exchange gifts with one friend every year, and usually give something to an elderly neighbor.

I no longer give gifts at work.

Personally, I always found the concept of extending gifts to nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles as extremely peculiar.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2015, 03:42 AM
 
Location: Gettysburg, PA
3,051 posts, read 2,910,796 times
Reputation: 7168
Quote:
Originally Posted by Office Politics View Post
Now that Thanksgiving Weekend is over, my wife and I will spend the rest of December online and at the mall spending money on presents for relatives we have a strained and distant relationship with.

Why do we do it? We don't want to make waves and it is expected and is easier than the anger we would have to endure by the few relatives we like. If we did not show up with gifts for everyone, the air would be sucked out of the room and people would gossip, give us the silent treatment and I would never hear the end of it for months afterwards.

The other Aunts and Uncles are in a spending competition with each other seeing how much they can spend on their nieces and nephews. They want to buy their love through gifts. The nieces and nephews don't give us Aunts and Uncles the time of day except when they are forced to say thank you for the gifts, they don't seem so impressed with.

Tell us about your gift giving for Christmas. How many people do you buy gifts for? Do they say thank you sincerely? How much do you spend? Is the process enjoyable for you? Or do you buy things just to keep the relatives happy?
I'm sorry that you have to deal with that; hopefully one day it won't be that way for you and your family. I am very thankful to God that I don't have that situation, my spending is just for my immediate family (parents, brother/sister and his and her girlfriend/husband, their children--which are two total--and my fiancé). I enjoy most of it, only feel anxious a little about not being able to find anything (especially for my brother since he is difficult to shop for, feel like I have to find something special). But overall it's enjoyable, I just love wrapping gifts. I spend about $50-75 each for them. I wish I could do more but I'm saving to try to pay off my student loans quicker; maybe when I'm done with that I can do a little more, just because I'd like to have more gifts to wrap! It just depends on my financial situation. One year I couldn't do anything, but most years it was like how I described it. Total spending usually ends up around $500.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-20-2015, 07:58 PM
 
Location: California
37,097 posts, read 42,098,467 times
Reputation: 34962
5 people (2 adult children, mom, dad, brother). The adults don't really exchange gifts unless it's something small, or edible! I spend the most on my kids, like $400 each, between presents and cash, usually 1 fun thing and 1 practical thing and some cash because they don't have tons of disposable income (one in college, one on her own in a competitive field). My parents spend the most of all on me and my brother, mostly cash for something specific purpose (new garage door, new roof, whatever) and that's great! They say they are giving up our inheritance early and I just pay that forward with my own kids.


None of us are spenders or travelers or shoppers and are frugal most of the time so we can do something once a year, especially if it's something we would have probably done anyway. The money just flows in circles over here.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Non-Romantic Relationships
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:27 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top