Among Friends

[RedTop]

My husband has always been a man with few needs, when it comes to "stuff".   I could always find something I felt he needed, but whether he wore it or used it was something else.  

Since he retired, he loves to wear pajama pants, and now has a drawer full.   Also loves flannel lined jeans, and has plenty of those.   He is very picky about hats, and jackets; hates anything furry or heavy, and never wears gloves.   I have bought all the accessories he wanted for his truck.   Mainly I stick with gift cards; ones we like, and the one where he meets his friends for breakfast.   He loves the surprise of special treats like a package of country ham, a tin of popcorn, or a box of Cella cherries.   

[chickenbutt]

You get to a point, after a while, where you've pretty much given every gift.  Then it just becomes about having to buy a gift, so we stopped the whole thing.   We are both 100% happy with not doing gifts anymore.

My husband does have one of those little xmas account things and pulls the money out once a year.  He gives me half and he keeps half.  We each do whatever we want with our own half.   It's perfect!  

I just stopped seeing the point of having to give a gift just for the sake of doing it.  It kind of takes the whole giving thing out of it for me.  It just becomes a task.   

You do little things here and there, throughout the year, and THAT is what gifting is about, IMO.  

[Lucky Charm]

I don't think my husband and I ever bought each other a Christmas gift.

We have always had everything we could possibly want and that goes back to the early days when we didn't have any extra money.

Even dating, I didn't need a wrapped gift, not for my birthday, St. Valentine's day or anytime.  And I told him that from Day 1.

He always gets me a card and no matter what the occasion, that card always *speaks* to me.  It's amazing he can find them, I always have a tough time finding a card that *gets it right*. 

But I don't even get him cards.

We enjoy giving others gifts though.  I love shopping for gifts for sure.  I love shopping period!

[wvumountiefan]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

I don't think my husband and I ever bought each other a Christmas gift.

We have always had everything we could possibly want and that goes back to the early days when we didn't have any extra money.

Even dating, I didn't need a wrapped gift, not for my birthday, St. Valentine's day or anytime.  And I told him that from Day 1.

He always gets me a card and no matter what the occasion, that card always *speaks* to me.  It's amazing he can find them, I always have a tough time finding a card that *gets it right*. 

But I don't even get him cards.

We enjoy giving others gifts though.  I love shopping for gifts for sure.  I love shopping period!

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@Lucky Charm He does get me cards on special occasions and the cards he picks out are so unique in what they say. It's amazing to me sometimes the wording in the cards! I've never been disappointed for sure. 

We don't go all out with gifts, but I do enjoy getting him a few. He is a man that wants very little. I will get him some goodies and probably a HD gift card. Thanks girls!

[Big Sister]

For any man who is handy a gift card to a hardware store would be loved and used.  I recall one year my little sister gave my DH a gift card to either ACE or LOWES, or HOME DEPOT and he had the best time shopping all alone for himself.

[chickenbutt]

Speaking of cards - I wouldn't mind stopping that, too.

But my husband is just hugely into cards.  He will spend so much time on buying a card that he will even go to more stores if he doesn't find the perfect one.  He even gets me cards (and gifts) from the dog and bird!

Personaly, and despite evidence to the contrary, I'm not all that verbose.   I cruise the part of the card table that is applicable and always find one that's just fine.   Not a bunch of flowery stuff, just basic sentiment and I'm out.  

[Carmie]

My husband and I don't exchange gifts.  It would be so silly of us to do so.  Just because it is Christmas is not an excuse to have to buy something for each other.

We are spending the whole month of February in Florida this year and when we get back I am getting new carpet in the master bedroom and new paint too.  My carpet has been there since 1988 and it is about time.  I guess we can say this is our gift to each other.

We often take a weekend trip in leu of a gift for birthdays or our anniversary. We never have enough time together.

[Katcat1]

I think it's easy to buy for children - games, clothes, etc.  For adults, I am a firm believer in gift cards and buying something small for the person to open.  Then you are not racking your brain trying to figure out what to purchase. 

[Tshirtgal]

I have been married 33 years and still find one gift a year which surprises him.  We agree to buy only one because as seniors we do not need anything.  My husband is a techy.  He loves computers, gadgets as evidenced by his home office full of "stuff". This year I bought him a drone.  Under  $100.00.  We have plenty of space for him to "play helicopter"  with it. I know he will enjoy the challenge of learning how to fly it and experience this new fad.  It will likely end up in a tree or pond. But oh well...as long as he has fun. He also loves to watch car racing so one year I bought him race tickets and hotel reservations.  He loved it. He also enjoys photography so for one of his birthdays I bought him a camera bag that was suitable for going on hikes and nature trips.   

We do not spend a lot  - don't need to.