Gift giving, more, less or the same as always? - Page 4

Spurt · ‎03-20-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
@gidgetgh wrote:
I think our gift spending will be around the same as last year. I don't really keep exact track of it, to the penny, so I don't really know, but I think I probably always stay around the same.

The number of people I'm buying for will probably be the same. Maybe a few less. We buy for several people and I enjoy that. I'm thinking about cutting back a few people, but in the end probably won't. Definitely no additions to the list.

What I AM doing this year that's going to be very different than last year is that I want the gifts to be physically small. Last year I gave gifts to several people....many people.... and they were very bulky (I gave my group of friends all the same bulky gifts) and hard to wrap and on the ones that needed to be shipped were difficult to find the right shipping box and then expensive to mail. It drove me nuts. By the time it was finally time to ship them or give them locally to the recipients, I was overwhelmed by it. It all felt like clutter to me. I couldn't wait to get the gifts out of our house. GET IT ALL GONE.

So, as I've posted here earlier, I've already started shopping for this year. I have my list and so far I'm doing a fabulous job, LOL, of getting great gifts that aren't so freaking bulky. They're nice and physically small and I'm thrilled with my choices so far. And hopefully that will help make Christmas not feel so overwhelming to me this year. My goal is that the gifts I give to each of my friends, daughter in law and a great niece will fit inside a standard sized shirt box, not the larger sized robe box.

Oh, one change I'm going to work really hard on this year. I'm the queen of the add on gift. I'll be done and then find something(s) small that I really like and then I'll buy several and add them on to gifts I have. I'm going to try to not do that this year.

@gidgetgh

If you are the queen of the add on gift, I must be the princess! LOL

I'm really bad about that too.

Last year, I didn't know my son's girlfriend very well. I went to TJ Maxx, and did know that, as my son put it, "If you like it mom, she will like it, you guys have similar tastes, and when I go shopping with her, it's like it's you!".

So because she is always cold, I started with a throw. Our TJ's has tons of the most beautiful throws every year at that time. So I picked a thick soft white one, with grey elegant print. Then, I thought if she is going to snuggle up in a throw she needs a candle to burn, so I found a mercury glass silver candle (well, I found two, alike, the other was black and both had a big silver snowflake on the front, and couldn't decide so she got both) that coordinated with the throw perfectly. Then if you are snuggled up and warm, basking in the glow of a candle, you should read, so then a book. Well, before you get all warm and snugly, you should maybe want to take a nice bath, so I got body wash, lotion, body butter and bar soap by Au Lait (love the clean smell of that line! and it is all white, with black graphics on the containers). Topped it all off by finding silver/grey metallic elegant and thick snowflake gift bags and tissue paper to match. The whole thing was grey/silver/white with a touch of black, all coordinated and nice.

I love TJ Maxx for that reason. I've gone in and created huge gift baskets, with up to 10 themed/coordinating things at the same time in one place.

But, yeah, a shopping trip for a gift for my kid's girl friend turns into add on this, and add on that! I had a blast doing it though!

@Mominohio

That selection sounded delightful! How do I get on your gift list....

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@Spurt wrote:
@Mominohio wrote:
@gidgetgh wrote:
I think our gift spending will be around the same as last year. I don't really keep exact track of it, to the penny, so I don't really know, but I think I probably always stay around the same.

The number of people I'm buying for will probably be the same. Maybe a few less. We buy for several people and I enjoy that. I'm thinking about cutting back a few people, but in the end probably won't. Definitely no additions to the list.

What I AM doing this year that's going to be very different than last year is that I want the gifts to be physically small. Last year I gave gifts to several people....many people.... and they were very bulky (I gave my group of friends all the same bulky gifts) and hard to wrap and on the ones that needed to be shipped were difficult to find the right shipping box and then expensive to mail. It drove me nuts. By the time it was finally time to ship them or give them locally to the recipients, I was overwhelmed by it. It all felt like clutter to me. I couldn't wait to get the gifts out of our house. GET IT ALL GONE.

So, as I've posted here earlier, I've already started shopping for this year. I have my list and so far I'm doing a fabulous job, LOL, of getting great gifts that aren't so freaking bulky. They're nice and physically small and I'm thrilled with my choices so far. And hopefully that will help make Christmas not feel so overwhelming to me this year. My goal is that the gifts I give to each of my friends, daughter in law and a great niece will fit inside a standard sized shirt box, not the larger sized robe box.

Oh, one change I'm going to work really hard on this year. I'm the queen of the add on gift. I'll be done and then find something(s) small that I really like and then I'll buy several and add them on to gifts I have. I'm going to try to not do that this year.

@gidgetgh

If you are the queen of the add on gift, I must be the princess! LOL

I'm really bad about that too.

Last year, I didn't know my son's girlfriend very well. I went to TJ Maxx, and did know that, as my son put it, "If you like it mom, she will like it, you guys have similar tastes, and when I go shopping with her, it's like it's you!".

So because she is always cold, I started with a throw. Our TJ's has tons of the most beautiful throws every year at that time. So I picked a thick soft white one, with grey elegant print. Then, I thought if she is going to snuggle up in a throw she needs a candle to burn, so I found a mercury glass silver candle (well, I found two, alike, the other was black and both had a big silver snowflake on the front, and couldn't decide so she got both) that coordinated with the throw perfectly. Then if you are snuggled up and warm, basking in the glow of a candle, you should read, so then a book. Well, before you get all warm and snugly, you should maybe want to take a nice bath, so I got body wash, lotion, body butter and bar soap by Au Lait (love the clean smell of that line! and it is all white, with black graphics on the containers). Topped it all off by finding silver/grey metallic elegant and thick snowflake gift bags and tissue paper to match. The whole thing was grey/silver/white with a touch of black, all coordinated and nice.

I love TJ Maxx for that reason. I've gone in and created huge gift baskets, with up to 10 themed/coordinating things at the same time in one place.

But, yeah, a shopping trip for a gift for my kid's girl friend turns into add on this, and add on that! I had a blast doing it though!
@Mominohio

That selection sounded delightful! How do I get on your gift list....

@Spurt

I love to shop and gift, so consider yourself on the list!

We are only cutting back, because people have left our lives, and those still in it seem to have more than they want or need, so I'd actually be excited to have more people to shop for!

onliner · ‎07-05-2016

I talked with immediate family members and we have decided to cut down on the gift giving this year going forward. What we have not agreed on is the number of gifts or the money amount. I don't care what the decision is - just that we make one.

vermint · ‎04-05-2010

It should be about the same this year as for the last 7 or 8 years. We quit buying for family years ago...it just got ridiculous! I have two siblings, DH has 4. We have no children ourselves, so when the nieces/nephews started having children we just stepped back from gift giving. I have no idea what the smaller children like these days anyway. We do get something for my dad, the only parent we have left.

We no longer exchange gifts with friends, either. If we want to get together, we go out to a very nice dinner.

Our two employees get a Christmas bonus and a small gift. Cleaning lady gets a bonus, from us and from our business, as she does both places.

DH & I spend money on our house, if we want something personal we buy it. We get each other something to unwrap on Christmas morning, just for fun. Often, it's something we bought and handed to each other to wrap!

We participate in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox drive through our church...we can either do boxes ourselves or, and this is what we've done for the last couple of years...we donate the requested amount, and our youth group does the shopping and packing. Easy!

Christmas is soooo much nicer and less stressful this way.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Good grief, Christmas is so far away I haven't given it a single thought. In general, we spend more on Christmas now because our family has grown. We have the two sons-in-law now and the two grandbabies and the boys' parents when they come for Christmas.

sissel · ‎08-13-2010

Santa yesterday gave DD a huge gift, she bought a 13yr townhouse last yr. Heat pump went out 4 months ago, a/c is making tons of noise which is a sign I am done. Had repair guy out for estimates & living in a hot climate decided just get a new one. She has 10yr warranty. Santa was suprised how much they cost now. I only have 5 people to buy for and 2 of them out of state so gift card. I start Aug/sept and sometimes forget what I bought until wrapping time. This year has to scale down with this new a/c unit.

sissel · ‎08-13-2010

Oh forgot her 13yr old townhouse the fridge & dishwasher same age. Santa hopes it lasts for awhile. Yep think they may go soon. Santa may be really busy this year. Then Santa told me that my 2 a/c units are 11yrs old. Oh no, please hang on for a few more years. Az. eats a/c units.

onlyshopsonline · ‎03-09-2010

I sew and quilt, and some of my gifts are handmade. Those, I will start this summer, to get them out of the way. My husband and I most likely won't exchange gifts this year. We are doing major renovations to our house, and having an addition put on....and then furnishing two new spaces. That's it for us.

We helped my daughter and her husband with some major purchases this year, for their new house. So, they will get something small.

Then there are our two grandbabies....no cuts for them, LOL!

"I've been here since October 2006. Wow!"

SahmIam · ‎04-16-2010

Same number but WHAT we (I) buy has changed.

As our children have grown, their needs/wants have changed dramatically. The "toys" are EXPENSIVE and very tiny; all electronics for the most part. We don't give shoes, clothes, things they NEED every day as gifts (I know many do, we don't) unless it's something very special ( a leather jacket, a specific football jersey, etc) so gifts are usually some type of gaming/computer item. You don't get much when things like that cost $$$$. Needless to say, there are very few gifts under the tree now.

For everyone else, I do my best to give them something they will use vs something that will sit. For example, family member just got their first place. As a housewarming gift, we bought him 4 sets of toilet paper from Costco (that's a LOT of rolls of toilet paper). Everyone thought it was funny till someone mentioned that toilet paper wasn't cheap. Nope, it isn't. And, you USE it daily if not a few times a day. Same with diapers (which is why all new moms get a HUGE box of them from me). It may not be pretty or romantic but it's practical and is something you won't need to buy for awhile.

Geez, I sound like my Daddy (RIP, Pops)!

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

@SahmIam wrote:
Same number but WHAT we (I) buy has changed.

As our children have grown, their needs/wants have changed dramatically. The "toys" are EXPENSIVE and very tiny; all electronics for the most part. We don't give shoes, clothes, things they NEED every day as gifts (I know many do, we don't) unless it's something very special ( a leather jacket, a specific football jersey, etc) so gifts are usually some type of gaming/computer item. You don't get much when things like that cost $$$$. Needless to say, there are very few gifts under the tree now.

For everyone else, I do my best to give them something they will use vs something that will sit. For example, family member just got their first place. As a housewarming gift, we bought him 4 sets of toilet paper from Costco (that's a LOT of rolls of toilet paper). Everyone thought it was funny till someone mentioned that toilet paper wasn't cheap. Nope, it isn't. And, you USE it daily if not a few times a day. Same with diapers (which is why all new moms get a HUGE box of them from me). It may not be pretty or romantic but it's practical and is something you won't need to buy for awhile.

Geez, I sound like my Daddy (RIP, Pops)!

@SahmIam

I like to give housewarming gifts similar to yours. For people just starting out in a new place I often give a laundry basket full of paper towels, TP, garbage bags, Kleenex, general cleaning products etc.

Things everyone needs, things that really add up at the grocery, just when you have all the new and unexpected expenses that come with moving into a new place.

Always well received.