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Anyone doing a "4 Gift Holiday" this year?


amberjobryant

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I'm trying to figure out if the 4 presents will work with our family. I have 5 children 4 adults, 1 d thats 12 and 2 gd 4 years and 1 that will be 8 months. I love shopping for everyone and put money in a Christmas account every month to make sure the money will be there. This will be a really different Christmas bc s3 will be at boot camp, s2 ,gd1 gd2 live in a different state. Gotta figure it out quickly, BF is just around corner.
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We won't be doing "4 gifts" , but we will be scaling back their limits for the year. I am in my last semester of Nursing school (I graduate the 2nd week of December...YAY!!!!) and my unemployment ran out months ago so they will each get x amount spent on them. It may get them 1 gift or 10, depends on what they decide they want :) Either way, they will still have a good Christmas :)
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  • 2 weeks later...
We are doing 5 things, which is a huge scale back for what we usually get. But moving, buying a house and me not working means Christmas will be more intimate this year. They are all ok with it and I have already gotten a few things picked up. I explained to the my youngest 7 and 8 that Santa has so many kids to buy for and prices are high so this year he is sticking to a list only format. My oldest is 13 and he could care less.
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We do this every year, and I love it. I started doing this about 5 or 6 years ago when our family started getting rather big (we have 8 kids ranging from 10 months to 11 years) as a way to control the amount of stuff that comes in the house. It also makes my kids think long and hard about what they really want for Christmas, and as a result, I do not have a ton of unused toys cluttering up my house. My kids all play very well together and share, so I try to get my kids things they can will play with together. (for example, last year both my older daughters got American Girl dolls because then they could play together with their dolls all day. My 2 and 3 year old boys have really gotten into building with Lego Duplo blocks recently, so this year they will probably both be getting Duplo sets so they can build together) However, in addition to the 4 gifts, they do get a pair of PJ's on Christmas Eve, Santa leaves one gift, and Santa fills their stockings. (Santa leaves pretty nice stocking fillers ;) ) Sometimes I will also fudge the "something to read" gift and do a puzzle, art supplies, science experiment kit, or a board game instead. We have so many books already, so if my kids aren't interested in a particular series when Christmas rolls around, I'll just go with something else that I consider to be educational and fun. My kids have never protested our system, and they seem to appreciate and enjoy their gifts every year; I would say that it works well for our family.
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I have a friend that has always done a three gift rule, she says the three wisemen brought baby Jesus each a gift and her kids only get three gifts. She's been doing this for as long as I can remember her boys are now 19 and 15

I have a coworker that does this. Her kids are now 23 and 21 and she has done this since the youngest was born.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love that idea! I really want to try it. This is first year we are doing all cash-no credit. So I have to stick to a budget amount. We became debt free finally this year and there is no going back.

 

question: what do you get for your adult married 20 yr old son and wife? He still asks for gaming stuff when he really needs to be looking at other things they need.

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I love that idea! I really want to try it. This is first year we are doing all cash-no credit. So I have to stick to a budget amount. We became debt free finally this year and there is no going back.

 

question: what do you get for your adult married 20 yr old son and wife? He still asks for gaming stuff when he really needs to be looking at other things they need.

First, congratulations on being debt free. It is a great feeling.

 

I had a hard time when my son got married coming up with the best gift. I thought of household items that made my life easier that I had purchased after I had more money. It came down to a good vacuum or nice set of pots and pans. Finally I asked my new daughter in law. She chose the pots and pans. Good luck.

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I love that idea! I really want to try it. This is first year we are doing all cash-no credit. So I have to stick to a budget amount. We became debt free finally this year and there is no going back.

 

question: what do you get for your adult married 20 yr old son and wife? He still asks for gaming stuff when he really needs to be looking at other things they need.

I would look into pots/pans/spatula type stuff, a good knife set, vacuum, plush towels, rugs, kitchen aid mixer or decorative things like nice picture frames.

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If my son still wanted gaming stuff, that's what he would get. It isn't fair to get them stuff together and have it all be household if it isn't what he wants. My son is 27 and that's still what he asks for. One year he asked for a home theater system just because his wife said he had to . It isn't fair and he wasn't happy. My parents tried the one married gift thing for me the first year and it just doesn't work. My husband would always be sol. He's a hunter. I do mostly cash only, I have a xmas club at our bank, I put 25 a week in it most of the year, It's for my kids big gift mostly, I still buy small stuff when shopping just out of my bank acccount. I never charge anything anymore. Had 9 charge cards at one time adn had to refinance our house 2 times to pay them off. We cut them up in 2008 and have been debt free ever since. 6 more years and our house is paid off and debt free also now.
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question: what do you get for your adult married 20 yr old son and wife? He still asks for gaming stuff when he really needs to be looking at other things they need.

 

My kids (in-law kids included)make me list. I spend about $75.00-100.00 a piece on them and I use the list as a guide. I would shop the list according to your budget. I also like to get a few surprises for them if I can, those items they mention but don't think you can afford and then someone on Gottadeal shares a post.....

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question: what do you get for your adult married 20 yr old son and wife? He still asks for gaming stuff when he really needs to be looking at other things they need.

 

I agree with getting something they ask for. In my experience men rarely ask for anything they need or useful. My brother usually gets a game or a bluray movie/tv set. SIL usually gets kitchen stuff she's mentioned wanting or perfume or other stuff she's mentioned.

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  • 2 weeks later...
This year will be very slim, unless I can find a fulltime job soon! I work part-time doing product demos in a grocery store. My daughter (who is 27) and I live with my grandma. We were both out of work for over 2yrs, so its been a struggle trying to play catch up on bills. The only presents we exchange is the family gift exchange. There are 15 of us that live near by & we just buy 1 gift for the person who's name we draw. The limit is $10 & no more then $20. So it's fun to see what I can buy during the sales to make that liimt.
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I think this is a great idea for when the kids are older and asking for big ticket items like ipads, laptops, etc. Right now, my children are still little and I want to spoil them with toys while they're still asking for that sort of thing. This will be the first year that both of my kids are old enough to get excited about Christmas and I can not wait to go overboard.
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When I became a single parent my DD was young so I could get a lot of gifts on BF and it wasn't too expensive. A couple years later I realized I needed to cap this due to the failing economy. The last couple of years my DD has only asked for one or two things that she really wants- pretty amazing for a 9 yr old! Start them young and its a lot easier!!!
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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't set a limit to the number of gifts, however we do go the route of a cash only (no credit) Christmas. A few years ago, when finances were very, very lean we cut a lot of people off our gift giving list and cut way back on how much we spent on those that remained (some relatives we were spending $100-150 a piece on and brought them down to $15-20 a piece).

 

Anyhow, after our finances bounced back, I never reinstated anyone on the list nor did I re-up the limits. Therefore, we still go a bit overboard w/ our only "child" who is now 19. He will essentially get a larger item or two he wants (usually an electronic or hunting item) and then pretty much a new wardrobe including sneakers.

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I don't set a limit to the number of gifts, however we do go the route of a cash only (no credit) Christmas. A few years ago, when finances were very, very lean we cut a lot of people off our gift giving list and cut way back on how much we spent on those that remained (some relatives we were spending $100-150 a piece on and brought them down to $15-20 a piece).

 

Anyhow, after our finances bounced back, I never reinstated anyone on the list nor did I re-up the limits.

This sounds like us. We weren't spending 100+ on anyone other than our kids, but we did cut our list up and scaled back the amount we spent on everyone. We have been doing cash only for the last few years. Last year was a better year finances wise, and this year is even better. With that said, we will not be upping the gift amounts either. That extra money will be spent on the kids and some will be saved. We had to cut our kids' limits the last few years, and this year we don't have to, so they are the only ones getting a higher budget :)

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Why 4?

 

I've heard of 3 as that is the number of gifts that Jesus received. I wish I would have done the 3 gift plan when all of my children were home. It would have made me be more concious of my gift choices along with emphasising Jesus' birth and the gift of the Maji. Heavy sigh.... I can only hope my 3 children consider it when and if they have children.

 

Maybe I'll have grandchildren someday and can educate them about the reason for celebrating Christ's birthday.

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Why 4?

 

I've heard of 3 as that is the number of gifts that Jesus received. I wish I would have done the 3 gift plan when all of my children were home. It would have made me be more concious of my gift choices along with emphasising Jesus' birth and the gift of the Maji. Heavy sigh.... I can only hope my 3 children consider it when and if they have children.

 

Maybe I'll have grandchildren someday and can educate them about the reason for celebrating Christ's birthday.

 

Something to wear, something to read, something you want, and something you need.

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We have always set a "list to Santa" limit of 5 things. Sometimes the list has very broad defintitions of and item ie. new wardrobe when someone has grow quickly after school shopping Other years they have all they can do to come up with 5 things they really want. The year my 6 year old daughter only want a real picture of Rudolph was interesting Thank God for the local reindeer farm and photo shop. She still has that picture displayed in her room and she's 18. That said they get more than 5 things with all the great deals I find it would be hard for me to decide what to get and $5 movies make great fillers to make thing even.
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I didn't last very long. :P

 

I blame GottaDeal.

LOL!!!!!!!!

I got a together gift of a Keurig for ds and dil, then I plan on spending another $25 on each of them. I'll give him some bluray movies he wants that will be lightning deals on amazon, and I'll get her some jewelry from the local craft fairs. I have already gave them all of their furniture, washer, dryer, microwave, towels, pots, pans, cookware, dishware, bedding, even a vacume cleaner and weber grill when they moved in together because they had nothing. I bought him a car, then paid to fix that car. I think they are set now.

There is a baby on the way and I am busy buying baby things now!:gdnum1:

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I like this idea, but doubt my willpower. I do, however, plan on cutting back (I say that every year and dont). I really want to have a simpler less gift involved Christmas, and not for monetary reasons. We just don't need a lot of stuff. DD13, however, is an only and I tend to get carried away. As I am not impressed by the ads this year, I'm hoping to be able to spend less and buy fewer things. DD pretty much has everything anyway. The only thing she doesn't have and would like goes against house rules -- no TV in kids' bedrooms. So, a few new books, 2 complete outfits, pair of shoes, and a lego modular set, plus a stocking of course, is what I'm thinking and hope I can stick to.
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