Bunniq Posted September 24, 2006 Posted September 24, 2006 I started this poll to see how others handle immediate and extended family gift giving during Christmas. For DH and I, immediate includes our grandparents, parents, siblings, their spouses, and their children. For us that numbers 15, and each year for Christmas we buy each of them gifts, as well as gifts for my aunts as they always make gifts to share with us. We also have an extended family that numbers over 60. For the last few years we have tried to find a way to give to everyone as the family grows, but we have learned that we can't. This year we are going to give a donation in our family name to a local charity instead of giving gifts to our extended family.
Aaron Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I buy for both my family, and some of my extended family.
julz0420 Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I voted sometimes, only cause it depends on if I find something to buy that is a good deal. If so then yes, I wanna get it and be done with it (LOL) otherwise, I wait until I find what I want to buy for them and get it whenever I find it. Julie
misshayley Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I have a total of at least 40 people that I have to buy gifts for.
abentley Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 We refer to our family tree as being very "branchy", and it makes it very hard to do. It is not as if we buy for 2 sets of parents, but 4, and then the list gets growing. Throw in extended family, friends, kids, employees/coworkers, neighbors and we are talking over 50-60 at my house. I do love the spirit of giving..so I enjoy doing it...honestly except for the rude people that I feel takes the joy away.
iluvdeals Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 We used to buy for everyone, immediate family, extended family, friends, coworkers, employees, etc. I love the Christmas season and the spirit of giving, but it just got out of control. Finally a couple of years ago we decided to scale it back. With my immediate family, we draw names. With my extended family who has grown apart the last few years, we started having a white elephant exchange. It has turned into bringing the most hideous thing you can find! We have had more fun as a family than we have in years. For my husband's immediate family, we've reduce the amount of gifts significantly. For everyone, we've tried to focus on more handmade or home grown gifts that carry more meaning than a store bought gift.
able Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 i buy for about 50 people.this year i think i will have to cut it back ... but last year my family started we just buy for all the kids in the family and the adults each bring one gidt card each and we play a game with those. and each adult leaves with one gift card. but in addition to that i still buy for my parents and grandma,and my aunt(something small) then i have a whole list of people out side of them i always buy for.and i'll still do them..(hopefully on line i can do a lot of it) ok just counted 19 kids 15 adults +gift card,and maybe a few more. but those are definate.. wow still seems like a lot and i cut it down quite a bit
NeepNeep Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I do a lot of handmade gifts (afghans, Xmas ornaments, etc.) We give to immediate family, extended family and a few friends.
ccarson1972 Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I buy for my children(of course), my mother and father, my niece and nephews, and my brothers(we are supposed to buy just for the kids, but I usually pick them up something too).
*Jami* Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I buy for my kids & dh, parents,grandparents, a cousin that's like my sister & her dd.
elena_398 Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I buy for both. Mostly for immediate though.
bayhaysay Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 We buy for the immediate family and some of the extended family.
cactusmom Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 immediate family only for me, I have way too many family members to buy individual gifts
codeblue Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 Immediate family everyone gets gifts and we draw names for the extended family.
lucyismycat Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 Immediate family, which includes: DH, DMIL, DFIL and DM (DF is deceased). DH and I are both onlies, no children.
love2beurwifey Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 i buy for immediate family, some extended family and my friends
m13april Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 This year we are going to give a donation in our family name to a local charity instead of giving gifts to our extended family.That is a great idea. This will be the first Christmas married to my husband (who has a large extended family). We had also decided on immediate family, but I think that would be an excellent thing to do for extended family (let them know we're thinking of them).
hopeky94 Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 last year my family started we just buy for all the kids in the family and the adults each bring one gidt card each and we play a game with those. and each adult leaves with one gift card.able, Could you expand a little about what kind of game you play with the gift cards, please? Our family has reached close to 20-- and all but 3 are adults! I can NOT convince them to try drawing names... buying something special for that many people can get pretty expensive for a single person with a very modest income! But with a good-sized gift card each, we could use them to get what we really wanted in the first place! TIA!!
Bunniq Posted September 25, 2006 Author Posted September 25, 2006 Thank you everyone for posting! Good ideas out there! I told my SIL of our plans and she was so happy. She thinks it would be a wonderful way to teach the children, and some adults, the gift of giving to someone who is in need. She also suggested maybe have people sign up on Thanksgiving to bring a small gift costing under $5.00 or handmade and we can play the hot potato game for those that signed up. Is that kind of what you do able and iluvdeals?
dealluvr Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 i buy for my boys mostly.for my sis and her kids and grandkids i am always on the lookout for clearance stuff so i can get a lot of stuff for them.i do buy for my best friend and her daughter, and now her daughters baby!
mrn8 Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 Our list includes our parents, siblings, nephew (only one so far), BIL/SIL, and my grandparents (hers have passed away). There are only 2 Uncles that we buy gifts for, because we are close to them.
Scott Posted September 25, 2006 Posted September 25, 2006 I buy for immediate family only, but that is huge...
starshine Posted September 26, 2006 Posted September 26, 2006 I buy for my son and husband. My stepkids get cash and what ever I pick up during the year that they might like. They are teenagers and it's getting hard to buy for them. I also buy for the kids on my Dad's side of the family we have a Christmas Eve shindig every year and I give the kids a toy and the adults a homemade gift. I also buy for the kids in my Husbands side of the family and his mom.
copados1993 Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 We buy for both sides. I really think every year it gets more and more and more expensive. We have such a big list to shop for it hurts LOL!
bigjimslade Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 I years past I buy for my parents and sister. This year I will buy only for myself since I am sending my parents to Israel and paying for my sisters wedding and honeymoon. This year I am looking for laptops and computers.
Edgemonster Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 Only buy for very immediate such as husband, son and my mother as family is too large on both sides and we'd go broke! We do buy for the little ones though and there are only 3 of them. You can't pass little kids up.
sapphire Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 i have no extended family in this country...he has a huge family and as a family we take all the kids under 16 and drop the names in a hat, pull names per Adult couple and if we pull a godchilds name it gets tossed back in so no one gets a godchild or grandkid...we limit the gift to $25 MAX and buy for that 1 kid... then the adults do a $20 MAX Yankee Swap however we have all our friends who decided to finally catch up to us and have kids and they have always bought for our kids so i buy for their kid as well...this leaves my list at 20-22 ppl (i also buy my boss's something small)
Cecilliadb Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 I buy for DH and DS of course. My mom, brother, father and mother in-law and my bro and sister in-laws and close friends. This year I am making special personalized Christmas wreaths for my Mother in-law and sister in-laws :) I send cards and make baked goods for other people and for little Christmas "thank yous".
laffnatu Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 We buy for my parents, hubby's parents and the neices and nephews that live close by. The adults all agree that the holidays are for the kids, so we all just worry about getting the kids stuff. I tell my parents to not worry about getting us anything, to just buy for the kids. They can watch the kids one night as a gift if they want to do something for us. Both kids have birthdays on the 26th and the 28th so it stetches their wallet. As for hubby and I exchanging gifts with each other, we will probably get a few things on BF for ourselves. We've bought new living room furniture, dining room furniture and a tv recently. So we decided to call that Christmas.
Kaarak Posted October 4, 2006 Posted October 4, 2006 I buy for both. Smaller gifts for extended family.
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