Hellobee Boards

@beaker: I would love to do something like this, but fear the backlash if I initiate it.

My mom and sister would both be offended. They both give out long lists of things they want each year. I also don't know how to tell them I don't want so many presents from them (for me) - I think they are shopaholics honestly.
There are only 2 kids in our family - my LO who is 6 months and then my nephew who is soon to be 14. We can barely afford anything on nephews wishlist because he has expensive tastes/interests (like his mom).

My in-laws are super easy. They moved here to be with us and LO and they will appreciate whatever we want to do/not do. I can see them being fine doing one gift per each of us adults and then more stuff for LO.

Two years ago we dropped buying gifts for everyone, but everyone was on board knowing kids/grandkids were coming. They 8 of us on DHs side (MIL/FIL, SIL/BIL x2, DH &I) draw names and we buy one gift for who we drew, around $50 in value. DH and I even vowed to not buy for each other this year, and I drew his name, so I won't be tempted to cheat.

@deerylou: My go to gift for kids like that is i-tunes gift cards! wrap it up with a candy bar or something like that.

Our bank actually has a rewards program where you earn points for purchases on debit purchases and one of the things you can redeem them for is itunes cards, so we kind of cheat there Maybe your bank has that? Or a credit card? Or you can do something like ebates or swagbucks (although I think swagbucks earns you digital giftcards).

Darn spoiled brats!!

@beaker: yes, that's pretty much how it works in my extended family. My older cousin has no kids, but he always gets something for my son, as does my aunt.

They want to do it, I would prefer if they didn't, but it's more for them than it is for my son...I do anticipate that it will stop though, as my son gets older (he's 3).

My in-law family decided to cut back on gift giving due to the number of siblings and grandkids. So now we do a secret santa among the grandchildren (there are over 10 kids, so it's really fun) and a secret santa among the adults. And every family gives a gift to my FIL, since he's the family patriarch (and MIL passed on many many years ago). I actually appreciate that they decided to cut back.

I posted in the other thread, but we do a Yankee Swap (or White Elephant) gift exchange in D's family (I send members of my family a card/cookies/fudge/something else baked). We set a $20 gift limit, and it's a ton of fun.

We did a family gift exchange for awhile. The grown ups participated while the kids (under 18) got gifts from everyone. It worked for awhile until my cousin stopped talking to some of us and then it kind of fell apart. I have an agreement with my sister to not do gifts for each other just our kids. So that works out. I think if everyone wants to still do gifts and you and can't come to an arrangement maybe something nice and homemade would be a good alternative to cut some costs.

We're trying this approach this year with my siblings. We just can't afford to keep buying so much for everyone! I don't think my parents are going to like it much (read: my mom), but the siblings are doing a Pollyanna and we're telling my mom to cut back. We have 4 kids in the family, so it's about their experience anyway!

For my inlaws, we don't do much with them anyway, so I don't feel as if I'm going broke when I buy for them as I do for my family!

@beaker: All kids get gifts from everyone if they're under 18. My older sister doesn't have kids, and neither does one of my aunts, but no one has ever felt slighted, as far as I know. The gifts for kids are usually in the $20-30 range and there's only 3 kids left in that age range this year. A cousin and my youngest sister aged out, so now they're in the family exchange.

And it works similarly amongst my MIl's family. It's not as large as mine, and there's only my son as far as kids go, so that's not really an issue. Everyone knows they do not have to buy my kid anything if they don't want to.

I personally don't understand people who would get upset about not getting a ton of presents. It just makes me uncomfortable, if I'm being honest. I'm a grown woman with a decent job; I don't need a bunch if gifts to know my family loves me.

When I was a kid I had lots of cousins. The way my family did it was all the grandkids (cousin) had a gift exchange where we all picked names and only bought for 1 person. And all the adults did the same. I think my parents might have been the ones to suggest it because I know it was hard for them to buy for 14 cousins and they only had 2 kids! It was great. It was so fun as a kid to get to pick out a special gift for one cousin.

@beaker: I like the idea of food gifts. It's partly why we were sending Harry & David boxes to the inlaws since they're impossible to shop for and generally indifferent. Since LO arrived, I haven't expected gifts. If anything, I tend to buy things I like because I have the money and a mean independent streak.

I've been trying to implement this on DH's side for a few years now. Just give gifts to the kids since the adults don't need anything. It wasn't received well. We got "don't worry about getting us gifts but we still want to give you gifts". So then we're jerks if we don't get them gifts. Total failure. So now I need to start brainstorming like 10 gifts each for his parents, sister and bro in law. Total waste of money.