Too many nieces and nephews!

[geojen]

I hope this doesn't sound horrible, but...

We now have 6 nieces and nephews, all under the age of 6. When Christmas rolls around, my sister in laws are going to be expecting that we buy a gift for each one of them. Well, excuse me, but we live on a tight budget, and I don't want to spend a ton of money on presents that these kids are never going to remember anyways! Besides that, they will get tons of presents from their parents and grandparents. Is it really horrible to suggest to them that we can't afford buying every one of their kids a gift?

[LuxLiving]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Have had the same problem - I'd suggest 5.00 gift books from McDonalds 6x5=30.00, can you swing something like that?

[geojen]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

I could, and that is a pretty neat idea. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with cheap gifts that the kids would enjoy, rather than play with for 2 minutes and then forget about. Great idea, thanks!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Personally, I would buy books for each of them and make sure to write a little message inside. These were and still are my favorite gifts from Aunts and Uncles. I certainly remember them, and now I remember them every time I read them to my own children. They don't have to be expensive books...I think even a used book store would work.

[Jacklad]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

I hope this doesn't sound horrible, but...

We now have 6 nieces and nephews, all under the age of 6. When Christmas rolls around, my sister in laws are going to be expecting that we buy a gift for each one of them. Well, excuse me, but we live on a tight budget, and I don't want to spend a ton of money on presents that these kids are never going to remember anyways! Besides that, they will get tons of presents from their parents and grandparents. Is it really horrible to suggest to them that we can't afford buying every one of their kids a gift?

Buy something they can share - a board game, or an ice cream ball (these are fun - http://www.stuffkidslike.com/cgi-bin/item/112107), or go to your dollar store and make up "treasure boxes". My nieces got more enjoyment from a $1 decorative box filled with elastics, barettes, stickers, "jewelry", etc. than from a big gift - and it only cost me a few dollars for the contents.(Just make sure not to put anything into the box that might be a choking hazard.)

My eldest niece (who is over right now) has just told me that she still has her treasure box and keeps her real jewlery in it now. Who would have thought that it would have lasted a decade?

Jackie

[tgavin71]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

I hope this doesn't sound horrible, but...

We now have 6 nieces and nephews, all under the age of 6. When Christmas rolls around, my sister in laws are going to be expecting that we buy a gift for each one of them. Well, excuse me, but we live on a tight budget, and I don't want to spend a ton of money on presents that these kids are never going to remember anyways! Besides that, they will get tons of presents from their parents and grandparents. Is it really horrible to suggest to them that we can't afford buying every one of their kids a gift?

Sorry but it not only sounds horrible it is. Do u buy gifts for the adults in the family? If so then why should the kids miss out? My inlaws never buy my kids birthday presents. Claim that they have no money yet they both smoke, drink and gamble. Makes me angry. Most kids are happy with a book or trip to maccas or whereever. Its niot the cost of the gift it is the thought. If u don'y give your neices and nephews anything it shows that yoy didn't thonk of them.Which just isn't true. Christmas is 4 months aways. Plenty of time to save $30.

[geojen]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Sorry but it not only sounds horrible it is. Do u buy gifts for the adults in the family? If so then why should the kids miss out? My inlaws never buy my kids birthday presents. Claim that they have no money yet they both smoke, drink and gamble. Makes me angry. Most kids are happy with a book or trip to maccas or whereever. Its niot the cost of the gift it is the thought. If u don'y give your neices and nephews anything it shows that yoy didn't thonk of them.Which just isn't true. Christmas is 4 months aways. Plenty of time to save $30.

As a matter of fact, the sisters in law decided that we will not echange present this year, because no one can afford it. I have no problem getting the kids birthday presents or acknowledging the season. I just needed ideas for cheaper gifts. No need to go all judgemental.

[greedy4chips]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

The best gift I ever got as a kid cost my dad nothing to make...ok a little bit but not much.

He bought a couple boards and cut them into lincoln logs. Some rit dye and a few hrs on a table saw and we had enough lincoln logs to build a small town!

That gift lasted for almost 15 yrs last I heard. When we were too old to play with them, my nephew got them. I am not sure what happened to them after that.

I made my kids a set 2 years ago. They love them. I hate them. Why did I have to make so many?

Best of all, no batteries. If they break, oh well.

[frugalfarmwife]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Well I guess I'm the mizer then, we don't do gifts for the nieces and nephews, between their parents and grandma they get so much stuff they have rooms full of toys. We give the entire family home grown beef for Christmas every year.

kj

[kealina]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

i like the treasure box idea a lot...especially with the hair stuff.... i was always losing rubber bands as a kid (still do) and always need more... you can fill them with whatever you want... one year when i was doing frugal christmas gifts for my guy friends at school i bought cheap felt stockings and filled them with their fav candies...
my DH would like the book idea... his aunt was a teacher and was always buying him books (which he still has 15 years later) when he was a kid... now that she's gone they're something that brings back her memory...

[getforfree]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

I don't have any nieces and nefews yet, buy I will have 2 newborns in January. I think it depends a lot on the age of the kids. I would ask the parents first, what the kids might need for christmass. They might rather get clothes and other nesscities than toys.

If you want to give toys, be sure not to give anything like playdough that might make mess, or any toy that makes loud noise and might be annoying to the parents.

[shengmei]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Christmas is not going to be around for several months. If you start looking right now surely you'll find something 90% off for everyone. You can then peel away the clearance stickers and leave the original price stickers and pretend you paid retail, which is 10X the price paid.

I am guility of doing that all the time.

P.S. They don't even have to be kids stuff. Most kids I know love to have stuff adults use.

[geojen]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

Well I guess I'm the mizer then, we don't do gifts for the nieces and nephews, between their parents and grandma they get so much stuff they have rooms full of toys. We give the entire family home grown beef for Christmas every year.

kj

That's kinda how I feel. Most of them are under 3 and will never even remember what we got them in the first place. But, the ideas here are great, and I can definitly swing 30 dollars. See, the other parents will each spend 25 each. Sometimes I feel like they are more concerned about how much the gift cost, rather than what the gift is.

[poundwise]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!


I think the only horrible thing here is the idea that a person should feel obligated to buy Christmas presents for every member of the family. Gifts should be given from a joyful heart of wanting to give to someone else, not from obligation because they are on a list or someone else in the family would expect it.

Having said that, we buy for our nieces and nephews. We have no remorse or qualms about giving lower priced gifts. (Also, if we want to give someone an expensive item and we can afford it, then we gladly do so.) We don't do what we do because of frugality, we do it because gift giving, in particular Christmas, has become Gift-mas and is a time for wastefulness and excess, which we don't want to be a part of. What we do is reasonable. The thousands of dollars people put on credit cards to 'give everyone a nice Christmas' is not only foolish but it is completely misguided. I think people need to remember what the purpose of gift giving is and the thought does matter more than the cost.

I don't give things as a matter of obligation. Nor do I give things I don't honestly believe the person will enjoy and/or may need.

[34saving]

Re: Too many nieces and nephews!

You also might be able to catch the tale end of the school sales. I have my three-year gifts all ready. 15 cent crayons, 88 cent washable markers, 88 cent colored pencils, 10 cent notebooks. A new box of crayons can still be a big deal when you're three Here's the evolutionary process my family has gone through. (We have some money, but face the "kids get too much stuff" problem.) I was expected to get all of the nieces/nephews Christmas presents until eventually (with 8) "family gifts" became the norm. Then, as soon as I had a baby we switched to "every kid draws a name and every adult draws a name". Might it evolve more this Thanksgiving? Maybe, but that's where it stands now . . .