whittling down presents this year...

[rusty@saving]

i have always been a very generous person. possibly one of my greatest faults financially. generous to the wrong people, i guess you could say.
buying presents for people that i probably shouldn't, not for approval or to buy friendship, i would just see things i thought they would like.
this year i have tried to make the difference from friends and acqaintances(sorry for the spelling), and to also whittle the friends down too.
this year it looks like i am just buy for my wife, her mom and dad, my mom and dad, and her sister.
very simple christmas....i think i can get used to this!!!!!
any thoughts on how you have made decisions on whittling down your x-mas list???

[PrincessPerky]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

I used to buy for all kids, because it was fun!!!! but that leads to them feeling like they had to buy for us..and maybe for hte parents..ugh, like a trade off of obligation.

so instead I try to buy for the charity kids, I don't get to see the faces but I do still get to splurge on fun toys. (and I don't have to clean them up from my house, nor feel like I am spoiling my kids too much)

[abowers]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

My friends and I stopped giving Christmas presents to eachother - too many people.

Christmas List this year:
Fiance, my parents, my sister, his parents, his 2 brothers.
Want to do something for my aunt too as she is like a second mother to me.

Additionally I picked up an ornament from the "angel tree" at my grad school - to buy a toy for a needy 3 year old boy.

[beeblebrox]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

I'm knitting some scarves for some of the members of my Christmas list. I'm giving gifts to mom, dad, brother and sister in law, boyfriend, boyfriend's family, aunt, family friend going through a bad divorce, best friend, other best friend, and boss. The boss is the hardest one to buy for.

[Snoopy2645]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

I only give to my kids & immideate family I sometimes hate it but they are all much better off than me financially (I mean the adults not my kids) & can afford it I guess so I try to play it up too but I get mine for free which I have gotten better freebies this year when I first started doing that they were more lame they get better each year but still free!! GEE I hope they dont read these boards LOL!!!

[jodi]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

Last year we whittled down the list by deciding to draw names for my siblings and spouses rather than buy for each - we agreed to do this again this year.
Last year my SIL (other side of the family) contacted me and asked if we could only buy for the kids and not each other - I agreed! So this year I took it a step further and asked her if she wanted to cut out the gifts altogether, since the children in both our families were already bought too many things from the rest of the family - and she agreed. A friend and I also agreed to not give gifts and instead have a nice dinner out. So in two years, we've cut out about $150 worth of gift giving.

[fairy74]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

I used to buy for too many people too. Now I buy for DH, one nephew (his mom is a single mother and really struggling but we make these gifts from Santa so that the other nieces and nephews don't feel slighted), one angel tree child, one former neighbor who is elderly and has no family and one secret santa gift for work. DH buys for his two adult children from his first marriage as well. We do send a lot of Christmas cards with a fun pic or two enclosed and people who we think will give us gifts we make cookies or sample baskets for.

[PRICEPLUS]

Re: whittling down presents this year...

My brothers and sisters used to do a Kris Kringle where you pick out a name. After a time a few opted out of the deal. No biggie. I get for just a few family members and my wife and daughter. The number of people now is pretty minimal as compared to years ago!