Have you cut down on buying Christmas presents?

Yes I cut down . Two boys 4 and 7 . Some decent money given to mum and dad to manage for outings etc and some novelties and silly things to raise a smile.

Oops that should not have gone here.... hahahaha

I will not pay the Customs charge of £13.44. It said on ebay dispatched from UK which is obviously a lie. As I won't pay the Customs charge the Post office will send it back to you. I expect a full refund

One of my children mentioned that they prefer our family get together for a long weekend in September at a holiday house by the sea because there was not the financial pressures of Christmas.
I thought about this as I don't want any of my family worrying about money for presents. As we are getting older our finances are also limited. I suggested that each family just bought the other two families a big tin of chocolates or biscuits as a family present and even the grandchildren were fine with that idea. Relief all round.

Recently visited Oxfam shop where I bought donation cards - anything from £5 upwards. I have chosen seeds for an African family to plant. I am giving these as a gift along with something cheap and cheerful. Children would learn about giving to less fortunate as well as receiving.

We agreed some years ago as a family only to give presents to the children. I love it no sweating over what to give people who do not need anything anyway. DD who has no children still gets money into her account and DGC get money ( they probably do not know about ) into their accounts plus presents. We get nothing which is fine by me .

Just asked my son what he would like for Christmas. He said a new I-pad. Toll him he was chancing his arm there. He'll have a nice wooly-pully and like it.

I'm really pleased, have just visited a village shop and they are selling calendars designed by a young local artist. Best friends presents sorted!

My two best friends are down in London and I asked them both if we could agree to stop buying each other gifts from this Christmas. It does feel odd as I've been sending them for over twenty years.

I think I might just send both of them something small and thoughtful. One friend's birthday is in early January so I always send her birthday gift along with her Christmas gift to save on the post. I do value them so much as friends, they've supported me through thick and thin. I have only got two children and an aunt to buy for, no lovely grandchildren yet!

We buy our four grandchildren a large-ish present.

The adults in the family participate in a Secret Santa with a £40-50 limit.

We have used this for a few years now and it works really well (but Santa is given a few hints!).

We also take the grandchildren to a pantomime but this is really for our benefit! Great fun.
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I've never spent a lot at Christmas as I don't believe in the 'never-never'.
I buy only what I can afford and I can afford only what I've been able to save from my pension all year.
However, I do try to sell a few things to supplement that if I can.

That has never stopped us having wonderfully happy Christmases and I don't suppose it ever will as we've never been a materialistic family.

Family tickets to a show or panto for the Christmas period and small token gifts to be opened on the day. DS and DIL have specifically requested no more toys as the GC have more than enough toys that hardly get played with and they really don't need any more. The only other gifts to buy are for 3 very close friends. So yes, I've massively cut down.

I tried this year to buy gifts for sons, g/f and wife that are known to support charitable causes (donation of a blanket to a homeless shelter for each one purchased, 50% of profits to pediatric cancer research, books to Africa, etc.). It actually cost me a bit more than usual for fewer gifts but I think I may do it again next year.

mumofbadboys hi. I used to spend approximately £50 on AC and £25 on the spouse. Nowadays I am more likely to buy them a present between them.

Do you spend the same amount on an AC's spouse or partner as you spend on the AC? We have one AC with a partner of 3 years. We are unsure whether to spend less on her than our son. Thoughts please? We are giving them a joint present too.

Last year our 2 AC spent way too much on us.

They both have young families and we want for nothing so a few days ago I had a word with our daughter and said we should have a cap on spending for adults. This went down well so broached it with our son who was not so happy.

We really don't want them to spend money on us, we don't need anything. Their presence at Christmas means so much more.
The GC still get nice presents but half clothes/half toys.

I only buy for the GC, adults no longer get gifts but we take the entire family out for Christmas dinner.
I have always bought a gift for my friend but this year I have told her I am not shopping, it has been a difficult time lately and I can't summon up any enthusiasm. I also have three birthdays in the seven days before Christmas.

I haven't bought the GC presents for many years. They have all had lifetime presents, driving lessons and a bit towards their car. They are very happy with this, and so they should be. I now buy just for my son, daughter and husband and oh yes the GGC that has come along and even then its only about £20 or £30.

Grandchildren get one decent present. Children and spouses get a small one and an experience. This year DD and husband want to go to the ABBA Party. Other DD will go to something by the Opera house in Sydney when we visit.
Mum gets a trip to the panto and a meal afterwards and a little gift for the day..
I only buy for one friend as she is on her own.
That’s it in our house, very easy really.
If we were to spend Christmas Day with a family member and their family we would buy a gift for all. Top spend £5.

Yes, we have cut down, for the sad, if natural reason, that our parents, aunts, uncles and my sister are all dead.

We have never been a family who gave large, expensive presents, but frankly, it would be nice to have more people to give to.

Only DH and our son, and very few friends left.

I have just realised this is about gift giving rather than spending. We have always only given to immediate family, rarely to friends, so the number has never been very high. Older members of the family have died, but we he have melded with DDiL's family and tend to see the two families as one, Only the one set of GC each, that we share so we have added DDiL's, mother, sister and BiL to the list

I made a decision this year to buy DGC premium bonds for birthdays and Christmas especially now they’ve been reduced to £25. The ads say how easy it is-what a performance!! Started in Oct for one DGD aged 10-her Mum
Had to provide ID-not just birth certificate but a certified copy! By the time she did this, the time had passed so £25 refunded to me! Older DGDs have to buy their own so I transferred the money to their accounts, gave them the number to ring-still hasn’t been done since September ? sigh-it seemed such a good idea. I still give them all (the same) stocking every year with things like favourite chox, (joke) book, smellies etc. No longer buy for any adults by agreement whether family or friends

But I've just realised I make bits and bobs for giving on the day!
Photo's, homemade jams chocs, jokey Christmas jumpers etc.

Gifts have morphed into concerts or theatre trips throughout the year.
Children get what parents want us to give them.

I don't have grandchildren yet but l have three grownup children, a husband and a widowed mother. I will buy for my closest aunt and uncle (l have made up a hamper for them), my sister, brother-in-law and their two grownup children, my brother (he has a very well paid position and everything he needs so l buy him a present for developing countries from Oxfam in his name and a small tin of biscuits to open), my closest cousin and her husband and two children and also a few small gifts to close friends. I also send lots of cards. As a private music teacher, l give each of my pupils a card and have a tub of Heroes from which they are allowed to choose two. I know people who make stockings for everyone in the house, but once my children were in their late teens we stopped this (never did it for adults anyway).