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 Expert
Posts: 2276
  
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | My SO and I are trying to save for a house and Christmas shop at the same time this year....and yes, it's as hard as it sounds!
This year we have a lot of people to buy for and I'm having trouble finding "good" gifts that aren't too expensive.
im really have trouble with my SO's side of the family...such as his aunt and his grandmas.
Anybody have any good ideas for cheaper but good gifts?
Im not too close with them so I don't know a whole lot about what they like and my SO is no help with the ladies gifts |
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 Midget Lover
  
Location: Kentucky | I would think they would understand if you didn't get them a gift this year, since you are trying to save up for a house.
Or give them nice home baked goodies in nice boxes? |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Try books. My grandparents love Bill O'Reilly so I'm getting them his new book.
I started buying Xmas presents in October because I knew it would be a close call. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1066
| Im no help, but Im SO glad we dont buy gifts for extended family... we buy for our spouse, and the kids in the family and thats it. It might be too late, but maybe for future reference suggest just drawing names and buying one gift for one person, and set a dollar amount so you have a guideline of how much to spend. I have 4 older brothers so gifts can add up, but before there were kids in our family, we drew names and had a $100 limit... it sure helps keep xmas fun instead of stressful. |
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 Ima Fickle Fan
Posts: 3547
Location: Texas | I'm not much help either. Our gift giving includes parents and siblings. If the siblings are married, it's a joint gift. Once they have kids, it will probably be just the kids getting gifts. To me, giving to aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. gets to be excessive and really expensive.
ETA - On my mom's side of the family, we exchange scrapbook pages. That's the extent of the gift giving. Everyone makes two pages a set size, and then makes enough copies for the family members who participate.
Edited by aggiejudger 2013-11-19 1:02 PM
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 Dr. Ruth
Posts: 9891
Location: Blissfully happy Giants fan!!! | There are some killer deals for Black Friday...seriously, $2 movies at Best Buy!!!
I am about to create a spreadsheet on doorbusters and what not. Not only do we have to buy but we have to ship these things out as well. My stepmom is nice enough that for nieces and nephews she will let me ship directly to her and she wraps them for me but that isn't a whole lot and there are still others that have to be shipped.
Oh...and if you are not artsy but want to do something like that I would highly suggest Etsy and Pinterest. No joke. |
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 John Deere Green
Posts: 12272
Location: ~Kansas~ | Homemade gifts are always awesome no matter your budget and they come from the heart
Canned jams jelly pickles salsa etc.... |
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Location: Saskatchewan | My spouse and I do not buy gifts for any extended family and havent for years. We are also on a tight budget now, making huge payments on his student loans, building our business and saving for a farm. We draw names for my side, draw names for his and set a limit at $125.00. We always have figured spending the holidays together as family was far more important than spending money on eachother when it seemed like we never needed anything. We even set a limit on spending on eachother, honestly the best deals I find are online which is awesome because I detest the crowds at christmas in the malls lol. |
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 Half-Eaten Cookies
Posts: 2075
Location: Fort Worth / Springtown | When I have a budget, it is easiest to stick to it with Gift Cards. If this is a special year you are saving for a home (who cares if some think GC's are impersonal?) --we just did this last Christmas, gift cards sets the limit and saves time trying to find something for a set dollar amount - AND tax already included. You can even give a restaurant GC to one family of 3/4 and you are giving them an "experience" which can be much better than "things"....
Or Gift baskets -- you can buy a neat little Costco gift basket for $20 - $40 that could cover more than one person ....check their website....
Also, speaking of GC's....and Costco....Costco has great deals on gift cards --- you can buy $100 worth of GC's to a restaurant or Main Event for $80 - that's 4 $25 GC's!!!
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 Chasin my Dream
Posts: 13651
Location: Alberta | Tys-ol-lady - 2013-11-19 11:57 AM Im no help, but Im SO glad we dont buy gifts for extended family... we buy for our spouse, and the kids in the family and thats it. It might be too late, but maybe for future reference suggest just drawing names and buying one gift for one person, and set a dollar amount so you have a guideline of how much to spend. I have 4 older brothers so gifts can add up, but before there were kids in our family, we drew names and had a $100 limit... it sure helps keep xmas fun instead of stressful.
I agree with picking names with the adults, my side of the family does it, but hubby's side has yet to see it that way! We set a limit of $20 per niece and nephew as we have 5 so that adds up....I usually can find something neat for that.... |
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  Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | A Christmas card with a $1 inside and write......"better luck next year!" :)
They'll love that :) |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 754
Location: Arkansas | I have a LOT of family to buy for, so I always start early. It helps to check out the sale/clearance pages of websites. I also love stores like TJ MAXX.
A really good idea that I use is magazine subscriptions! I get a few family memebers Western Horseman every year. If you know anything they might be interested in, this could cover a whole family for around $20. Even a generic magazine like People would work if you are unsure of what they like.
Photo gifts are always nice "grandparent" gifts as well. Get a friend to snap a few family shots, then pick a good one and hit thrift stores to find a cool frame. |
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 Cyber World Challenged
Posts: 2526
Location: My Own Little World | How much is inexpensive? That might help :) |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1118
Location: The South | Tys-ol-lady - 2013-11-19 12:57 PM Im no help, but Im SO glad we dont buy gifts for extended family... we buy for our spouse, and the kids in the family and thats it. It might be too late, but maybe for future reference suggest just drawing names and buying one gift for one person, and set a dollar amount so you have a guideline of how much to spend. I have 4 older brothers so gifts can add up, but before there were kids in our family, we drew names and had a $100 limit... it sure helps keep xmas fun instead of stressful.
That is what I wanted to do! Christmas with my husband's family is ridiculous. They buy stuff for everyone, and spend a lot of $$ on each person. My husband and I were both in pharmacy school at one point, and money was scarce. I asked if we could draw names and his mom shot me down 
Now this year my husband's sister is saving for a house and I'm on short term disability so she mentioned maybe having a "smaller" Christmas this year. I wanted to scream "it's about d**n time!!!"
To me Christmas shouldn't be so materialistic, it's sad IMO.
To the OP, are you crafty? I've seen cute stuff on Pinterest but I probably would make a mess of things if I tried to be crafty. |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | I've loving this thread and everyone's ideas. Hubby and I are in a tight situation right now with school loans, new house, and me buying into a business. We hardly have enough money for ourselves, but I still want to get or make a little somethin' somethin' for my parents and brothers, and hubby close family too.
I just need to win the lottery...... |
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Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | I've been browsing Pinterest all day! I'm not too crafty but I might try if I find something cute. My side of the family, we just buy for my nieces and nephews bit his family is different and everyone gets a gift from everyone.
I really like the card with $1 in it. :-) wonder if anyone's feelings would get hurt by it??? I'm going to run that by the boyfriend :) |
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Cyber World Challenged
Posts: 2526
Location: My Own Little World | OK here's what I'm doing for a bunch of folks that I really want to buy gifts for but can't afford. I'm having a little party at my house, a dessert party with tea & coffee. Each person will recieve a little basket to take home with a few treats & homemade bath salts |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | lexyy12 - 2013-11-19 2:54 PM I've been browsing Pinterest all day! I'm not too crafty but I might try if I find something cute. My side of the family, we just buy for my nieces and nephews bit his family is different and everyone gets a gift from everyone. I really like the card with $1 in it. :-) wonder if anyone's feelings would get hurt by it??? I'm going to run that by the boyfriend :)
Nah lol.....they should understand.
My family has no expectation's from me anymore. Mostly because I trained them lol....A few cans of green beans as Christmas presents and you're golden. My niece actually tries to guess what can of vegetables she has in the gift before she opens it now......It's awesome and fun and reeeaaalllyyy, really cheap :)
ps....another great idea for gifts is to look on Craigslist under the free stuff.......an old leather couch as a present would be awfully nice :) |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1118
Location: The South | rodeorun68 - 2013-11-19 3:00 PM OK here's what I'm doing for a bunch of folks that I really want to buy gifts for but can't afford. I'm having a little party at my house, a dessert party with tea & coffee. Each person will recieve a little basket to take home with a few treats & homemade bath salts
Is that the stuff that's been on the news lately? If so you might be really popular teehee
Sorry I couldn't resist, I'm going crazy from being stuck inside all day. Please don't hold it against me! I'll be back to normal soon hopefully. |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24138
Location: Carpenter, WY | I shop all year round and have a place in the closet to stick everything. In the spring I hit the clearance racks for winter coats and clothes and in the fall buy summer stuff clearanced and as I see stuff during the year that I think someone will like I'll go ahead and pick it up. I buy stuff off of ebay also :)
I have a few young adults that I want to do something for and found these cute knit hairband warmers with the knit flowers for 10.50 for 3 of them on Ebay and some good smelly soap from Miller Soap on FB for 3.00 a bar. I'll put in some chocolate and maybe McDonalds gift cert's and they should make cute gift baskets for real inexpensive :) Instead of buying a basket, just wrap a small box in pretty gift paper, use some colored tissue paper and put some cellophane wrap and a real facy bow!
I like to wrap fancy and cheap 
One year I thought it would be fun to do all my shopping in Dec and I actually had nightmares that I didn't get it all done
I copy and save pics of stuff I see on Pinterest and FB too during the year too. I love doing stuff this time of year :)
Edited by teehaha 2013-11-19 3:46 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 596
Location: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere | LRQHS - 2013-11-19 1:01 PM lexyy12 - 2013-11-19 2:54 PM I've been browsing Pinterest all day! I'm not too crafty but I might try if I find something cute. My side of the family, we just buy for my nieces and nephews bit his family is different and everyone gets a gift from everyone. I really like the card with $1 in it. :-) wonder if anyone's feelings would get hurt by it??? I'm going to run that by the boyfriend :) Nah lol.....they should understand.
My family has no expectation's from me anymore. Mostly because I trained them lol....A few cans of green beans as Christmas presents and you're golden. My niece actually tries to guess what can of vegetables she has in the gift before she opens it now......It's awesome and fun and reeeaaalllyyy, really cheap :)
ps....another great idea for gifts is to look on Craigslist under the free stuff.......an old leather couch as a present would be awfully nice :)
Have you seen the vegetable cans at Wal-Mart that have 4 cans packaged together for one low price? You could get a great jump start on Christmas right now! |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | nmeastplains - 2013-11-19 3:42 PM LRQHS - 2013-11-19 1:01 PM lexyy12 - 2013-11-19 2:54 PM I've been browsing Pinterest all day! I'm not too crafty but I might try if I find something cute. My side of the family, we just buy for my nieces and nephews bit his family is different and everyone gets a gift from everyone. I really like the card with $1 in it. :-) wonder if anyone's feelings would get hurt by it??? I'm going to run that by the boyfriend :) Nah lol.....they should understand.
My family has no expectation's from me anymore. Mostly because I trained them lol....A few cans of green beans as Christmas presents and you're golden. My niece actually tries to guess what can of vegetables she has in the gift before she opens it now......It's awesome and fun and reeeaaalllyyy, really cheap :)
ps....another great idea for gifts is to look on Craigslist under the free stuff.......an old leather couch as a present would be awfully nice :)
I have not lol....Thanks for the heads up! My niece is going to think I got her something special this year lol........I put her a rooster in a paper bag with a ribbon one time.....she was scared to open it because she didn't know what was making that bag move......that was awesome. She took her little rooster home with her back to Monroe, LA......she loved that chicken lol.... |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9991
Location: Kansas | Oranges....everybody likes oranges
I use to get those as stocking stuffers as a kid....  |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | I've bought $10 worth of lottery tickets before and packaged them in cute cards or you could make some type of candy-cane holder off of Pinterest to hold them in. My brother was lucky one year and won $60 off a scratch ticket and told me he wanted tickets again for the next year. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 448
Location: lone star state | There are lots great ideas on here or suggest that everyone play a game like chinese Christmas. We play this every year at one family dinner and its a huge hit. U can also set a theme and dollar amount if you want. U only buy a gift for yourself and ur spouse so u don't break the bank if u only have 2 people in ur family.
Also as for parents and grand parents often me and my siblings each contribute a set amount and get 1 nice gift from all of us instead of each giving small gifts. We have done things like patio furniture, tickets to a favorite event with meal and hotel included. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | Red Raider - 2013-11-19 4:34 PM
I've bought $10 worth of lottery tickets before and packaged them in cute cards or you could make some type of candy-cane holder off of Pinterest to hold them in. My brother was lucky one year and won $60 off a scratch ticket and told me he wanted tickets again for the next year.
I did this one time also! They really loved it. I think I wrote something along the lines of "So lucky to have you." or something like that. My family loves to gamble though! Lol! |
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 Ms. Potato Head
Posts: 9162
Location: BFE, Idaho | We have ziltch this year, and are baking fancy cookies, with decorative icing, wrapping them individually with fancy plastic wrap and ribbons and that is what you get.
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | These are some really good ideas. I like buying the scratch off lottery tickets....I have done this before and everyone loved it.
Also you could buy a cute pair of socks that are not expensive or dish cloths. These are things people use every day. |
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Expert
Posts: 2276
Location: ohio-in my own little world with pretty ponies :) | I'm loving all these ideas!!! My mom actually was tellimg
me tonight that she was thinking of having us all draw a name and that's who we buy for this year so that will take a few names off my list! |
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Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| IF THE PERSON LIVES NEAR YOU, you can give them IOU's for little odd jobs. Clean their house, mow lawn next summer, fix a fence, clean the garage, almost anything. I think everybody has something like a room that needs to be repainted.
Most older people like to feed the birds so ---- a bird feeder and pole.
Homemade baked goods, especially for special diets. |
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Location: Notquitea Ranch - Cleveland Horses-Brule, Ne | If you can be together to open gifts this is fun - everyone brings one gift; draw numbers for who chooses a gift & opens it first, 2nd, etc. 2nd person can trade with 1st person if they want. You want to be the last person in the draw and you can trade with anyone! It gets pretty fun. Some years the huge basket of candy bars & other snackies is the most sought after gift! Or the silly ones, or the lottery tickets, or....... I really think we do more visiting and bonding gifting this way than stressing over buying for everyone, then everyone opening so many gifts - seems like it's hard to even see what everyone got the old way and not nearly as much visiting as we get now! |
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Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | Don't laugh....just thought of another one! Everybody needs toilet paper. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I would put together a tin of baked goods, cookies, fudge, tarts, etc. Everyone loves home baked goods. |
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 Ima Non Controversial Girl
Posts: 4168
Location: where the wind blows | I'm not a lot of help either neither my husbands nor my family do much for gifts. We only buy for our 2 boys, their girlfriends, my mom and his parents. On Christmas Day where ever we are we do a $10 gift exchange where we draw numbers and pick a gift from the pile or steal from someone else. It's turned into a great tradition the nieces/nephews love even though they are now young adults. Maybe suggest something like that. The trick is to get goofy gifts as well as the odd nice one.
Otherwise I say go with some of the other suggestions like lotto tickets, books (or certificate for book), bottle of wine, etc.
Gifts Judy aren't big in our families. Even my husband and I rarely exchange. On occasion we will buy something for our house.
Is there some way you can start to phase out all the extended family gift giving? Honestly I'd be annoyed having to buy for ll those people. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
| That's a tough one. I have never bought gifts for my aunts and uncles. They stopped giving me gifts when I turned 18. That's the norm in our family. The other norm in our family is buying scratch offs for family members! haha. And hey you never know they might win thousands!
But a few cheaper gift ideas, because I was in that boat last year and am again this year with immediate family.
Those wax melter from walmart are nice, around $15 - $20. The wax packs are $2. Or look through the DIY on pinterest. Because sometimes we have the time but not the money. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1100
Location: Southeastern Idaho |
This made me laugh out loud! I hated it when I got to the orange too soon in my stocking! |
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Christmas shopping on a budget