Gifts for people you don't even like

Bubblegum5586

Wow! I am jealous of all the people that buy for less then 10 people! I pretty much like everyone although with a few Secret Santa's it could get iffy!

My immediate family - 5

My step family - 5 (it was 8 before we started a Yankee Swap with the siblings this year!)

H's immediate family - 5 (Secret Santa with the siblings helps)

My extended family Secret Santa - 2

H's extended family - 2 (for yankee swap)

My best friend's daughter (who I consider a niece, and am closer with her then my actual nieces)

20 gifts!!!!

The Yankee Swaps are tough for me sometimes. This is the first year that we are doing a Yankee Swap with my step family. They are not from this country and had no idea what it was! We set the limit at $30... but now that almost seems too high. My usual go-tos are sports stuff or booze, but this family isn't into either....

esstee33

bubblegum1309 said:

Wow! I am jealous of all the people that buy for less then 10 people! I pretty much like everyone although with a few Secret Santa's it could get iffy!

My immediate family - 5

My step family - 5 (it was 8 before we started a Yankee Swap with the siblings this year!)

H's immediate family - 5 (Secret Santa with the siblings helps)

My extended family Secret Santa - 2

H's extended family - 2 (for yankee swap)

My best friend's daughter (who I consider a niece, and am closer with her then my actual nieces)

20 gifts!!!!

The Yankee Swaps are tough for me sometimes. This is the first year that we are doing a Yankee Swap with my step family. They are not from this country and had no idea what it was! We set the limit at $30... but now that almost seems too high. My usual go-tos are sports stuff or booze, but this family isn't into either....

A Yankee Swap? I don't think I've ever heard of that. 

I used to have a gift list just about that long, until I finally convinced my mom's side of the family that it would make far more sense to have a gift exchange so you only had to buy for one person. That was soooooo much easier. 

wandajune6

I've had great luck over the years at The Onion store. Their decoy boxes are particular favorites of my dad. Figuring out what to put in them is a bit harder, though these are great for throwing people off.

People I don't like either get regifted bath and body products (why do people keep giving me vanilla and coconut scented products???) or oddball kitchen gadgets that serve no purpose other than wasting kitchen space.

jenna8984

@esstee33 Yankee swap you bring a wrapped gift for either sex. People draw numbers. When it's their turn they can open a new gift or steal one that the numbers before them already opened. So there's usually one hit gift that gets stolen 5 times (then that person chooses a new gift from the wrapped pile).

lacqueredlover

Hahaha this is all I can think of:

esstee33

jenna8984 said:

@esstee33 Yankee swap you bring a wrapped gift for either sex. People draw numbers. When it's their turn they can open a new gift or steal one that the numbers before them already opened. So there's usually one hit gift that gets stolen 5 times (then that person chooses a new gift from the wrapped pile).

Ohhhhh that's what we did at my grandpa's when I was a kid. I just never knew there was a name for it. 

My uncle used to bring a gift certificate for a local butcher with fantastic steaks every year, and that was always the hot gift. Since it was just a gift certificate, he'd wrap it in these totally insane ways -- one year he rolled it up and put it inside a balloon, then filled it with helium and shoved it down inside a refrigerator box full of other helium-filled balloons ALSO with rolled up pieces of paper in them. So when you opened up the box, dozens of identical balloons with rolled up papers in them floated up to the ceiling. You had to get a balloon down and pop it until you figured out which one had the gift certificate. 

theartistformerlyknownas

bubblegum1309 said:

Wow! I am jealous of all the people that buy for less then 10 people! I pretty much like everyone although with a few Secret Santa's it could get iffy!

My immediate family - 5

My step family - 5 (it was 8 before we started a Yankee Swap with the siblings this year!)

H's immediate family - 5 (Secret Santa with the siblings helps)

My extended family Secret Santa - 2

H's extended family - 2 (for yankee swap)

My best friend's daughter (who I consider a niece, and am closer with her then my actual nieces)

20 gifts!!!!

The Yankee Swaps are tough for me sometimes. This is the first year that we are doing a Yankee Swap with my step family. They are not from this country and had no idea what it was! We set the limit at $30... but now that almost seems too high. My usual go-tos are sports stuff or booze, but this family isn't into either....

My list used to be: 4 parents, 3 siblings, 3 siblings' SOs, between 2-4 step-siblings and corresponding SOs, depending on who was showing up, 1-5 nieces/nephews, 3 aunts, my own SO, their parents. I was also buying double for all my siblings, since we had to have a Christmas with each set of parents and wanted everyone to have something to open each time. Thankfully H has always bought for his own siblings, but it was still WAY out of control.

This year, my parents are actually getting along with each other and Mom and SD invited Dad and SM to Christmas at their house! Yay! Aaaaand my brother and his wife disowned us all, so scratch them off the list. We're doing a random person Yankee swap at Mom's house that can be handmade or store-bought, so I'm making a Christmas tree skirt and matching kitchen towels. So that's 1. Plus 5 nieces/nephews (we always buy for all the kids), 1 Yankee swap with H's cousins, 1 for ILs, 1 for FSIL (she always gets me something extra), H and I are taking a trip instead of buying gifts. Nine presents. WAY BETTER. (I'll get little stocking stuffers for my sisters too, and print wedding pictures for all the parents.)

l9i

Both H and I have unspoken rules for extended family Christmas where only the kids get gifts because really those are the ones who are excited the rest are just happy to get some food and catch up with each other.  So we have my parents, H's parents, SIL + BF, 2 nieces, and 2 cousins.  It's pretty managable.  This year we have some extra because we printed off family pictures from the wedding for aunts, uncles, etc. 

I just don't get gifts for people I like or coworkers (I'm not outside friends with any of them).  Last year a cube mate got me a christmas gift (1 for each in our 4 person pod/cube/area) and I just felt awkward.

jenna8984

l9i said:

Both H and I have unspoken rules for extended family Christmas where only the kids get gifts because really those are the ones who are excited the rest are just happy to get some food and catch up with each other.  So we have my parents, H's parents, SIL + BF, 2 nieces, and 2 cousins.  It's pretty managable.  This year we have some extra because we printed off family pictures from the wedding for aunts, uncles, etc. 

I just don't get gifts for people I like or coworkers (I'm not outside friends with any of them).  Last year a cube mate got me a christmas gift (1 for each in our 4 person pod/cube/area) and I just felt awkward.

Me too! A lady at work got 5 of us a pointsetta plant....by like January 3rd mine was in the trash and everyone still had theirs on their desks....I didn't know I was supposed to water it! I'm horticulturally challenged and thought it was like a vase of flowers that just dies in a week. I had no idea. And I felt like an ass when everyone had theirs until like June.

lauraukoctober2014

I refuse to put too much thought into somebody I don't give two hoots about all year - a generic bottle of wine in a gift bag with a box of nice sweets will do just fine. Would quite like to raise subject of adults not buying each other xmas gifts from now on 

lovesclimbing

I have no one I dislike who I feel the need to get gifts for.

l9i

jenna8984 said:

l9i said:

Both H and I have unspoken rules for extended family Christmas where only the kids get gifts because really those are the ones who are excited the rest are just happy to get some food and catch up with each other.  So we have my parents, H's parents, SIL + BF, 2 nieces, and 2 cousins.  It's pretty managable.  This year we have some extra because we printed off family pictures from the wedding for aunts, uncles, etc. 

I just don't get gifts for people I like or coworkers (I'm not outside friends with any of them).  Last year a cube mate got me a christmas gift (1 for each in our 4 person pod/cube/area) and I just felt awkward.

Me too! A lady at work got 5 of us a pointsetta plant....by like January 3rd mine was in the trash and everyone still had theirs on their desks....I didn't know I was supposed to water it! I'm horticulturally challenged and thought it was like a vase of flowers that just dies in a week. I had no idea. And I felt like an ass when everyone had theirs until like June.

-------------------------------SIB--------------------------------------

and I just realized this said "I don't get gifts for people I like"  haha.  People I DON'T like obviously.

 

She got gifts for what I think we were supposed to use at our desk (a picture frame, a daily Dilbert calender).  I got a scented oil difuser thing, I took it home... I felt bad because it wasn't 'on display' on my desk but I know some people can be very sensitive to smells.  This is also the same lady that got me a wedding gift even though she wasn't invited and I again felt awkward (especially since it was very nice and off our registry).  I think she just likes giving.

maxy2013

Wine. Works every time.