NationStates Jolt Archive

Some of you have already gone "Bah, humbug!", haven't you? :)

Christmas presents this year are annoying me. It's reached the stage between most of my friends that we have everything we actually need, and when buying Christmas presents it's vexing to know you are buying - and being bought - junk that, at best, will be used once or twice and then spend the rest of its life cluttering the place up. It's a waste of everyone's time, effort and money to buy these things, but we still feel obliged to do it because we know that everyone else will be doing the same. It's reached the point where people have started emailing Christmas lists around containing their demands, which is pretty tragic...
I'm pretty certain we'd all be better off not doing this. I'd rather my friends called/SMS'd me a "Merry Christmas" that they meant than that they bought me a DVD that I'll only watch because I feel guilty if I don't.

Am I the only person who feels like this?
Is this just a sign of ungratefulness and a miserly nature?
Maybe my Inner Hippie is playing up, and I should ignore him? Our economy needs supporting, after all! Buy more useless tat!
Or perhaps you shouldn't think about Christmas until the 23rd of December?

We are buying lots of consumable gifts this year - good wine and fancy foodstuffs - and putting them in 'food parcels'. It sounds a bit sad but solves the gift problem quite well

Buy deliberately bad presents, like DVDs of reject horror movies. If you have friends that are worth their weight in shit they'll see the funny side. :)

This is why God created giftcards to favorite stores.

Unless you have relatives like mine who keep swearing that they are somehow not worthy Christmas gifts even though I give the same arguments you have brought forth.

Some of you have already gone "Bah, humbug!", haven't you? :)

Christmas presents this year are annoying me. It's reached the stage between most of my friends that we have everything we actually need, and when buying Christmas presents it's vexing to know you are buying - and being bought - junk that, at best, will be used once or twice and then spend the rest of its life cluttering the place up. It's a waste of everyone's time, effort and money to buy these things, but we still feel obliged to do it because we know that everyone else will be doing the same. It's reached the point where people have started emailing Christmas lists around containing their demands, which is pretty tragic...
I'm pretty certain we'd all be better off not doing this. I'd rather my friends called/SMS'd me a "Merry Christmas" that they meant than that they bought me a DVD that I'll only watch because I feel guilty if I don't.

Am I the only person who feels like this?
Is this just a sign of ungratefulness and a miserly nature?
Maybe my Inner Hippie is playing up, and I should ignore him? Our economy needs supporting, after all! Buy more useless tat!
Or perhaps you shouldn't think about Christmas until the 23rd of December?

i understand what you're saying... sometimes its actually better not to give random shit and a simple card with a heartfelt message can mean a lot more. yet doing that seems somehow unacceptable.

i am a bit of a miser when it comes to xmas gifts. i've never known what to get my parents and just usually end up getting something that we can enjoy as a family (like DVDs we could watch together and all enjoy or movies we watched together when i was a kid, board games, etc)
as for friends we've never bothered getting each other presents so that's sorted.
the only person for whom i'm actually anxious about getting something nice, or particularly care about what i get, is for my girlfriend...

I dunno about anything else, but I bought my dad 5kg of Toblerone. I plan to help him consume it. :D

i understand what you're saying... sometimes its actually better not to give random shit and a simple card with a heartfelt message can mean a lot more. yet doing that seems somehow unacceptable.

i am a bit of a miser when it comes to xmas gifts. i've never known what to get my parents and just usually end up getting something that we can enjoy as a family (like DVDs we could watch together and all enjoy or movies we watched together when i was a kid, board games, etc)
as for friends we've never bothered getting each other presents so that's sorted.
the only person for whom i'm actually anxious about getting something nice, or particularly care about what i get, is for my girlfriend...

Get her a voucher for one hour of the [yourname goes here(Huw, no?)] lovin'

I only buy presents now that I have put some thought into & I know the person will like. I don't buy presents for the sake of buying presents anymore. I think gift vouchers are pretty much the worst things you can buy something. To me they say "I think you're worth $xx.xx, but I can't be bothered putting any effort into it."

Meh. In theory, I like both getting and giving christmas gifts. But in reality

1) I have to buy an insane amount of them (and it's getting more and more since some of my best friends are starting to have kids now...) which ends up being, really, really expensive. Plus, the switch to the Euro a few years ago brought the cost to what feels like twice as much as before anyway.

2) I don't really *need* anything myself (or, well, I do want some things, but most I'd rather buy myself so I get exactly what I want - experience with putting them on the "wishlist" has been decidely mixed) so I end up getting a whole bunch of stuff that I don't have any use for and, sometimes, not even particularly like (and saying that always makes me feel totally guilty... >.<).


I wouldn't want to get rid of christmas gifts altogether, but I would appreciate just giving something "small" (as in relatively cheap, not as in diamond ring). But somehow everybody always says that and nobody ever does.

Le sigh.

i understand what you're saying... sometimes its actually better not to give random shit and a simple card with a heartfelt message can mean a lot more. yet doing that seems somehow unacceptable.

[snip]
as for friends we've never bothered getting each other presents so that's sorted.
the only person for whom i'm actually anxious about getting something nice, or particularly care about what i get, is for my girlfriend...

Yeah, that's what I mean. For my birthday I did two different things with my two circles of friends; one (where we don't tend to buy each other presents unless we see something really good), we all went out for an Indian in London and a pint afterwards, had a brilliant time and a good laugh. The other group (who were invited to the meal but didn't come) ganged together and bought me a Yard of Ale glass. It's cool, I like it, but it does sit in its box in the corner all the time; I just don't drink enough to really use it, and if it were on display it would get broken. I'd've rather they came out for the meal and the laugh. Sigh.

And WYTYG, your number 2 is spot on. Please don't take that out of context though.

my mum always buys the stuff she wants herself and then gives them to people to wrap, so that's easy. my dad never knows what he wants so he tends to get books or remastered CDs. my sister generally gets an album of some band i think she'd like but wont have heard of, although she's becoming much more wordly about music so i might have to rethink that one. my gran gets stuff with flowers on it usually. my friends get some funny tat unless i know of something they really want, like dvd sets. i've already got my xmas pressie for this year so i won't be getting anything else.

I get random stuff, people enjoy it or at least pretend too.
Bunch of Atheists anyways so they don't deserve shit on toast to be perfectly honest.

Like PM, the only person I actually really think about when it comes to presents is my girlfriend. I make sure my family know exactly what I want when it comes to presents, because otherwise I do just get useless crap. Although that means there's then no surprise when it comes to opening the presents, so it's not really very fun.

Or perhaps you shouldn't think about Christmas until the 23rd of December?

This is why God created giftcards to favorite stores.

Combining these two statements makes the Christmas season a breeze! ;)

Silly shoppers. :p

And WYTYG, your number 2 is spot on. Please don't take that out of context though. >.< :p >.<

my mum always buys the stuff she wants herself and then gives them to people to wrap, so that's easy. That's terrible!
my friends get some funny tat unless i know of something they really want, like dvd sets.
I assume you're not talking about tattoos, so what are you talking about?

>.< :p >.<

That's terrible!

I assume you're not talking about tattoos, so what are you talking about?

Tat usually means something cheap & rubbishy.

Tat usually means something cheap & rubbishy.
Thanks. Who would've thought Aussie and Pom slang was the same?

That's terrible!

yeah, i don't know why she does it but she always has. makes it easier for me!

I assume you're not talking about tattoos, so what are you talking about


funny tat = worthless stuff found it joke shops and the like, which is entertaining for as long as you want it to be. the best one i gave last year was a battery operated hamster-in-a-ball. he's still in use as far as i know. the fire-spitting clockwork nun was a good one too :D

Thanks. Who would've thought Aussie and Pom slang was the same?

It quite often is. I think it probably has something to do with being founded by the Brits. Just a stab in the dark there. :p

It quite often is. I think it probably has something to do with being founded by the Brits. Just a stab in the dark there. :p

We founded quite a lot of North America too though, and look what happened to them...
Ah well, can't win them all.



I'm joking, of course! :)
Canada turned out nicely.


;)

I ignore Christmas, I'm an atheist. I do not want gifts and I do not give gifts.

It quite often is. I think it probably has something to do with being founded by the Brits. Just a stab in the dark there. :p
Oh come on! This is literally the first time I can remember you people understanding each other on here in terms of slang. Usually the yelling about the "crazy *insert nationality here*!" sets in immediately.

Get her a voucher for one hour of the [yourname goes here(Huw, no?)] lovin'

i do need to get some sex cheques ;)

Oh come on! This is literally the first time I can remember you people understanding each other on here in terms of slang. Usually the yelling about the "crazy *insert nationality here*!" sets in immediately.

I agree with American slang, but usually the British & Australian slang & humour is quite similar.

i do need to get some sex cheques ;)
And here I thought y'all were getting it for free. Isn't that the whole point of a relationship? :p

i do need to get some sex cheques ;)

I wait for the day when sexual favours become an accepted currency.

And here I thought y'all were getting it for free. Isn't that the whole point of a relationship? :p

i don't think my pimp would like that :p

http://tfp.killbots.com/wall/152/152_bender-pimp_0800.jpg

:D

i don't think my pimp would like that :p

http://tfp.killbots.com/wall/152/152_bender-pimp_0800.jpg

:D

:eek: Glitziness=bender?!
;)

The girls and I are making Christmas presents for everyone, girls get soaps, lotions, bath teas, etc. boys get baked goods. It will be great since right around the time we are making everything we will be studying measuring in homeschool.

I went specifically Monday to Toys R Us to get the big toy book thinking that my girls would do what I did when I was little, which is cut out pictures of everything they wanted, glue it to a poster board and give it to daddy.......but they didn't find anything they wanted in the big toy book. :(

They did find some stuff they wanted in the local computer and electronics store ad. The oldest wants a digital camera, an MP3 player and some more memory for her PC. The youngest wants a usb drive, some software, and a new monitor.

I don't think that's exactly "the norm" for kids their age......

I of course will fill their stockings with things I want them to have (like Pez, and chocolate coins, and silly socks, and colored pencils, and stuff)

I told my husband what to get me and he didn't act like he was going to :( but he could just be throwing me off the trail..........:p

The girls and I are making Christmas presents for everyone, girls get soaps, lotions, bath teas, etc. boys get baked goods. It will be great since right around the time we are making everything we will be studying measuring in homeschool.

I went specifically Monday to Toys R Us to get the big toy book thinking that my girls would do what I did when I was little, which is cut out pictures of everything they wanted, glue it to a poster board and give it to daddy.......but they didn't find anything they wanted in the big toy book. :(

They did find some stuff they wanted in the local computer and electronics store ad. The oldest wants a digital camera, an MP3 player and some more memory for her PC. The youngest wants a usb drive, some software, and a new monitor.

I don't think that's exactly "the norm" for kids their age......

I of course will fill their stockings with things I want them to have (like Pez, and chocolate coins, and silly socks, and colored pencils, and stuff)

I told my husband what to get me and he didn't act like he was going to :( but he could just be throwing me off the trail..........:p

Expect a voucher for 1 hour of the Mr. Smunkee love ;)


Yes I am going to keep using that idea.

Expect a voucher for 1 hour of the Mr. Smunkee love ;)


Yes I am going to keep using that idea.

that's useless to me, I get what I want when I want......why would I need a voucher?

I am 90% sure he is planning something for my birthday.....he has been asking weird questions, I think he throws in random queries to confuse me though. He hasn't asked anything about it since October though.....so I am pretty sure he is planning something, he usually gets quiet a while before, because he thinks I will forget........

I try to leave Christmas shopping to the very last minute. I work in a shop, and we put the Christmas stuff out in September. And then theres all that godawful cheesy Christmas music playing everywhere I go (and work), it completely puts me off shopping.

Buy deliberately bad presents, like DVDs of reject horror movies. If you have friends that are worth their weight in shit they'll see the funny side. :)

Lol, I've been doing that for years, it never gets old :D Although this year I'm buying some of these (http://www.giantmicrobes.com/uk/).

I'm sick of Christmas, I've asked family/friends not to waste their money on me this year. I love winter but Christmas depresses me.

My sister has a rule with her friends; they don't buy each other presents, that way they get to keep their cash and spend it on themselves.

My Dad is so incredibly fussy when it comes to presents, that he buys them himself and we pay for them. I guess it sorts out the hassle. But he also buys himself presents and labels them 'family'. Come to think of it he's been doing that for as long as I can remember...

The problem is, is that because of that my family have absolutely no imagination. I have to tell them each and every thing I want; but I never want anything. One year I asked them to get me lots of little/cheap things and they couldn't do that. I got like 3 small little presents; and a digital camera. A digital camera is handy; but I don't need one! Every single year since I was 10 I've known what was in almost every single box. I like surprises, but I guess I'm just part of the wrong family for them :(

I guess I'm pretty fortunate, though. I haven't needed anything for years. For 4 years I didn't get birthday presents from my parents because I never told them what I wanted. Last year they finally just handed me some money. Talk about imaginative. So I guess I understand what you're saying; you'd rather get heartfelt messages than junk. Well, if it's the thought that counts, and my parents can't think to get me anything, then what does that make me?!

By the way, does anybody ever tell you that you're 'hard' to get presents for? I hear that all the time, just because I'm a teenage girl who's not into hair/make-up. It's like; if she's not into that what can I possibly get her?!

My sister has a rule with her friends; they don't buy each other presents, that way they get to keep their cash and spend it on themselves.

That's a good rule. I've suggested it but people aren't enthusiastic.

My Dad is so incredibly fussy when it comes to presents, that he buys them himself and we pay for them. I guess it sorts out the hassle. But he also buys himself presents and labels them 'family'. Come to think of it he's been doing that for as long as I can remember...

The problem is, is that because of that my family have absolutely no imagination. I have to tell them each and every thing I want; but I never want anything. One year I asked them to get me lots of little/cheap things and they couldn't do that. I got like 3 small little presents; and a digital camera. A digital camera is handy; but I don't need one! Every single year since I was 10 I've known what was in almost every single box. I like surprises, but I guess I'm just part of the wrong family for them :(

I guess I'm pretty fortunate, though. I haven't needed anything for years. For 4 years I didn't get birthday presents from my parents because I never told them what I wanted. Last year they finally just handed me some money. Talk about imaginative. So I guess I understand what you're saying; you'd rather get heartfelt messages than junk. Well, if it's the thought that counts, and my parents can't think to get me anything, then what does that make me?!

By the way, does anybody ever tell you that you're 'hard' to get presents for? I hear that all the time, just because I'm a teenage girl who's not into hair/make-up. It's like; if she's not into that what can I possibly get her?!

My dad is incredibly hard to buy presents for... And when someone buys him something they think he'll appreciate, even something quite expensive, it sits in its box not even opened. That's worse than asking for the receipt so he can take it back to get the cash >.<

It's terribly vexing... At least when you get cash you can put it to use however you choose. It's not imaginitive, but it works and never goes off.

I think lots of people just feel obliged to buy presents rather than doing so because they think people will want/need/use them.

You could just put off buying things and then ask for them for Christmas? It's cheap and mercenary, but people do keep pestering...

:eek: Glitziness=bender?!
;)
Curses! It's no longer a secret! :eek: :p





Personally, I love getting gifts for people I care about - I try and get things I know they'll actually like, or find funny, or which will mean something to them etc and I only get presents for people who I actually want to give presents too. I don't feel obliged to do anything - I just really love doing it.

*sings christmas songs cos she loves christmas in general :D:p*

*sings christmas songs cos she loves christmas in general :D:p*

Last year Christmas was great. This year I can't be arsed at all.

/me buys everyone one of these (http://www.firebox.com/index.html?dir=firebox&action=product&pid=1249&src_t=sbk&src_id=coal), then hides in his flat with the door locked, curtains drawn and 'phones switched off.

Meh...most years i decide by mid-December that I hate Christmas. First off, it's too damn early for it - places had Christmas stuff up before Halloween. Someone give them the memo - it's the tenth of fucking November and Christmas isn't for another 45 fucking days. Besides, I have other things to concern myself with this year - like, gee, a wedding in 22 days. By the time I finish with that, I won't want to hear the word "Christmas" for another 37 years.

It's seriously making me want to raise my kids not to accept Christmas for secular reasons. I hope my kids are the least fun kids ever and that all they want to do is work and go to school. Fuck Christmas. Fuck the holidays. Fuck them all dead. And fuck all the stores for putting out Christmas shit in the middle of fucking October. I hope there's a special place in hell for them. **sigh** I should have converted to Islam while I had the chance...

fortunantly this madness does not start until the week before "christmas" here in Poland.

In our family we have abolished christmas. I think it's enerving.

To buy something only because it's christmas - I don't think that this is very romantic. At first, we have everything we need, and the special wishes are so expensive that we can't afford them as gift.

And the most terrible thing of christmas is the radio and TV program. After the tenth time hearing "Last christmas" and seeing this stupid christmas movies, you must get crazy!

@Ice Hockey Players: You should convert to Buddhism. They have 30 difffernt hells for every kind of bad people. I'm sure there is a hell for these marketing people who think that they have to torture the customers... :D

My aunt called the other day to ask what sizes we wore, so when she went to this huge flea market she could find us Christmas presents. Hey, last year she found me this PERFECT pair of pants at the thrift shop. And a shirt that was too small, not to mention ugly. Me, I'll probably head to a craft/fabric store and get something that'll cost me maybe $1 per person, but a bit of work. Plus possibly some stuff at the thrift shop at about the same price. My dad gives away chocolates he gets from the factory store as "seconds"/imperfects. Another aunt gave me some lovely blue crockery bowls as a wedding present, that she got at a thrift shop. Really, the whole thing is about family, and having fun together. We play games, we open presents at leisure, and don't make a huge deal of it. It's comfortable, easy, and if you say "eh, I don't really like it" and donate it to a thrift shop, give it away or whatever nobody cares. They mostly give gifts because they like to. I like this.

My husbands family though... it's almost a contest to see who can give the most expensive, extravagent gift. Not to mention ugly, useless and frivolous. I have more bath sets than I'll use in my entire lifetime. $50 dresses for my daughter that will last what, MAYBE 6 months, because they bought it too small instead of too big. There are still things I'd like as presents... but the odds of them actually getting such things are... somewhere between zero and nothing. And the enitre thing is miserable. You have to sit there and watch each present be opened (without ripping the paper) and ooh and ahhed over, and put back into its wrapping, before moving on to the next person. And then they wonder why the two year old is fussy, and blame me. And we end up with a whole carful of stuff we really couldn't care less about. It's all about the haul, and I HATE it.

So... I'm more inspired to shop for my family than for my husbands. My hope is we can "do" Christmas at HOME this year, and visit them briefly, perhaps, at some point.

Wishful thinking.

that's useless to me, I get what I want when I want......why would I need a voucher?
Cos........eh........
http://www.smileypad.com/v10/Cache/Feelings/Flee.gif
Curses! It's no longer a secret! :eek: :p
I'm on to you Bender, if that is your real name.

For the most part, I only buy Christmas presents for people if I know them well enough to get them something personal, with only a few exceptions to this. For example this year I'm likely going to spend Christmas with my boyfriend's family (eek!). I can pick out good gifts for him and his parents, but I don't know his brother very well at all; nevertheless I'm going to get something for him because I'd feel funny getting gifts for everyone in his family except him.

As for gifts that people get me, I'd rather get no gift at all than a random gift I have no use for (a relative of mine always gets me stuff from Bath and Body Works that either makes me sneeze, sits in the closet for years or gets re-gifted). I hate the feeling of opening a present from someone and having to force enthusiasm for it. Luckily that doesn't happen very often. I also like getting presents that make me laugh. One year I was visiting a friend in Minnesota, and his family got me this little stuffed animal of a Minnesota loon. It's cute, and when it's squeezed it makes the call of the Minnesota loon (freaks the heck out of my dog). :D

The girls and I are making Christmas presents for everyone, girls get soaps, lotions, bath teas, etc. boys get baked goods. It will be great since right around the time we are making everything we will be studying measuring in homeschool.

I went specifically Monday to Toys R Us to get the big toy book thinking that my girls would do what I did when I was little, which is cut out pictures of everything they wanted, glue it to a poster board and give it to daddy.......but they didn't find anything they wanted in the big toy book. :(

They did find some stuff they wanted in the local computer and electronics store ad. The oldest wants a digital camera, an MP3 player and some more memory for her PC. The youngest wants a usb drive, some software, and a new monitor.

I don't think that's exactly "the norm" for kids their age......

I of course will fill their stockings with things I want them to have (like Pez, and chocolate coins, and silly socks, and colored pencils, and stuff)

I told my husband what to get me and he didn't act like he was going to :( but he could just be throwing me off the trail..........:p
my neices and Nephews did that with our Toys r us catalogue.

they put their initials next to all the stuff they wanted.

while everyone has their initials on RC cars, MP3 players, Nintendo DS games and other expensive stuff... one of my 7yr old neices has only three initials on three stuffed dogs...

I have a feeling she's getting everything on her list. :)