Family Christmas gifts

Not a novel idea but we do a secret Santa with names pulled out of a hat and so buying one present with a maximum amount to spend on it. I would include the grandson in your case but buy him some extra presents as well.

The 18 year old would surely appreciate an Amazon voucher or a cheque?
Only you know what kind of things the adults like.
For gifts at any time of year I like books or vouchers or toiletries/ perfume.

The seven of us write wish lists and share them on a family WhatsApp page.

Our family have never spent a lot of money on gifts.
I buy something small -edible ,drinkable or useful .
This might be a Stilton plus biscuits ,a Christmas cake ,chocolates and wine
Occasionally it's something handmade .
One gift that is hugely appreciated is a portrait done from a photograph .
That costs more and I'm always sorry that my specialisation is landscape or still life.

Always problematic if you're wracking your brains to think of something "a bit different."

Probably best to play it safe and stick to cheese, cake, wine and chocs.

NOT a framed photograph of yourself. Ha! Ha!

Family tickets to a panto. Unfortunately these days this is not cheap but it solves all the family’s presents in one go.

We do secret Santa too

As none of us need anything we have given up exchanging gifts and donate to charity. I just give a Lottery scratch card to each person for a bit of fun.

Does anyone have a theme eg books etc?

shysal

As none of us need anything we have given up exchanging gifts and donate to charity. I just give a Lottery scratch card to each person for a bit of fun.

I second this, wouldn’t bother with a scratch card even.

Instead of wasting money on unwanted Christmas gifts, better to treat family to a meal out or similar during the year.

One4all gift cards. They can be spent in lots of stores.

sharon103

One4all gift cards. They can be spent in lots of stores.

I used to do this, but now my children and grandchildren are older I put money into their bank accounts with just a little present for them to open. I also give money to my sister's adult children. Apart from this I no longer give wrapped presents to anyone, unless one of them asks me for something in particular instead of the cash. My husband and I have agreed not to exchange gifts.
It is nice to give wrapped presents to little children, but my family seem to go beserk with the number of gifts and we've decided not to participate in the over indulgent melee.

Yes, that's a good idea. cc
Never know what to buy people year after year.
At least with sme money they can buy what they like instead of getting something they don't want.
A nice idea of yours to buy a little gift to undo.

We started off with Secret Santa, but eventually gave up on that too, so now we only buy for children.
My son’s mother in law takes everyone out to dinner, and another set of inlaws sends money for them all to have a takeaway.

I try to avoid giving money, unless it is needed for something in particular. To me, presents should be about giving people something they'd like to have, but wouldn't buy for themselves. Not necessarily expensive, but something luxury in its own way, whether that's fancy chocolate, good bath oil or a leather notebook.

Where my children are concerned, Christmas gives me an opportunity to spoil them a bit. They wouldn't want me to give them money, but are happy to accept gifts that help their own money to go further. They are younger than many posters' children though, and there are no grandchildren, so that may change over time.

I do the scratchcard thing, too - one each for everyone who comes for Christmas dinner. It's just a bit of fun, and one day one of us might win. My husband got £3 last year 😀