Christmas Presents for Nieces & Nephews

Lindsay_1984
Lindsay_1984 Posts: 85 Member
in Chit-Chat
Just wondering if anyone has nieces or nephews that they buy Christmas presents for? Do you buy a present for each kid? How much do you spend? At what age do you stop getting them presents? Would they be upset if you did not get them presents?

When I was a kid we never got presents from my Aunts and Uncles so I didn't even think about getting presents for my nieces and nephews at first. But it seemed like my siblings expected me to get presents for their kids, so I started doing it.

I now have 11 nieces and nephews, and I get them each a $20 present for Christmas. I also buy them Birthday presents, so we end up spending about $440 a year in presents for them. It is not really a big deal, but it seems like every year we have another kid in the family so I just keep buying more and more presents!


Do you think it is too much, or is it normal?

Merry Christmas!!

Replies

  • love2bthin
    love2bthin Posts: 176 Member
    Hey there

    Since all of my nieces & nephews live far from me, I buy $15 gift card and mail to them. I tried to buy it from the favorite store or where they like to eat, until they turn 18. I hope that helps:smile:
  • latewinter
    latewinter Posts: 90
    i dont have any official neices or nephews but my bf's sister has a kid who i don't buy for and my brothers gf has kids who i dont buy for so no i would not buy for them as they are not my immediate family lol plus my bf's sisters kid is far to spoilt as it is lol
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    My husband and I do not have kids and my brother and his wife do not have kids, so my husband's brother's three kids are our only nieces and nephews and the only kids we get to buy for. So, yes, even though they are entering their twenties, we buy them gifts. But your situation is different. That is a lot of gifts to buy. If I were you, I would suggest a "cousins" gift exchange, where each kid would pick a name of one of his cousins to buy for. I'm sure all of the parents would appreciate it!
  • Ailbe1
    Ailbe1 Posts: 164
    I have a big family and have 11 nieces and nephews too. For the past few years I've been buying a gift to go with one that Santa was bringing them, so if they were getting a gaming system, I bought a game or controller. My niece got a laptop last year so I bought her a printer. This year we decided to have a secret Santa for my siblings and older nieces and nephews, but I still bought gifts for the younger ones.
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    I don't have many, and I'm very close with them. I have 3 nieces. Each get a present, and my brother and brother in laws get presents for my 2 children. I keep it at $15 if I can. My 2 kids get no more than $300 worth of stuff between the two of them - stocking stuffers and all. We have lots in the family, so they don't go without. I'm just glad I don't have to keep up with extravagant Christmas's!
  • AprilMae1975
    AprilMae1975 Posts: 726
    We have two nieces and two nephews. The boys get $50 gift card from Toys R Us and the girls get $50 gift cards from Target. It makes it very simple and not too bad on our pocketbook.
  • HikerRR50
    HikerRR50 Posts: 144 Member
    Just wondering if anyone has nieces or nephews that they buy Christmas presents for? Do you buy a present for each kid? How much do you spend? At what age do you stop getting them presents? Would they be upset if you did not get them presents?

    When I was a kid we never got presents from my Aunts and Uncles so I didn't even think about getting presents for my nieces and nephews at first. But it seemed like my siblings expected me to get presents for their kids, so I started doing it.

    I now have 11 nieces and nephews, and I get them each a $20 present for Christmas. I also buy them Birthday presents, so we end up spending about $440 a year in presents for them. It is not really a big deal, but it seems like every year we have another kid in the family so I just keep buying more and more presents!


    Do you think it is too much, or is it normal?

    Merry Christmas!!

    unless they have very few toys(most kids have 10 times what we had as kids) I vote to just make them cookies or fudge
  • Krecob
    Krecob Posts: 86 Member
    I have 8 nieces and nephews I spend between 20 and 30 it’s hard to spend equal amounts when the baby’s toys are cheap and the older kid’s toys are super expensive. I asked my 12 year old niece what she wanted for Christmas she responded with "an I phone" I said "Yea... good luck with that" It does get expensive especially as they get older, I guess what I’m more worried about is once I start having children my family will then implement the name out of hat rule or no gifts rule so my kids will get nothing.

    I think its too much personally but thats easy to say when im not getting the benefits.
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
    Do you think it is too much?

    Depends if you can afford it or not.
  • cheryl663
    cheryl663 Posts: 2 Member
    I buy both Christmas and Birthday gifts for my nieces/nephews but I only have 5 nieces/nephews and no kids of my own. As far as their bdays...I have a policy that once they turn 10 that they don't get a gift but and experience with me. It could be just going to the mall and out for lunch; manicures; rock climbing, etc. Whatever they want within reason. Now that I'm a bit older I've relaxed the policy and have allowed them to bring a friend if it's something I think I can't do anymore. Once they are 16 + Christmas might be a small gift to wrap and cash (b/c at that age cash is king).
  • DaWayne360
    DaWayne360 Posts: 261 Member
    Hi Aunt Lindsay! $20 is nice but $100 is better. :happy:
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    We spend ~$40 on each (of two) nephew of my DH's. We basically just call up the SIL and ask her what the boys want that she isn't planning on buying herself.

    My sister is preggers with her first, and I plan on switching from buying my sister gifts to buying my niece gifts.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
    I have 7 nieces/nephews and now 3 great-nieces/nephews. In my family we bought for all of them until they got out of highschool. The rest of us do a gift exchange ($30) and once the 'kids' are out of school they can choose to be in the exchange or not.

    When I was just out of school I didn't have much money, but I still either bought something cheap like a little gag gift, or I made things for them. I remember one year a nephew was going into engineering school so I bought him a little keychain etch-a-sketch (for his homework of course!). it's little stuff and cheap, but it lets them know I'm thinking about them.
  • BBEAU88
    BBEAU88 Posts: 35
    I was actually just thinking about this the other day...we currently buy Christmas and birthday presents for our 8 nieces and nephews. We usually range between $10-$20 a gift, but with all of them living on the other side of the country the shipping can bring the price up more. I also buy presents for any kids my good friends have (which is another 3 kids).

    I like the idea of gift cards, although I worry it might be seen as impersonal? We definitely need to start doing something different next year, since two more babies are coming along.
  • Amwhite1986
    Amwhite1986 Posts: 194 Member
    I have one niece and one nephew. Unless a lot more come along I'll keep buying for these two. This year it's a Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray with minion figures for my niece(4) and a toy cashier set for my nephew(2). One lives in a different city so it's not like they can compare gifts and see if the other got more.

    I should also mention I have 3 brothers, one married, one with an SO, and we all get for each other. So it adds up.
  • sarahg148
    sarahg148 Posts: 701 Member
    I have a niece (9) and two nephews (6 and almost 2) and I'm getting them a giftcard from Toys R Us. She may be getting too old for Toys R Us, but I'll worry about that next year. I'm giving the older two $25 each and the little one $15. Not exchanging with the brother or sister in law. Buying Mom a few things and Aunt/Uncles gift cards, too. Who doesn't like buying exactly what they want? :bigsmile:
  • asp415
    asp415 Posts: 1,492 Member
    I have two older brother & we don’t buy for each other but we do buy for the kids. I have 6 nieces & nephews & 3 great nieces & nephews & I buy for all of them. I also make sure I go to Marshall’s to buy good things for a lot less money. On average I spend about 15, very few are up to 20 & only one do I go well over the 20. I start buying early in the year when I see things on sale so that it doesn’t hit me all @ once. I stopped buying for my eldest niece when she got married, but if she had not had kids so fast then perhaps I would have still been buying for her.
  • luv_lea
    luv_lea Posts: 1,094 Member
    When I was young my aunts and uncles never bought us anything for Christmas. I have 3 neices (the 3rd just recently came along) and over the years I've felt more and more less apt to buy for them. I only have 1 child in which they never buy for, so I figure me being a single mom and them having two parents...they can do their christmas and I can do mine. I'd like to get them all kinds of things but money wise--I just can't.
  • BlueBombers
    BlueBombers Posts: 4,064 Member
    I don't have any nephews...my brother's step kid if that counts. I just got him a gift card.
  • iamanadult
    iamanadult Posts: 709 Member
    I have two nieces. One is 9 months and one is 3 1/2 years. I got the 9 month old two outfits, jammies, a big toy and a stuffy. I got the 3 1/2 year old 3 outfits, jammies, 2 big toys and three smaller toys.

    I love spoiling them. They deserve it.
  • Brown523
    Brown523 Posts: 112 Member
    I only have 1 nephew so I do buy for him. My aunts have always bought for me and my cousins and at 32 they still do even though since I was at least 18 have been telling them they don't have to. Birthday presents included!
  • kristen49233
    kristen49233 Posts: 385 Member
    I've been wondering the same exact thing...they are in their early 20's now. I have 2 nieces and a nephew. I've always given them Christmas and birthday presents. At what age does it stop? This year...two of them now have significant others, and one has a baby. I focused the gifts on the baby. The others are getting goodie baskets--but I think I am putting much more money into the cost of the goodies than I did just buying gift cards.
  • coretemp
    coretemp Posts: 1,796 Member
    $20 Movie Cards (early teens)
  • walleyclan1
    walleyclan1 Posts: 2,784 Member
    I have 13 miffed and nephews, 9 on my husbands side. I cannot get the name drawing for gifts things to catch on so we usually do gift cards for the older ones and toys for younger ones or once we got everyone footie pjs.
  • Samquentin1
    Samquentin1 Posts: 23 Member
    I buy for my nieces and nephew, but there are three in total. I was struggling with the thought this year, my oldest son is 18, and a freshman in college (okay, so my husbands oldest, I just claim him as my own), with when does he get dropped off the gift tag name... and the Christmas card? I'm guessing when he is on his own, and out of school...

    My aunts and uncles still buy Christmas for us, and we buy for them. Usually in the $15-20 range... or if I can get a steal on Black Friday, on something that is normally more. :D

    They all understood when the kiddos were little, that we didn't have the money... so I did homemade hand scrubs, or cookie in a jar.
  • smilesback
    smilesback Posts: 252 Member
    Just wondering if anyone has nieces or nephews that they buy Christmas presents for? Do you buy a present for each kid? How much do you spend? At what age do you stop getting them presents? Would they be upset if you did not get them presents?

    When I was a kid we never got presents from my Aunts and Uncles so I didn't even think about getting presents for my nieces and nephews at first. But it seemed like my siblings expected me to get presents for their kids, so I started doing it.

    I now have 11 nieces and nephews, and I get them each a $20 present for Christmas. I also buy them Birthday presents, so we end up spending about $440 a year in presents for them. It is not really a big deal, but it seems like every year we have another kid in the family so I just keep buying more and more presents!


    Do you think it is too much, or is it normal?

    Merry Christmas!!

    unless they have very few toys(most kids have 10 times what we had as kids) I vote to just make them cookies or fudge
  • smilesback
    smilesback Posts: 252 Member
    I have only one sister and I have 2 nieces. I have 3 sons. When they were little we would exchange little gifts. As they got older, we only exchanged gifts if we spent the holidays together. Now my nieces have little ones, but we don't send gifts. I talked about gift giving among us and we decided a nice photo christmas card was enough. Talk about it with your family because a lot of pressure comes off when people understand how you are thinking about Christmas and gift giving. I agree with making something either for them or with them, or playing with them, or getting them a family gift everyone can enjoy together, a video and Orville Red's popcorn bowl. Keep it simple and you will find the best things about Christmas are priceless.
  • joandue
    joandue Posts: 84 Member
    I actually don't buy for my nieces and nephews any more but I buy for my great nieces and nephew. I bought for nieces and nephews until they were 18 and now I will buy for their kids until they are 18. My siblings buy for my kids also. The little ones ages 5 and under I buy something like pj's and the older ones I buy gift card

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