Is Anyone Else Limiting Christmas Gifts This Year ( Scaling Down)

That's in the plans for us. We are going to focus on kids. My daughter is 14 and she doesn't need anything. We have decided to adopt a family this year - a single mom with 5 kids. I use to go crazy buying numerous people small inexpensive gifts, but have come to my senses. I can't even think of anything I want. My daughter can pick one "big" gift. I use to get her lots of little stuff and it was all so unnecessary. No more of that! It's now...life simplified! We have everything we need and most of what we want, so all is well. I just hope I can stick to this.

Yeah limited amount of funds this year was out of work for over 5 months. But I will have a tree trimming Dinner just the family and have presents under the tree for my daughter. She is only young once.. Everyday she faced me being out of work, eating spagetti every night and limiting so she already knows. She needs something good to remembver and every year its Christmas time.

We are scaling down this year. Not so much because of financial reasons but because our culture, as a whole, have become so entitled and I don't want my children to have that mentality.

Years past we've told them that they are only getting X amount of gifts, but then we go overboard and get them everything they could ever want. They have become ungrateful and expectant. So, this year we are going to get them a few meaningful gifts and that's it.

We always give to charity but this year we will give more to charity and charitable causes instead of our spoiled children.

I love my kids so much, but I can recognize when I've done something wrong and I can honestly say that I'm embarrased about past Christmas indulgences on my and my husbands behalf. This year we are going to start doing things differently!

they are getting fewer gifts and we decided no extended family gifts this year (extended family in agreement with that). CA just voted in higher taxes so in addition I returned all the christmas decorations I had bought before the election.

The last three years were pretty slim for our girls because I had lost my job. This year I'm working so I'm spending more than I normally would. Each girl is still only getting three gifts from us, and then they will get a big gift and stocking stuffers from Santa. Each year the gifts from mom & dad are something they want, something to read, and then something they need.

Yes, we are scaling way back this year (& the last three).
I buy things along the way and on clearance, sale racks, thrift etc.

I try to donate my old clothes, have garage sales & make extra $ any way I can.

I'm just thankful for my family, a roof over our heads, our health & the things we already have. In that way, we are richer than some!

I still like to celebrate so we will decorate the house, put up a fake tree, put out our favorite sentimental decorations, visit w/family & friends, make a gingerbread house, bake cookies, go look at lights, have hot cocoa by the fire, make a few homemade ornaments (the kids like that).
Basically try to keep the traditions alive.

My goal is to visit a convelescent home & the kids section of the hospital to those that are lonely and/or sick.

year before last we started scaling down.
Some clothes, this year they are getting a few video games because I got them used. Usually it's one vg. They are all joint gifts. They are actually getting very few toys that are just for them. Some clothes but they are needed, both got growth spurts in the past few months.
They are going to go through their stuff before christmas to donate stuff to make room for new stuff.
I have never understood parents that give their kids tons of stuff for christmas and birthday. They don't need it all.

ETA: for the most part we don't buy them stuff between christmas and birthdays either.

No...it's my daughters first Christmas! My son knows the meaning of Christmas even though he gets a lot of stuff. He donates a bunch of toys before Christmas and we all pick tags off the angel tree. He always asks if he can pick a few because he wants every child to have Christmas. We have done this with him since his first Christmas, and will do with our baby too. He knows there's kids and family's who don't have a lot and he is thankful for what he has.

We aren't doing any gifts for adults whatsoever.. Therefore, our focus will be on the kids in our family. In their case, the older ones will get money... as for my son, he doesn't ever ask for much. He wants books..

Since we are hosting Christmas, our gift to the adults is the dinner..

We also donate to charities year-round... that much, we will keep doing..

Oh and no birthday celebrations for adults either... By not buying gifts for the adults, I have save a lot of money...

We don't scale back or limit per say. The reason is that during the year if there is a need we take care of it. That's just how we are in general. If there is a need, we take care of it.

Our Christmas for daughter who turns 18 on 12/27 is mostly $$ because she loves to shop, she buys her own clothes and accessories with the money she earns plus whatever she gets from us.

She's gearing up for dorm life so I've bought things along the way when I've seen a deal for her but they are not considered Christmas gifts.

Her Christmas gifts and birthday which are both completely separated consists of a generous $$ donation via gift card, her favorites such as Godive, Victorias Secret and fun stuff line concert tickets etc.

We don't believe in being in debt and especially going into debt for a holiday, vacation, etc

Most if the time, it's the simplest things that are remembered and cherished which cost nothing to minimal $$

We are. We, as a family, decided to make a few big changes so that we can take on a couple specific goals that we're excited about. But, that means changing our lifestyle a bit and downsizing in several ways.
Also, I am STILL packing this blooming house (alone; my children are too small to be of real help and my husband is out of state)---been packing it bit by bit FOREVER and I'm just praying I can get it all done by Monday afternoon! What I've realized: we had an original estimate with the movers, and then a couple weeks worth of work later, I asked him to come again and give an updated estimate and discuss the insurance questions with my husband because I didn't want to deal with it. He went through the same stuff, and came up 1,000 pounds less than before. I have given away/donated/thrown away 1,000 pounds of stuff in 3 weeks, and STILL have all this stuff to pack??? We have TOO MUCH. And I'm one that has always cleared out things that the kids don't play with or have outgrown on a regular basis, 2-3 times a year. Good grief! That was a revelation. But we are going from a 3,000 sq ft house to a 1800 sq ft house, so yes, our Christmas will be scaled back. The kids will still have Christmas gifts, but not so many, and we will focus more on friends, family, and events to remember and not so much "stuff".
Because the house we are in now is 5 room/4 bath and we're moving to a 3 room/2 bath house, the boys are going to share a room (bunk beds) and the 3rd room will be a playroom. I'm selling my youngest son's race car toddler bed, bedding, dresser, sandbox, one of the toyboxes, and the train table. We're going to consolidate. The kids are excited to get new bedding and share their room, it's not a punishment. My husband and I won't be buying gifts for each other this year (not pricey ones, at least) b/c we're just coming out of this move (thousands of dollars) and also had to buy new washer/dryer.....but we'll treat each other to little things for the stockings, and more from the heart stuff (we like to write love notes and do stuff, not just get stuff). We don't buy gifts for adults (everyone knows and agrees): I buy for my bff's son, and for my nephews, but not my adult friends/family unless we just see something that is too perfect to pass up (usually an inside joke more than anything else). We do like to go play, but much of what we do that is seasonal doesn't cost much: our big community holiday event (live reindeer, Mr and Mrs Claus, all kinds of wonderful fun) is free, the parade is free, tree lightings, watching the carolers, going to a local community/school play, church events, so many things are free. Others really don't cost much. We have our annual family Christmas project where we make something together that's fun (gingerbread house, train, or sleighs, handprint tree painting (daddy's hands are longest so his on bottom, mine next, Joe's next, and wee Victor's hand on top, decorated with a little string of lights from a scrapbook store), ornaments made of salt dough, stuff like that. We string candy and plain popcorn (in the big old popper that STILL WORKS that my grandma used) instead of tinsel. We have fun and tell lots of stories, and make memories for our kids to get to tell their kids one day. So that's what we do / are doing.

we started drawing names in our (extended) family a couple of years ago to "scale back" - it helped SOOO much. this year we went from a $50 limit to a $20 limit, that is even better, imo.

i have finally gotten my tree the "exact" way i want it, mostly by shopping at places like walmart clearance sales and dollar tree - so i deliberately scaled down the decorations and christmas tree ornaments this year...got rid of a lot of the "clutter".

it still took the better part of the day to decorate, and i'm exhausted lol. but i'm glad we are going smaller this year. it takes SO much of the pressure off - i didn't even feel a niggle of temptation to shop on black friday - thank goodness!

we are actually doing better financially this year than we have most previous years - and ironically, my son also has a pretty small, easy list. so it is nice to have a very pressure-free christmas this year. i have been able to help out with the angel tree at work and some other things that i normally can't do (or feel like i can't). that is really nice :)

Yes we are . . . we did so last year too and it all turned out fine.

My son only gets 3 gifts. Usually we do a xmas exchange with my family but this year one of my sisters close friends little boy got a brain tumor so we decided to donate that money for him. Last year we donated the money for my nephew since he needed a heart transplant. We usually do a white elephant exchange with my husbands family but I am not participating this year. My husband and I will probably do 1 gift each or no gifts.

We are really cutting back also. Fortunately, the grandkids are getting older so there are only two now that hubby and I do Santa for. So this year it will be just one gift from grandma and grandpa to all the grandkids (8 of them) and a couple of very close family friends (3) and then one or two Santa items for the two youngest. It should make for a much less stressful season!

I planned to, kind of. Not in terms of $ spent, but in terms of items that get wasted. So instead of my large living room being coverd in gifts this year, our family will fly out soon after Christmas and enjoy a week long cruise!

My kids know the meaning of the season, and do whether they get gifts or not. They are always more excited to give than to receive.

As my daughter has gotten older, the gifts she gets are more and more practical. She wants a lot of things that are not only expensive but also require monthly payments (Nook or Kindle--have to buy books; ipad or ipod--have to pay for monthly service), but we just don't see the merit.

We do, however, see the need for her to have her own cell phone. We just don't know if that will be now at Xmas or the end of Feb when my current cell phone plan expires. I'd like to wait until then; it could be part of her Xmas as well as her birthday present. What so many kids fail to realize is that those expensive electronic "toys" usually also require a monthly fee to run/use. That's $20, $30, $40/month that the parent is paying--not the child. So that then the total/final cost of the present is a LOT more than the initial price of the machine/toy.

I've been watching how much some of the other things we've boughten her have been used, things like: MP3 player, Wii player, Nintendo DS, etc. While they are utilized, they aren't "played to death." It's all fine and dandy to have "what everyone else has," but when it comes with an expensive tag and is used on and off/some of the time, well, then I have an issue with spending that much money for something that gets used "some of the time." (The Wii saved itself, because we get Netflix through it).

And I have been very, very careful with what I have been buying our parents and the nieces and nephews. I am trying to make sure that what they're getting is something they can/will use. I don't like spending money just to spend money or just to get someone a gift--especially if it's a gift they will never use.

Yes, we are cutting down a lot. My husband retired this year, less to live on, we have so many in the family now that it is either so much spent and it looks like so little in the end. I have said for years and years that I want to celebrate Christmas, Christ's birth, and not go in debt so this year I am hoping we do it because the money is not going to be spent. It's so commercial and the kids, grand kids keep mentioning more and more expensive things each year. Some of those items I don't even have myself. Yes, we are cutting down and for once maybe try to enjoy it and relax. Maybe small gifts only for grandchildren and mainly things like books, etc.

Every year I tell myself I'll cut down when it comes to the kids (now 13 and 17) and then I don't. But my husband has been out of work for a year and a half now. This year, I managed to get everything for the kids - their gifts, "elf" gifts, yearly ornaments and stocking stuffers all for what I'd usually spend on the gifts alone. Also, some of the gifts are actually practical items, things I'd have had to buy them anyway but are disguised as gifts - my daughter's AP review book, luggage for the Europe trip her grandparents are giving her as a graduation present, things for her dorm room for next year ... my son will get things like a new desk lamp, gift card for where he gets his sneakers, new watch since he lost his over the side of the boat on a scout fishing trip recently, etc. I also eliminated gift giving for my adult niece and nephews for Hanukah, and will just stick a couple of scratch off tickets in their cards, and only bought for the grands.

We're scaling down in a big way for a few reasons, mostly because there is very little we need, we had lots of unexpected medical expenses this year, and my daughter is off to college next year. She'll be getting presents in June for the items she'll need for college.

As always Christmas has been a combination of both needs and wants.

We decided no gifts for adults, only for the kids in the family this year.

I always say I am, then I don't. We don't majorly overboard, but I did find some good deals :)

I should add we don't buy the kids a lot of toys and stuff through-out the year. Clothes we do, and at birthdays and stuff so I tend to spoil a little at Christmas. I did scale down for my adult kids though.

My kids are 3 and 4, we get them each a "big" toy and then a few small things. By the time they've gotten gifts from grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins, they've gotten a lot, way more than they need. There are several young cousins in the family so we only exchange gifts with the kids, not the adults and do a 15-20$ limit.

Last year I got an amazing deal off Craigs List on a train set, it's still my son's favorite toy. I sold a few old baby items and put the $ directly into our Christmas fund throughout the year.

I like to decorate the house but don't go crazy with lights. I hang up two wreaths outside which I make from the leftover bows off the XMas tree we buy, it's really easy and saves $.

We haven't really gotten into the expensive stage yet, I can't imagine buying video games all the time at 50-60 bucks a pop!