AIBU to buy my family.....

[livingonaprayer1986]

....99p store christmas presents this year because I'm so broke?
Or is it best to not give anything or a box of chocolates each?
Normally each year me and my husband by our family (nephews neices, brothers, sisters etc) a present worth around £20 each. I expect some of you read my other 2 threads and can see we are majorly broke.
So would you be "ok" excepting chocolate or 99p store preasent as a christmas gift or would you be offended?
We have made everyone aware of our current financial situation - but its still embarrassing :(

I'd be more than happy with a pound store gift, especially if I know the giver is struggling financially. It is Christmas after all.

No problem its the thought that matters. Bets my glass handbag i got one year. Much prefer a 99p bag of chocs.

I'd be grateful to get anything at all tbh.

So no not U - but if you have time it might be more personal to make a gift of the same value?

For example some jam or chutney?

Present rather than chocs any day. Chocolate won't last, but when you win the lottery I'd be able to bring out the pressie and say "remember when you were so skint you could only afford to get us this..."

It's a crap old saying but it really is the thought that counts.

Could you bake each family a nice cake or something rather?

Why don't you just buy for the kids?

Could be great. Our pound store does books, continental chocolates, more traditional chocolates, scarves, gloves, stationery, diaries and notebooks, calendars, cooking stuff, photo frames, phone accessories, DVDs, bike accessories. Plenty of scope for gifts.

Make up brushes, make up bags, costume jewelry, toys - all can be quite good from pound shops.

Tbh if you were my sibling and that skint I would be highly pissed off if you wasted your money buying me anything at all. Offer a nights babysitting/sleepover etc instead if you want to give something.

Can even get gardening stuff, travel accessories such as flight socks and camping stuff..

Selection boxes all round, if you need to.

I baked shortbread for 17 people earlier - 20 lovely cellophane bags for a pound in pound land, ingredients cost less than a fiver. Would that work?

Otherwise some real gems of books can be found in charity and second hand book shops. Some sell vinyl records and CDs and DVDs too.

If I was your relative I wouldn't be offended at all. I wouldn't be offended to not receive anything at all. that to me is not what Christmas is all about.

One of the best gifts I ever got was from the works, cost 99p (she told me later as she was so pleased with her bargain find). It was Jason Manfords autobiography. My sister bought it me for my birthday one year - we don't do gifts normally, but she decided to as it was so cheap. She knew I would like it as I was going to see him live as my birthday gift from DH.
So I think as long as you put thought in to it cheap gifts can be great.

Try the big pound stores and The Works, they seem to be good for cheap books, DVDs, CDs (£1 shops are great for audiobooks - perfect for those who love to read but are losing their sight) etc.

Phew. Thanks everyone. I'm glad everyone agrees its the thoight that counts. I'll be going to the 99p store tomorrow then to buy 8 adults and 9 children presents! I do feel awful as each year up until now as said we've spent around £20 on each person. To the person who said could we maybe just do children and not adults - ide feel bad cos I know that the adults of the family have bought us fairly decent things :( I feel so embarassed I've always been fairly ok with money but lets just say it has been a cruel 2014 for us! My friend said theyve got some pretty animal puzzles in there so maybe get a couple of them... feeling a little better now but still crappy! Stoopid money!

Oh, I bet you'll be surprised once you start looking. There are some great presents that can be got cheaply. Second hand shops can also be great for vintage/costume jewellery. Well some actually looks new.

Markets can also have some good bargains sometimes.

Baking and making homemade presents is SO expensive so don't go there.

But I 99p presents are absolutely fine. The Entertainer do puzzle for £2.00 if you have one nearby?

Three years ago dh was made redundant a month before Christmas, when dd was a month old. We already had ds's present, but DM, DSis, DNephew and DNiece were visiting. I scoured charity shops and got some decent stuff for about £15 for everyone.

Poundland have some brilliant stuff if you have one near by.

Board games, sock monster making kits and even a load of Disney Frozen stuff which seems to be going down well this year.

Please don't feel crappy, there is no need. You are doing your best.

we have done this in the past when seriously struggling for money. we turned it into a bit of a game to make it feel a bit less embarrassing. so one year we had a £3.26 budget and had to buy 3 gifts to meet certain criteria 1 had to be something the other would like 1 had to be completely pointless and 1 had to tacky Christmas related. was hilarious seeing people's reactions and great fun to shop for

I was in the 99p shop here yesterday and they had some lovely little things, which looked worth much more than I paid for them.

I think home bargains are good too although I haven't been for a bit.

But genuinely, if you were my family or friend, in your circumstances I would be embarassed if you felt you had to spend anything on me. I would however love some home made shortbread if you had time?

Do you live near asda? Their flaked chocolate truffles are amazing and roll back to £1 a box? Yanbu, buy what you can afford.

Are you anywhere near a biggish town? I came across 'Tiger Stores' yesterday and they have some really lovely things, mostly for £1 or £3.