To think holiday presents are a waste of money?

[lavenderbluedilly]

Do most people bring back souvenirs for friends and family when they go on holiday?

I’m currently away with DH and he has just spent a small fortune on souvenirs for his 9 nieces snd nephews. We have joint holiday money, though I tend to contribute the lion’s share, as I’m the higher earner. He has bought plastic tat and teddies, which will probably not be appreciated (I say this from previous experience). He thinks I’m mean as I said it’s ridiculous to bring back holiday presents. I’ve pointed out that his siblings have never brought anything back for our DC.

AIBU or just mean?

I think it depends.
Aimlessly grabbing anything just to say you've brought something is pointless.
But if you see something and think "x would like that" it's different.
I tend to buy big bags of sweets but if I see anything else I get that too.
Children are different and I'll always try to find a child a present.

Years ago, before mobile phones, you were expected to send everyone a postcard. It actually used to ruin holidays for me, it was like having homework.

God I agree with you. Every year my mum brings plastic tat that could be bought anywhere back to give to the kids. It's played with for all of 5seconds then forgotten. Load of rubbish! However the kids do love it for a good 5seconds so perhaps that is worth something.
Real souvenirs can be lovely. My dad once bought me back a beautiful painted stone from a country and it's lovely. He also tends to bring back things linked with his job from other countries so it's more educational than plastic tat. My mum can't help herself though!

As someone else has said - this practice dates back to years ago when travel was rare. Not when we jumped on planes twice or more a year.

If your Dh likes a tradition perhaps he should send them an interesting postcard from wherever you have been. This will be exciting to receive, cheaper and can be more educational about the destination visited and personal.

I don't buy tat.
I buy sweets or biscuits, or other edible treats. Sometimes wine or spirits.

My Mum bought me a lovely cashmere scarf from Oman, and I brought her back Lindt and a pretty woodcarving of the nativity last time I was in Vienna. Ds appreciated the mug and T shirts (various) with viking stuff on it from when I was in Stockholm.

It depends what you buy.

We have joint holiday money, though I tend to contribute the lion’s share, as I’m the higher earner.

I don’t understand how you’d have separate money being on holiday with your husband anyway? Why comment on you putting in “the lion’s share”? Mumsnet never fails to amaze me how people think about finances within a marriage.

My in laws bring shit back for our children every holiday, there’s been some “interesting” stuff, they holiday a lot too. I don’t appreciate it.

Keyring, badge or pen/pencil etc are sufficient gifts for dc imo

It depends what you buy.

I do agree with that but I really cannot be arsed shopping for anything when we are on holiday and I don't do postcards either but my husband always sends one to his parents. He once sent one from Santorini and we had been on another holiday and back before it arrived!

I still send a few postcards to family members but I use TouchNote. You pre buy credits for them before you go then while you’re away you use a picture you’ve taken, type your message in, upload it to TouchNote and they print and send it from the UK. (I promise I’m not shill for them, I just really like being able to send postcards with almost zero effort on my part 😄).

I’m Surprised people still do this. It’s like the men who go on trips and buy their wives/partners a bottle of perfume on the way back when they never buy them anything else all year! mmmmmmm

No I don't. I am on holiday to relax not to stress about looking for gifts. When I was little my gran used to always bring us something little back and would buy my mother a tea towel.

We don't really bring back souvenirs generally.

When dd was smaller we always used to buy her a book in the language of that country, if not English. We do the same for my young nephew sometime too now as he finds them fascinating.

If we go to somewhere like Disney we do,trimesters do, but that's because we know we've some big fans of the characters at these places. Nothing big, but if we can get something not easily available here we may do.

Dd always buys some local sweets or similar to,share with her friends in return.

I bought my 3 grownup children a little something, and got 2 boxes of edible treats for the 3 people in my office to nibble on.

Tat, definitely not, and not for extended family members.

I insist on a fridge magnet when we go away, I have one side of my fridge that is perfectly arranged and makes me smile. If someone brings me a fridge magnet from somewhere I've never been, it's used on the crazy side of the fridge where all the papers and certificates are stuck.

My husband and I take it in turns to go away with friends, and on those occasions we bring back small gifts for each other and our DC. In January, my Dad and Stepmum looked after our DC so they we could go away for a few days. We brought back our customary magnet (well, 5 of them, it's a sickness), gifts for the DC (mainly sweets) and bought my dad and Stepmum the most beautiful locally sourced and handmade blanket as a thank you. We bought one for ourselves too. No tat to be seen. One of my favourite gifts from my husband is still the two scarves/shawls he brought me home from Morocco. They are beautiful and I use them regularly.

My mum used to do the fudge run on the last day before we went home. 10 boxes of cheapest fudge to hand out to family and friends and some sticks of rock for kids. If someone asked for something specific to the area (had a good market, so a tea towel or bag) she would get it for them, but you got a choice of fudge or rock. No thinking involved.

Only read to 2nd page but OMG-I want a Romeo & Juliet on a Vespa fridge magnet!!

In the “olden days” I guess it was nice to bring a bottle of retsina or whatever home to prolong the holiday feeling, but now can buy pretty much anything on the internet or in Waitrose, there’s no need to cart it back with you.

My in-laws have brought us souvenir t-shirts every year for as long as I’ve known them. It’s such a waste of time and money, as they are invariably the wrong size and none of us want to wear a neon yellow or sludge green t-shirt with Majorca or Lanzarote plastered across the front when we’ve never been.

I bring back something edible for the office as does most of my colleagues really like that tradition. A bag of foreign sweets sounds about right for your nephews and nieces my dcs would love that more than clothes or ornaments

We are going home from holiday tomorrow and I have got a little something for my Mum, a bracelet for my bff (its her birthday today) and the dc have got friendship bracelets for their mates
I don’t always get gifts for people, it’s just if I see something I think hey will love

Fridge magnets are the best...useful too! Even the tacky ones are welcome on my fridge!

Does he waste money in other ways and as the main earner this annoys you?

I don't have joint finances and would it find it hard to finance tat-buying as it is just more to go to landfill!

we always buy a Christmas tree decoration for our house & I always get something little (usually booze of sweets) for people at work (there's only 2 of them) for doing my work while I was away

Christmas decorations are a good idea. I never remember to do it though, Christmas always seems a world away when you’re on your summer holidays...

DP and I get each other something if one goes away without the other. But that’s more to show that we were thinking of them and we try to get something they would actually use/ like rather than random tat.

If it’s a friend’s/ relative’s birthday soon after I get back from somewhere then I might buy their present abroad but I’d be getting them something at home anyway.

My workplace has a rule that you have to bring in treats when you get back from a holiday but they have to be one of the favourite shops near our office, not random foreign stuff that nobody likes!