Things you wish people would stop buying you

[tequilasunrises]

Had a bit of a pre Christmas house declutter earlier and found that DH has THIRTEEN unused Lynx shower gels in the bathroom cupboard - all from Christmas last year.

Having chucked out a load of moisturer/bath sets il never use I had to sigh hand thinking about the next influx I’m going to get from his relatives this year.

I try not to be ungrateful but we’ve got such a tiny house and hoardes of toiletries really isn’t conducive to minimalist living!

What do you always get for Christmas/Birthdays that you wish you didn’t?

Bath bombs #thrushbombs

Bath bombs! I get loads every year and I always hand them over to my sister. I rarely have a bath, I prefer a shower and if I do have a bath I don’t want to be submerged in loads of chemicals that just gives me thrush 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’ve got about 10 assorted old Body Shop body butters sitting in a cupboard, which I have only just started using up (thankfully haven’t been gifted any for a few years now). Any paper based gifts, simply because I don’t use them! I’ve got umpteen bloody ‘notebooks’ that just sit under my bed, gathering dust. This year one of my friends gave me a 2020 wall calendar for my birthday and I discovered this week, given me another one for Christmas! 🤦🏼‍♀️ She knows I use iCal... 😫

Random gifts, like DVD’s of films you’ve got no interest in (nor ever expressed an interest), bath bombs when I don’t have a bath, tea bags - I don’t drink tea etc.

The worst thing is when you both buy each other the same thing, like a gift card for the same amount and place! Just seems pointless to me, I’d rather do without gift giving if I’m honest.

People don’t buy me/us gifts and I LOVE it!

Makeup. Every single year MIL buys me mascara
I don’t wear makeup. I’ve never worn makeup. MIL has never seen me wear makeup.

I guess she’s trying to tell me something.

Things that require working hands.

I used to love arts and crafts but I have arthritis so often I'm using wrist splints, finger splints or waiting for a steroid injection.

When I'm not, I am still in pain and stiff.

So what do I get?

Paints, colouring books, a ukulele (I'm not musical) a sewing set...

It's like this particular relative wants to remind me what I can't do anymore.

Save family members money and gently decline anything you already have but don't use. They can regift it or get money back. Might make awkward vibes at first but then at least they will know for future reference. I'm a minimalist so I've learned to either use gifts, refuse gifts or donate gifts. My house is mostly clutter free (minus my husband's study :-/).

As lots of pp have mentioned beauty gift sets that all have a huge bottle of body lotion!
My dd1 uses the bath/shower gel and the lotions go to the primary school dd2 goes to. They ask for donations of luxury items in exchange of non uniform days, then sell at summer and Christmas fayres.

I am a charity shop manager and we would love your unwanted gift. We can't get enough of them especially this time of year. Well received for the hospice funds.

Experience days.

I never do them. I don’t have the time and half of them are not something I’d even want to do.

I can’t even donate them to charity or regift them to someone who’d rather use it.

Alcohol of any form. I haven’t drank for years due to my medication.

Jewellery.

Many people, my parents in particular, seem to think I don't wear jewellery because I can't afford it, and that I'd secretly love a nice piece of jewellery.

The reason I don't wear it is because I really, really don't like it.

I now have a box full of shit brooches.

See also: perfume, chocolate, red wine (allergy), bath and body products (allergies again)

I’ve just stopped exchanging gifts, it makes life so much easier, my DS only wants cash (teenager), DH and I don’t need to ‘give’ each other anything after 32 years of marriage, we are fortunate to having everything we want. My parents insist on giving generous financial gifts and make it very clear that they don’t want any more ‘stuff’ in their lives.

A couple of friends and I have an agreement to go out for a meal - no stress, no waste, everyone happy.

I echo what everyone else has said though, I manage a charity shop and we love those sort of ‘unwanted gifts’ (especially the Ladybird spoof books ), they sell really well .... presumably as unwanted gifts for someone else . Or your local Food Bank, Women’s Refuge etc will gladly accept them.

Same as a lot of PPs, body lotions and hand cream. I mean I use them both but in tiny quantities, so a bottle will last me a year. I really don’t need several every Christmas.

Toiletry bags - my old ones from 20 years ago are still going strong and I don’t want to chuck them into landfill just because I’ve got newer ones.

I do donate unwanted stuff or car boot sale it.

My DS moved house recently and while I was helping her I found a huge box stuffed full of Soap and Glory products, unused, and many duplicated. Turns out her MIL buys her the big gift set from Boots every Christmas and she doesn't use it. She'll be getting another one this year no doubt!

Massive thick knitted bed sock type things from MIL, and ultra warm PJs/dressing gowns. It's a warm house and none of it ever gets worn. Oxfam do well out of us!

Boots 3 for 2 sets. I hate them.

Scarves.

December birthday plus Christmas means that unimaginative folk get me scarf after scarf.

I get at least 3 per year.

I absolutely love a good body lotion (I have dry skin), smellies and facial priducts. But it’s all about the quality of product really.. Molton Brown yes, Dove shower gel pack no thank you!

I also hate an obvious re-gift. Something that’s expensive so the giver feels pretty good about passing it on & they’ve ticked the gift giving box .. however if they thought about it for a second would realise you’d have as much interest in the gift as they did!

Mugs, picture frames and bloody rose wine - vile stuff!

I've just been reading that 20% of gifts go straight to landfill, even if that's an exaggeration it's still horrific.

It's great that lots of people on this thread have found ways to donate or pass on stuff they'd rather not have been given, but I just wonder why as grown adults we go on with this whole thing of feeling obliged to gift each other a bunch of unwanted tat just to keep up appearances.

How about politely letting people know you'd rather not receive any gifts, and won't be giving any? Obviously I'm excluding children here and maybe close family who know each other well enough to find something meaningful or useful.

We are grown adults, not a bunch of toddlers who need something shiny to unwrap on Xmas morning just for the sake of it.

Mugs and books especially the jokey ones.

We have more mugs than I can cope with and I’m turning into my mother - has to be China 😂

Whilst I love a book I would rather have it in audio format

I love mugs! Also I use body lotion too. Love not having to buy it haha

I am easy to buy for - I love bath stuff, candles, wine and most food gifts. But please no more:
Loose tea - I never drink the stuff, I’m a coffee drinker
Chocolate and sweets - can’t have ‘em
Mugs - I have enough
Twee wall decorations and ornaments - will never see the light of day
T-shirts with amusing slogans - are you fucking kidding?

A friend of mine keeps giving me clothing gifts which are at least 6 sizes too big, and I’m not a skinny lass.

Haha, same with the Lynx. Recently tried decluttering the house and found many of these sets. But tbh I don't know why DH and DSS don't use them, as they always buy deodorant and shower gel from the supermarket. I've taken them out of the boxes and just put the items in the cupboard, and all of a sudden they're being used. Like magic!