Is there anyone like me who doesn't want anything for Christmas?

[moondog]

I don't want crap like cheap bottles of wine or potions and lotions.
I don't want anything actually.
If I want something I'll er.. buy it myself.

Whereabouts on your body?

I dont want anything either, which is just as well as I am a lone parent and get few presents anyway!

About six months ago I decided to stop buying stuff and since then have only bought things the children need, tyres for the car and replaced broken stuff in the house. I havent bought any clothes since i bought a suit for work in May. I have slowly changed my attitude towards shopping and the few times I have tried something on in a shop I have realised i dont need it and put it back.

I am slowly working my way through a huge decluttering of my house and hopefully will get rid of about 50% of whats here, so I am hoping not to get lots of stuff for christmas! I have unearthed boxes of unopened smellies, clothes and new toys which will all go to charity shops.

"I'm reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books to my kids ( I loved them when little) and the joy those girls get from a tin cup and a piece of candy is amazing."

I want the set for Christmas. I loved them as a child.

This thread has struck a chord with me as I hate being given body lotion, Avon toiletries and chocolates. MIL hates surprises as well.

I have bought myself some boots that will be from OH, but other than that and the Laura Ingalls Wilder books I don't really want anything else.

Thing is that people like us are nightmares to buy for, let's face it. I have this problem with my dad, who lives in a small flat to boot so really can't have anything extraneous about. He gets Oxfam teachers most years.

Usually it's me, too. I only want Oxfam catalog gifts most years, but I do now truly need a replacement laptop & for some stubborn reason I can't explain, I have decided on a super expensive option this year.
Plus I drop hints like timebombs about EXACTLY what I'd like to DH's relatives who insist on getting me something.

Can't abide pointless random gifts, though. 90% of them straight to charity shop.

Last year I really wanted to go volunteer in a homeless shelter Xmas day but couldn't find one.

Back to decluttering...

I'm not fortunate enough to be in the "as an adult I can buy myself what I want" situation at the moment, but I agree with what you are saying about receiving token presents. I hate getting smellies because they make me sneeze and I don't much like chocolate (now, Lidl's white chocolate and nut crunch is a different matter and I can afford that at 85p). I also hate people wasting their money.

My son keeps asking me what I would really like for Xmas, and in a moment of PMT and general fed-uppedness I snapped and said a trip to London to look around what I want to look at (and not just what everybody else wants to), and to decorate/soft furnish my bedroom. This is what I really hanker after, but I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get people to go for it. After all, its not just material things that matter, I find doing things just as important (live in the sticks, not been to London for 18 months, culture - what's that?).

All over moondog, I am a slippery character .

I thought most people used some form of body butter/ lotion / moisturiser if only after a bath.

I don't use anything like that - it makes me feel all greasy!

I'm one of those irritating people who, when asked, genuinely can't think of a single thing that they want but I still want DP to buy me something that demonstrates how well he knows me

Actually, I am lying. This year I want an engagement ring and a baby, but that's been the same year on year for a while now and I never get either

Norman I have to admit that sometimes dp says I get into bed a tad clammy.

I hate that feeling when you feel slippery/greasy or your clothes stick to you.

I don't need anything but there are lots of things i see in the shops and think 'i would really like someone to buy me that' mainly because all my money goes on the dd's and i never buy nice smellies or things that look nice (i just buy things that i need). I love fany smellies but i rarely get them bought for me, all i get for christmas is tea towels and socks. Dh will try and buy me something nice but ends up buying the wrong thing, last year he bought me a camera and i told him what i wanted but he spent hours on the internet looking for the best deal and bought me a camera which is useless ,i'm not ungreatful (it was a wonderful gift) but it would have been easier if i had bought one myself .

Oh and i love body butter, i put it on after a bath and its not slippery at all .

Im sorry because I know you dont mean it this way, but I think this thread sounds horribly ungrateful.

I love getting presents almost as much as I love giving them; it doesnt really matter to me what I am given, I get a real thrill from the thought that someone has spent time choosing something for me. I can also usually find a use for almost anything I am given.

I think I am quite easy to buy for though; I love smellies sets for a start. The only time I have been truly stumped was many years back when Mils's MIL bought me a pair of slippers several sizes too small, god rest her soul, but even then I managed to pass them onto someone who they fitted and I was really touched she went to the effort, after all I was married to her sons step son so she really didnt need to remember me at all.

It's the polar opposite of being ungrateful. It's about not wanting people to waste their money for no reason. I'd far rather have a £3 box of maltesers than a £10 box of body lotion.

well I dont use much of what is given in smellies sets etc because i get horrible allergic reactions to alot of it but I cant always think of plety of alternatives if people ask me .
I am pregnant at the moment and what i really want is some lovely things for the baby, because we dont NEED them already have two girls (this is a girl as well) who are 2 and under but i still WANT them. So since our budget is a bit limited at the moment i couldnt justify gogin out and spending money on little clothes or blankets but if someone were to give me some then that would make my day!

Twinkly, did I sound slightly pervy asking that? Sorry.
Bun, the set was my present from my dh last year.

Maybe what most people need is an experience as opposed to objects.
The day out idea like Helen mentions.
Or a meal or a foot massage.
Anyone can buy a crappy old gift set.

moondog.

Can't believe no-one has questioned Marne's love of 'fany smellies'

"Maybe what most people need is an experience as opposed to objects."

Great idea. I had a big birthday three years ago and my next door neighbour's present was an evening's babysitting so OH and I could go out.

Just off to google LA Wilder books.

I mean L.I. Wilder!

I know what you mean RhondaJean but sometimes I get things from people I know don't really want to give me anything, (I'm actually taalking about family here) and that feels worse than having nothing at all...which is why I prefer not to be given anything.

It's like confirmation otherwise that no one actually loves or understands you. It's so disheartening...I have asked people not to buy me birthday presents as well.

And they don't. Which somehow, though not brilliant, makes things easier than if they did.

I hope that makes sense. I don't want to sound ungrateful but if someone actually tried to get me a present they thought I would love, because they genuinely cared about me, I would appreciate it more than I can say.

i am shocked that only one person noticed my 'fany smellies' (i did meen 'any')

I get what you are all saying - you especially Jane - like I said, I know you didnt mean it that way.

It is a minefield - I suppose we have a very small family and only a few friends we buy for/buy for us so there isnt really the issue of extended relations buying bath cubes or whatever, but if I thought anyone felt the way you lot do about the presents I bought them, I would be really and truly devastated.