Is it unusual to buy close family members just one present?

[TheBiggestDinosaur]

I'm just interested, I've been reading lots of the Christmas threads.

I know lots of people buy several/multiple presents for their kids; ours just get one, and a stocking.
But it seems other people buy multiple presents for their parents, partners, siblings etc too.

It would honestly never occur to me to get more than one item for a person (unless it was 2 parts of one gift - a mug and hot chocolate powder, a scarf and gloves, two books). I struggle enough thinking of one thing to get each person, can't imagine having to be doubly thoughtful .

Which do you think is more unusual, giving multiple gifts or just one?

One gift per adult here. We (luckily) don't have many to buy for. Just my mum, my maternal grandad, paternal grandma, great aunt and my best friend. DH usually gets 3-4 presents. We'd die if we had a huge family to buy for. Thankfully DH is a foreigner and his family still live in his birth country .

DP and I usually buy something extra for the house which is our gift to each other but then we will each give the other things like chocolates and a book and another token present. The DC get their stockings, a present from Santa and then some books from us. If the Santa presents are of a hugely different value (eg this year DC1 is getting a £99 maxi micro scooter & DC2 is getting a £15 train set from Lidl), then the DC will get a present from us which evens it up a bit (eg DC1 is getting a £8 board game and DC2 a £30 kiddizoom camera).
As for the rest of the family and friends for that matter, I have a budget in mind & whether they have more than one present depends on what I see. My brother was slightly overwhelmed last year when he gave me a present which probably cost him £15 and I handed over 6 but, as I explained, I felt as though I had to keep buying things as, due to luck & discounts, the four things he had suggested with the idea that I get him two or three cost me less than £10 (a book which should have been £15.99 went through as £1.59 and, when I pointed out the error, they got the manager involved but she couldn't work out how to sort it out so told me to just pay £1.59, another book he wanted was sold out everywhere but I saw it by chance in the window of a seconds book shop when I went to an interview for 99p and a t shirt he wanted was sold out in his size except on the mannequin and, as the shop assistant took it off the mannequin, she ripped it in a tiny way which I could darn but offered me a 75% discount making it £5 and the fourth thing I mentioned in passing to a friend who had it in a bag to donate to a charity shop but instead gave it to me as a thank you for all the hand me downs her DC have received from mine!). Yes, I could have quit whilst I was ahead but it was nice to surprise my brother with some extra things.

We get a few gifts for family we see on the day. My mum, dad and MIL each get a gift bag full of wrapped presents.
For example my mum has a Good Housekeeping subscription as her main present but also has slippers, gardening gloves, a box of chocolates and a photo calendar. Nothing expensive, just bits and pieces.
H gets a main present- this year a coffee machine - plus a big stocking. DS has a stocking, a sack and a bike.
There were alwsys lots of presents at Christmas when I was growing up and I like to do the same. We don't really do much for birthdays in my family, it's all about Christmas.

For my mum, brothers and nan etc I buy one main present and then usually a box of chocolates or something else small too. My dd is having 3 main gifts under the tree but her stocking has quite a few little bits in as well as stuff she actually needs

Apart from the kids it's a present each usually. Sometimes I get my sister gets a few presents but it's usually within the same price range as one present. But my mum, dad, pils, nieces, nephews etc all get one present.

Adults get one present usually, dd gets lots. I get her one main present, and then lots of things like board games, books, pJs, smaller toys, and chocolates.

I usually have a budget e.g. £50 and will buy either one present of that amount or several presents up to that value.

I spend around £20 per person so that might be one gift or a few smaller ones.

Everyone is different.

I normally get 2/3 gifts for everyone so they have more to open.

Partner probably gets about 10 things and nice normally gets about 20 things....

#niece # not nice

A watch for dh and probably some little things too. Kids will get 4/5 things each - a main present and then smaller ones and a stocking.
I read this a while ago and now I try to stick to it as its lovely and stops me going mad and buying loads!

Something you want
Something you need
Something to wear
Something to read

So dd will have a pram, doll, pjs, book, sweets.
Ds a car track, cars and then as above.
That sort of thing.
Everyone else gets one present or voucher.

I buy loads for the dd's, one present for other family members. We don't have much family and most of them don't really bother with gifts which is why I buy more for the dd's. So I think it depends on your family, if your kids get loads of gifts from family then there's no need to buy more than one gift and stocking fillers for them.

Apart from on MN, I don't know any adults who only give their child one present.

DS will get many and relatives get a mixture. Some get a bag of small items and some get one present if it's something more expensive although even then I tend to add some chocolate.

I get my sister one thing. I get my mum a few things but within a budget. Kids get lots from Santa and a stocking. Plus they get family presents. I get my nieces a voucher and a small thing to make it up to the budget.

Where on earth do people keep all this STUFF? We only get people 1 present, each other and kids maybe 2-3 or 1 big thing. And we have a large-ish house crammed full of stuff. And GPs and people only buy 1 gift generally too. I'd love to buy the kids more when I see things they'd like but we simply don't have space. Do we just have an unusually large gift-buying circle or something?

It is where you keep the stuff when you have opened it as well.

We have a budget per person so how many presents they get depend on what they want and what I see within the budget. The children normally get one main present and a few bits like books and games and pjs but the main gifts are quite small and cheap this year so they will get a couple of other small presents within their budgets e.g. one likes Disney cars so he is having a talking car that I got on offer for 17 pounds and a few die cast cars also bought on offer and a pair of cars roller skates from the charity shop. It depends on the age of the child as well as the presents get more expensive and therefore they may only get one as they get older.

DH and I's first Christmas together involved lots of fishing conversations to try and work out roughly how much we were planning on spending on each other and how many gifts.

We seem to have settled on 3.

Other adults only get 1, or a hamper per couple/family.

Present for family adult members tends to one present each. Our nieces and nephews we get 2/3 presents for each of them.

Dh I have a budget for and that differs each year as to how many things he gets. This year I've got him 6.

Same with dd and dss I have a budget and they get presents within that budget tends to be one main present then 10-20 other presents and then stockings as well.

This is pretty normal in our family and friends cycle

I buy one each for family (mum,nan,3 sisters,1 niece 1 nephew) plus I give the kids £10 pocket money each to get a little something for each relative, normally £1 shop tat but they enjoy choosing it!
I go overboard at xmas on the kids but I don't smoke or drink and I save all year so I'm able to do this, it's my only vice! They have an 'Xmas box' which is a large plastic ottoman type container that I decorate with xmassy stickers and tinsel, I put the wrapped presents in on xmas eve, then once opened, played with etc they use it as a toy box! Saves loads of space/mess

I normally get one gift per person.

Sometimes they might get two if the first one wasnt much. So I've got sil a bracelet which looks lovely but was £12. So I've got her a box of chocolates as well.

I think it's fairly unusual yes. Not for adults but most children I know have a "pile" of gifts - maybe 5-10?

For both children and adults we have a budget and we buy what we think suits at that time within the budget. I would try and make sure even if we got 1 large gift they had a few smaller things to open too.

I don't find it particularly hard to store things, we clear out regularly and it's organised well with good storage so I guess that helps. And obviously some things are dressing gown / sticker books / chocolate that don't go in the toy "cupboard".

The kids have a pile of gifts, but only one from us?
Maybe it depends on who else buys for the family?

Same here addictedtosugar.

Yes, everyone I buy for (including my children - who also choose a gift for each other) will be given gifts by other people as well, they will all have plenty of lovely things to open on Christmas day.

I do have a rough budget in mind, but if I go under, I don't buy anything extra, and if I go over, I don't do anything either. I reckon it all evens out over the years.