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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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Original poster

Family Secret Santa- money saving idea

20 replies

RabitWhole · 19/11/2021 09:18

For the last couple of years, we have done a family version of Secret Santa for presents.

The limit is £100 and you can ask for whatever you want up to that value (we usually have a vague discussion in the run up to Christmas about what we want so there are no 'surprises'). All the names go in a hat at the start of November and each person only has one person to buy for.

We started doing this on my husband's side of the family a few years ago and it went down so well that I introduced it to my side as well. We all used to spend ££££ buying loads of presents for each adult and a lot of the time it was stuff that wasn't wanted/needed. This way we have really cut down on 'stuff' and saved money, and the recipient can get a really nice present that they actually want.

The kids are excluded from this so grandparents/wider family etc can buy them what they want, but between us and SIL/BIL we are have a price limit of about £10 on for a small token present so that they have something to open on the day.

I've never heard of anyone else doing a family Secret Santa but honestly its saved so much money and stress in the last few years, I think we will continue with it!

OP posts:

Rememberallball · 19/11/2021 10:20

My BiL family do this and, whee we n I’ve been with them for a big Boxing Day party they’ve done one where men buy for a man and woman for a woman. Those who buy are then put in a draw and take a number from a hat and each gift is given a number. It went down well

therebeccariots · 19/11/2021 10:28

We've done this across the adults for years. Each year there is a different 'theme'. Local independent retailer or food based. Won't be repeating the homemade theme again though as I got a very bum deal! Max is £10 and it's good fun. We still buy for the children but once they turn 18 they join the Secret Santa.

maofteens · 19/11/2021 12:32

We tried to introduce this - my late husband had five brothers so when the count got to 17 what with wives, girlfriends, kids etc, it seemed a sensible idea to us! Went down like a lead balloon. Luckily since my husband passed away I've managed to avoid all this and I only buy for my kids, my stepkids (adults now), my in laws (Christmas floral arrangement) and my sisters.

Squirrelblanket · 19/11/2021 13:20

Loads of families do this. It's frequently suggested on threads about buying family presents.

YouKilledKenny · 19/11/2021 13:21

My family have done it for a few years, we have a £20 budget but that’s not strict, I spent £35 last year. We don’t buy for the kids in our family as there’s loads of them and they get so much already. Works really well and we all put a lot of effort into it

CoffeeChocolateWine · 19/11/2021 15:36

A £100 budget wouldn’t save me money! What has saved me money is not buying for any adults other than my parents. If my siblings and I are actually together at Christmas we do a £10 Secret Santa.

junebirthdaygirl · 19/11/2021 15:59

We do it with budget of 50. Use an App so literally no one knows who has who. Upload a wish list and gifts come from that. Works brilliantly and no crap presents or waste.

Readingmum2021 · 21/11/2021 22:14

We use www.DrawNames.co.uk for our family secret Santa - we’ve done a live unwrapping before and they send the presents too! It’s a game changer!

Chatwin · 21/11/2021 22:28

We've done this for many, many years, although our budget is nowhere near £100! The DC join as they turn 16.

loveablequalities · 21/11/2021 22:40

My sister does this with her husband's family but our mum won't have it for us. I kind of understand. My dad would be useless at it.

zeddybrek · 21/11/2021 23:10

We've been doing this for a few years and it's so much better. Cheaper for everyone and everyone gets one nice thing they actually want.

vdbfamily · 21/11/2021 23:20

We have done it for years for adults and children and limit has been £20-25. There are 22 of us so saves a lot of time and money. DH family have never done presents at all.
Last year we mixed things up and every adult and child bits themselves a gift and wraps it in brown paper. Gifts are out in 2 bags( adults and children) and taken out one by one. A child gift is unwrapped and adults have to guess who bought it and you get points for how many guesses it takes. Then an adult gift unwrapped and so on. It was hilarious. I bought my favourite perfume but none of the children knew who writes what perfume. A clever nephew had bought a nail varnish set as an extra to throw everyone off and another nephew had forbidding to buy a gift so that all for quite funny.

vdbfamily · 21/11/2021 23:21

Sorry... so many typos... meant to add that we give out kids the£25 to get their gift, unless they are earning.

DockOTheBay · 21/11/2021 23:51

I think this is pretty common, its often suggested on here as a way to cut down on gift giving costs, or gift giving of token items for the sake of it.

We did it with my family for a while but as we are all adults we started running out of £50 ideas after a few years and it defaulted to vouchers or "pay me back for this item I was going to buy anyway" so we stopped and now just don't do presents for adults at all.

Glad yours is working well for you Op :)

SmlBusinessHelp · 22/11/2021 13:35

We did this for a few Christmases but one person was just terrible at gift giving. You can laugh it off if you receive one shit gift out of a few/many but if it’s your one and only gift it makes it a bit disappointing.

Aria2015 · 22/11/2021 14:29

We do this for the adults in my family. There are 10 of us altogether and each person buys for someone else. We have a rule though where each person must provide a list to make it easier but also to avoid wasting money on unwanted items. Money wise, it doesn't save us loads more than when we used to buy Individual gifts, but it's made shopping so much simpler and saved on wrapping paper etc... Kids are excluded from ours too, they get their own gifts.

ExPatHereForAChat · 22/11/2021 15:38

We do this but it sometimes feels a bit pointless especially when someone sends a link for a very specific item they would have bought themselves anyway!

HoseMeDownWithHolyWater · 22/11/2021 17:29

We do this. We realised that swapping a £50 Amazon voucher every year was pointless.

My poor husband really struggles when he has to buy for one of my SiL though.

Mymycherrypie · 23/11/2021 12:41

DH’s family do this and I find it a bit crap, not the idea but their execution of it. Just because BIL and SIL’s get £20 from supposedly 8 people is only £2.50 each. The siblings get £50 which I think is a better deal and is quite a nice amount and idea.

Marmite27 · 23/11/2021 12:46

@DockOTheBay

I think this is pretty common, its often suggested on here as a way to cut down on gift giving costs, or gift giving of token items for the sake of it.

Glad yours is working well for you Op :)

We’re at the stage you mention now. Last year I said it was stupid as we were all just exchanging £50 cash or vouchers.

Everyone argued me down, and this year most people have come up with physical item suggestions. I’d rather stop it all together TBH.

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