[mumofone]

My DH and I don't go all out with the gift-giving between us. Sometimes, we get something for the house that we both want...a few years ago, we got a large TV.

One other year we decided to try something fun. We set a limit of $50, and each of us had to buy gifts for the other with just that $50. We only had a couple of rules.

1. It couldn't be one gift...had to be several.
2. It had to be something that the other person needed or wanted.

I have to say it was really fun. I remember one of the things DH got me was a beautiful pewter heart-shaped mirror for my purse. But, we each had many "little" gifts to open.

We haven't decided what to "try" this year. lol

[startedover]

That would be fun. I would break the rules. I have to say I really go over board for Christmas. I wish I didn't but it is a weekness. ANd I LIKE LOTS of presents. lol. Last year me and my husband were at opposite ends of the house a few days before Christmas , wrapping each others gifts. My 19 year old was helping me wrap his "main" gift. One of those REDS.. It is some sort of exercise gadget. Anyway we had both promised we were going to get fit after the holidays. So like an hour later my daughter comes down the stairs laughing so hard she about wet herself. When I got her to catch her breath, she said "daddy got you a RED too" I already wrapped his and so we told him. He ignored me and wrapped it anyway......UGGG. He should have jumped in the car and went and returned it and got me something else. Lol just kidding. But it was funny.

[Shadowfaerie]

Toys from ThinkGeek... but nothing specific, oh no, he can't make it easy on me.

[SchmennaLeigh]

He won't tell me. He fails. I'm clueless this year. And normally I have to buy for our anniversary, too (Dec 18), but we're treating each other to a night out and not exchanging gifts for our anniversary.

[meghann]

We went a little overboard, money-wise, this year.

Our city's hockey team got new "alternate" home sweaters (if you're not a hockey fan - it's basically a secondary home uniform that they wear several times a season instead of their usual one) and we like them MUCH better than their usual home sweater.

So we ordered them in Sept. & plan to give them to each other for Christmas. If they're delivered in time, lol. They were something like $160 apiece. :/

(My justification is that for several years we didn't do much for each other at all at Christmas, so we might as well spend a little this year since we can afford it. I can rationalize pretty much anything... )

I like mumofone's idea - I think maybe next year we'll try something like that. It sounds like a lot of fun to be creative on a budget (hell, it's what I do with everyone else we buy for, so why not do something like that between us, lol).

[KatiesEd-dad]

We haven't exchanged gifts for the last couple of years due to money reasons but this year we're biting the bullet and getting one thing for each other. DW has been hinting about an Ipod so I think I'll start looking at them.

[lovemy2boys]

Ed, I don't know if your wife wants an ipod simply to listen to music, or to store music, photos, a planner, etc...

But we have those little ipod shuffles - they are really tiny - perfect to clip to your clothes and work out...They are made for music only, so they don't really have the bells and whistles that the bigger, more expensive ones have...

They only run $50.00...we all love them. The boys even bought them for themselves with their gift cards last year!

[Fran27]

When it comes to gifts the Christmas tradition goes out of the window in this family... For years my mom only gave me money (which is more convenient now that I'm on the other side of the Atlantic anyway), so, there's that. Last year we bought two Ipods, but we just went to the store and got them about a month before Christmas. Bad, bad.

I wanted to get him a bathrobe this year... but for some reason he loves his hair-covered 10 year old bathrobe, so I'm not too sure anymore, lol! (we have cats and dogs and the fabric of the thing is the worst you can imagine when you have hair in your house).

Honestly we were never much into the gift-giving thing... We don't really need much, and when we do, we just buy it. I don't even think we've bought anything for our birthdays for a few years now. We usually just do presents with his side of the family (it's cheaper because we just make a lottery so we only have to buy something for one adult and one kid each - only his mom buys something for everyone anyway).

[nikkianni]

DH wants a gym membership, so my Mom and I are going halfsies on that.
As for the rest: We've set a new rule this year due to budget constraints. We have a spending limit and more than that, we can only spend $20 or less on any given item.
I've limited our spending on our family members to $20 per person.
Then there's DD. There is no limit there. It's as much as we can possible afford, lol.

[slugbug0930]

This year we decided that we would cut back on gifts for each other in favor of getting stuff for DD and the fact that I am getting less hours at work with things being so slow.


I am not entirely sure what I am going to get him but I do want to make him a little dvd of pictures of him with DD to one of his favorite songs Tim McGraw's "My Little Girl". He will love that for sure. I may also go to WalMart.com and get a book made of pictures of him & DD. He would like that as well. I also thought about getting him a small digital photo frame for his desk at work.

Ed if your DW wants an Ipod for more than just music (pictures or audio books ect).....the new color Nanos are really nice and have lots of features that the shuffels don't.

[mumofone]

Oh, I love the digital photo frames.

I bought the digital photo key chain. Was only $20, and I love that, too.

You guys have some great ideas.

[KatiesEd-dad]

Originally Posted by slugbug0930

Ed if your DW wants an Ipod for more than just music (pictures or audio books ect).....the new color Nanos are really nice and have lots of features that the shuffels don't.

I just pulled the trigger on the 16GB Pink Nano. She's been hinting that she wants a pink one. At least with the Nano she can have pics and videos of Katie on there as well.

[aclee]

DH made an Amazon Wish list. One for Ty too. I haven't check out either one, but it will be interesting to see what DH thinks Tyler needs. I know DH has a pricey keyboard (computer, not music) on there, and some new pedals for his mountain bike. I'm also getting him a digital picture frame cause he's a total geek and into that stuff. I thought he would enjoy one for work...he's getting a little jealous that I'll have Ty home with me come January....

[cetalley]

Good evening to all. We always send money to all kids, and for grandbabies, we live too far away. CHRISTmas, is not a holiday I enjoy. I grew up with 10 kids and parents whom were great parents, but we had no money. My father used to tell us we need to have parents that tell us the truth, so we always will have someone in our lives we could trust. We always knew there was no Santa, and that CHRIST Birthday was the reason for the holiday. We were poor but had a roof over our heads and a warm place to sleep and most of the time food. I tell this part of my upbringing, not to sadden but, to explain how we handle CHRISTmas. Each week for about 6 weeks i go to the store a couple times a week. I always find someone there that looks needy and believe me you can tell, I buy a gift card and ask the cashier/greeter, to give it to the designated person I have picked. No names and they cannot tell the recipient who gave it. On CHRISTmas eve, my groom and I, light some candles , turn on the radio listen to the oldies, and dance with each other in our barn. We are always in our coveralls,its cold here in Mo., and it is the most romantic night for me all year. I have always been thankful, this year, we will be even more humbled....There are too many kids , that I know for a FACT, lie awake CHRISTmas eve, crying and thinking,& hoping, that just maybe, there REALLY is a SANTA, and their parents just didn't know about him. I know this , because I was this kid. So, I try to be humble and find those kids. This will be a bad year for alot of kids, I hope there are alot more SECRET Santas out there! My son, 29 yrs. old, goes to walmart, buys gloves, tons and tons, all colors, shapes and sizes, then in each pair, he puts candy canes...he takes them to the childrens home, and drops them off. He grew up knowing there was a Santa, until about 8, then he asked, Yes... I told him the truth! Happy Holidays to all!

[oceanica]

I have no suggestions, just a request. Somebody help me!!
DH has everything he wants and if he wants something (or thinks he "needs" something), he will get it right away. He doesn't like tools or ipods or clothes or books. He has no hobbies. He hates fishing and doesn't like sports. If I give him something like an electric razor or cologne he will take it back or never use it. There is nothing. To make matters worse his birthday is a few weeks after christmas in january. He does like to cook but he already has everything for that.
Since we adopted Athena recently some kind of new Dad thing would be the only idea I could come up with.