Dec 4- QotD- Do you buy your own Christmas gifts?

Do you buy or does he buy your Christmas gifts?

  • We don't exchange gifts

    Votes: 9 18.8%

  • He shops from his own ideas!

    Votes: 13 27.1%

  • He shops from a list I give him!

    Votes: 14 29.2%

  • I buy my own Christmas gifts!

    Votes: 12 25.0%
  • Total voters
    48
Julie Billingsley

Julie Billingsley

The Ghost of Awesome Past
Once upon a time ago, my shopping-impaired husband tried to shop for me for Christmas. We both quickly discovered that he has ZERO talent in this area. LOL We graduated to me making a very specific list on Amazon, but with him being a procrastinator it didn't work out because he didn't shop in time to get anything online and finding things in stores was beyond him. I ended up with lots of gift cards. So this year we've graduated to me just simply buying my own gifts. It isn't very romantic or surprising, but my husband is happy with this way because he hates shopping.

So, what do you all do for your Christmas gifts? And do any of you have a hubby that is talented in the gift shopping arena? (sooo jealous if anyone does!)
 
I guess he's not a terrible gift giver, but he's not a naturally gifted (ha!) one, either.

It requires a certain amount of attention and concentration that he does not normally expend on 'silly' things like gifts. Dang ADHD. When his procrastination kicks in and he's forced to think of what to give, it's not always necessarily exactly what I wanted, but it's not a vacuum, either. I know it could be worse i.e. my dad or his dad. Gifts are not terribly important to me to start with, so as long as it seems like a thoughtful gift, even if it is not something I might want or like, I can appreciate it and move on.

I have learned the hard way from observing my mom, whose love language is clearly gifts, that you can set yourself up for a lot of disappointment if you believe that if someone really loved you, s/he'd give you the perfect present, so if s/he doesn't, they obviously do not love you.
 
we don't exchange gifts on christmas. that being said, i've never wanted anything and not had it, kwim? we buy what we want, when we want it (or he buys it for me when i'm too cheap to spend the money LOL) and we typically don't wait for christmas.
 
I say I buy my own gift and he/we buy his just so we have something under the tree. The boys get very upset if we don't have anything to open. Plus our anniversary is the 14th so we kinda put them together to buy more expensive/waiting for items. This year was my 30mm lens.

Our whole family has cut waaaaay down though on the whole gift exchange since we don't all live together and know what each other needs, so we now say "buy for your family" and don't stress! That's the best gift! Grandparents are exempt from that rule of course.
 
Mostly he buys from a list I give him but sometimes finds things on his own that he thinks I'll like and sometimes I just buy it for myself. It depends on how much time he has. If everything at work is going smoothly he can find time to browse the internet. If it is bit bumpy he just follows the links I have sent him. If it is nuts he either gets me a gift certificate or tells me to just go ahead & order what I want.

Or like this year when my computer died last month & I had to buy a new one. The new one was my Christmas present. He's getting new tires for his truck.

It's one of those Christmases.
 
i selected that he shops from his own list - but really it's a mixture of everything LOL! a lot of times we don't exchange gifts, just bc we really buy what we want/when we want. but, i do like to have a little something under the tree for my DH - so i'll grab some little things. dh does this too - especially when he takes the girls out to buy a present for me. also- this year, i wanted a few 'big' things so i bought them for myself and said they were for xmas LOL - specifically a sewing machine and some new vera bradley stuff. :)
 
depends... my hubby spoils me throughout the year since we typically buy what we need when we need it... so unless I know exactly want I want, he will do research based on something I've said that I've wanted. So, I did select from a list since I tell him things through out the year... otherwise he is pretty good at finding gifts for me, he knows what I like... the only area that he fails miserably in is selecting jewelry... I'm a big girl and I like bigger settings and he will buy me this delicate whisp of a thing... ;) So, he doesn't really go there...
 
I didn't actually answer the poll because nothing fit my answer ;) When DH was alive he always bought my gifts - he actually liked to shop.

Now, I fill my own stocking because ever since I was kid "Santa" has always filled the parents' stockings and DD expects mine to be filled since she still "believes" in Santa.

I don't buy a gift for myself and put it under the tree, although I suppose I could - LOL. DD always shops for me and always has 1 thing for me to open. She usually does her shopping when we're at our summer place because she's old enough to walk around town and shop by herself. She uses allowance money that she saves up through the year. (It's nothing big, but always something pretty). She then manages to keep it hidden and gets it wrapped herself and under the tree when I'm not looking :) She's been doing this since she was about 8. Before that my parents or my sister would take her shopping to get a present for me.

DS always shopped for me too (and still does - he's 24 now). He's been doing it since he was 13.

So, I would need an answer that says - "My kids do their own shopping for me" ;)
 
I'm like Dana with a bit of everything. We have not exchanged gifts, he has gone out and gotten something on his own accord, and I have specifically picked out and he has bought with me standing there. The thing is that his first wife always wanted jewelry as a gift and I don't. I hardly wear anything besides my wedding band and I don't want him wasting money like that. I'm a practical kind of girl.
 
I love my husband but he is the absolute worst gift giver. I know his heart is in the right place, so he just shops from a list I give him.

Same thing applies for my brother, lol, though lots of times he will *insist* on buying me stuff without even asking Mark for ideas, etc. For three straight years he bought me paper scrapping stuff, because to him scrapbooking is scrapbooking. He finally got the hint this year because he commented, "Uh I noticed you're not using any of the stuff I gave you." No kidding!
 
mariewilcox said:
So, I would need an answer that says - "My kids do their own shopping for me" ;)
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Since I don't have a DH or SO, I didn't answer the poll either, but my DD is really good about paying attention to things I like and she usually goes with my mom and picks out the things she wants for me and then mom pays for them for her.
 
My husband is one of those awesome gift givers. Last year, he got me diamond tennis bracelet for Christmas. When it comes to camera equipment, he does demand an exact list because neither one of us wants him to get the wrong thing.
 
I give him a list because he's not very good at coming up with stuff himself. hehe This year though, he decided he would get me an iPad. I wasn't even going to ask for one because they are pricey. But he worked his butt off doing extra work after hours stripping copper and saved his Christmas bonus because he really wants me to get one for Christmas. :wub: We've always done very small Christmas gifts because we usually couldn't afford much (there were a few years we literally had nothing for Christmas) so we decided to have a little fun this year! Last year I saved up $350 in swagbucks Amazon cards that was going to purchase a lens for myself, but then I decided to buy everyone's gifts with those cards instead. So last year I did "buy" my own gifts.
 
I give him a list of ideas, and he goes from there. He's horrible about shopping on time, but he does good(and tends to go way over budget, lol)
 
It's a little bit of buy my own and he shops from a list.

Last year I wanted a mother's necklace.. I found 3 I liked on Etsy and he picked one and ordered it.

This year I'm getting a remote start for my car, new sneakers (which we went and bought last night), and a camera strap, which I ordered myself last night.

He's getting a Kindle Fire, which he already has and I'm wrapping the empty box. :p and headphones that he picked out at Walmart this afternoon.
 
We set a limit and then make up lists with about 10 to 15 things. That way we have a good chunk of things to choose from but the other person can still be a little surprised since they won't know what they are getting from the list.

However we both still usually get the other person a surprise that's not on the list!!
 
emmasmommy said:
we don't exchange gifts on christmas. that being said, i've never wanted anything and not had it, kwim? we buy what we want, when we want it (or he buys it for me when i'm too cheap to spend the money LOL) and we typically don't wait for christmas.
Click to expand...

Totally this. AND if there is an off chance we do exchange for christmas (I think 3 times in the last 13 years) then I give him VERY SPECIFIC ideas and where to get it.........then he goes and gets it.
 
We kinda do a half and half thing. I buy myself a big present (from him LOL) and then we have a budget that we stick to and he goes and picks things out for me and vise versa. He's not the greatest gift giver, but he tries really hard.
 
SO and I have only had 1 christmas together so far, but we've also been through a couple birthdays and mother's days. He's not the best gift shopper. Well, he tries, but the times he's given me something it's within what I want but not the style I want. Like, last christmas I said a ring would be nice and my style is very clean, classic. He gave me a daisy ring.... right!? Get my picture :p

So, he shops on his own, because he refuse to go with a list. He takes pride in what he gets and enjoys shopping, believe it or not lol
 
I don't think I've ever had a birthday or christmas gift that was a surprise our entire marriage. However, I did get a really nice Anniversary surprise for our 10th. And, this year, hubby surprised me by ordering a new printer for me that should come sometime this week. It's not technically a Christmas present, it just feels like it cause of the season.

In general, we buy gifts for each other based on what the other person says they want. I know exactly what I'm getting this year, and it's something I know I'll like, cause I told him I wanted it and e-mailed the amazon links to him. I like it that way. :) I still have no idea what I'm getting for him - it may end up being gift cards. Lame.
 
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I usually get my own gifts, but then so does he :) He wants an iPad this year and as he is the gadget lover in this house, there is no way I am shopping for him. I would so get it wrong.

My birthday is also in december and he is very good at getting me something then and taking the girls shopping for me. But to do it all again a couple of weeks later, no, that would be pushing it. And as I never know what I want, I am a hard person to shop for. I don't even know what to get myself this year. See the problem?
 
I learned a LONG time ago not to give him a list because he will go out of his way to NOT get me a single thing that is on my list! Having said that he usually does a pretty amazing job at buying gifts for me.
 
I didn't vote because it varies by year. DH and I really aren't that into gifts. If we have X amount of money to spend, we'd both rather go out and buy ourselves exactly what we want throughout the year than hope the other will get it for us in December. So we tend to buy for ourselves throughout the year, and for Hanukkah we don't exchange or we exchange small gifts (he comes up with the idea himself, sometimes from things I've mentioned).

Birthdays he buys for me based on his own ideas, and he does okay but not great. Honestly, though, I'm hard to shop for! Most of what I really want is camera or computerelated and too expensive, and other than that I'd be happiest with an SSD or Kindle gift card.
 
We either shop from each others lists, or I pick up something for myself. Sometimes, we've had the most fun when we go shopping together!
 
You left off, no one to buy for me. ;) My ex-husband and I do take our son out to help choose presents from our son to each of us. We started it last year and he loved it and had so much fun giving his gifts he chose himself.
 
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