Wish people either reduce the number of presents they need to buy - buying for nephew's fiancee's mum's cousin shouldn't be allowed. Immediate family and perhaps a couple of friends max.
My family stopped doing Christmas presents about 10 years ago and its a relief not to do it. We do presents for birthdays as more individual. My parents and myself have nice food, drink and dig out board games and DVDs for laughs.
When my family did Christmas presents, more relatives were alive and gave me toiletries I couldn't use as got very sensitive skin. Then there was the great aunt who knitted hideous mohair jumpers which I couldn't wear due to my skin. Mustard and bright blue harlequin pattern anyone?
Social media are causing the problems with people uploading photos of their trees with hundreds of presents under their trees. People feel pressured into buying more.
People should not go into debt for Christmas. There's no point going into debt for buying presents that people don't need, use and just get shoved in a cupboard, forgotten about. Shops are full of crap gift sets and scream out "I can't think of what to buy cousin Jamie, I just get him a Lynx gift set." Some toiletries gift sets are MORE expensive than buying the stuff individually. At work, I pointed out a Dove gift set for £9 to my colleague and asked him to add the prices of the products individually - £6.50. Why spend £2.50 for a bit of cardboard? Its like Easter eggs. My colleagues told me about the make up sets with 100 eye shadows and 10 blushers they got from relatives for Christmas as teens. Who can wear 100 different colours? They said they probably could wear a quarter max.
Then I have spent Christmas with kids before. Had Christmases with my ex's brother and his family. All the kids were opening their presents all at once. Kids had no idea who gave certain presents and parents didn't know who bought what, apart from what they bought themselves and what others have told them. Don't kids do thank you letters/emails/phone calls anymore? My friends send presents to their nephews. She receives not a thank you from either her brother or nephews. She finds that upsetting especially when she and her brother were drilled to spend time to write letters to relatives thanking them.
Then get people, like this lady I served a few years back.She went through my till buying 60-70 tins of Quality Street and she said, that's all my Christmas presents done in one shop. I'm glad that I'm not related to her as my parents and myself have got a tin each - three tins of inferior chocolate. Then throw in loads of toffee pennies. Don't want problems with fillings thanks.
