Jols- my OH's parents currently pay our rent- I'm techically living here for free! I do not get benifits. My situation financally means I can't afford to pay the bills atm. My bf is a F/T 3rd year student so he has no time for a job. I can't buy him or even my 14year old brother a present this year, let alone anyone else!!! Does this make me a bad person?
If my circumstances regarding work had been different maybe people would recieve a few gifts. It is all well and good saying "you've had months to save", but when you are out of a job it is very hard. I did not need to explain this to you, but don't be so quick to judge when many of us are in a similar situation to the orginal poster.

Personally I believe there is being honest, and then there is being rude. Maybe next time you could word your "advice" a bit more constructively.

As I said before, Christmas is NOT about presents, but about spending time with friends/family and having a good time by eating and drinking lots!!

maybe dont drink so much and buy a pressie lol................this is pointless now I have an opinion and won't and don't have to agree with people if I don't want to.

Anyway op has some good news now on another thread and has moved on maybe we all should too which I see no one has replied to yet.

SBL ,I know from my DIL's perspective the most valuable gift I can give her is my time (she has 8 month old twins ), babysitting/doing the ironing/preparing a meal.

You could turn your time into a fun gift and write out little 'time tokens' .

If you only have a few £ to spare and wish to buy something check out the Amazon top 100 toys for babies and read the reviews, you can buy things like a 'rain maker' which babies love and it costs under £5. The Neoprene bibs are excellent too also on Amazon (made of the same stuff as wetsuites and you can get pretty flowery ones) .

Hi SLB,

There have been a few years where I have only bought for the children in the family, however at 3 months old I think a night baby sitting or the wooden letters for her room but be a lovely pressie.

Couldn't agree more Mini. When I had Ben, my eldest sister was a godsend, coming and doing some ironing and washing and general babysitting while I had some much needed sleep. I think time tokens are a brilliant idea

Also, if you explain to your family that you can't afford presents this year, but will just get a wee something for your niece, then I am sure they will understand. As has been said already Christmas is not about presents and how much money is spent - but about spending quality time with your family and friends.

Eh? Have I missed something?

I've told her again about my situation and I've said I'll have Maya New years eve or Valentines day so her and her OH can go out for a meal or a drink, just hope she thinks it's enough, she asked em what I wanted for chirstmas and all I said was that if she wanted to she could get me something for the house, like dinnerware and mugs, like last year all I wanted was candles and bubblebath - only to find out after a few months I couldnt use any of the bubble bath because I'm allergic to it :/

I'll let you know what she says to that. But hopefully she'll agree and I have 3 New years eve parties that I've been invited to so I am giving up something. My OH's been dying to look after her anyway so I dont think he'll mind but if she agrees to it, I'll need a dog sitter (fireworks lol)

[QUOTE=SLB;2082028]Because I'm in the middle of sorting them out but I'd only be entitled to £40 a week of which would be going towards my house and my life, my sister knows this, but tbh what money I do and do not get is none of your business as I said in the first post it was just a rant - I didnt expect anyone to support or criticise or help me and I certainly didnt expect anyone to be rude to me and continue to carry on being rude after repeating that they were leaving the thread. My main point was that I couldnt afford to get my 3 month old neice something without getting everyone else something and although my family & friends dont expect it, it's unfair if I buy something for someone and not for the others. Even my dogs wont be getting anything unless I can magic some money from somewhere.

Anyhting else you'd like to know ? [quote]


I'm sure your family would understand if you just got your niece a little something for Christmas, it is her first Christmas after all - they'd have to be pretty unreasonable to object to that. If you can't buy presents then tell them not to buy you any as you can't buy for them.

Not being patronising here - maybe you could get some Christmas period work, lots of students etc do post office work

God help any kids you have then

Got your priorities right then