Since growing up, I have noticed that my siblings and I rarely buy each other gifts anymore for birthdays or even Christmas. We usually exchange phone calls and send cards. In a lot of ways, I have mixed feelings about this practice, but I also understand that everyone is on a tight budget. One of my sibling has A LOT of kids, so I am sure most of her money goes to raising them. Do you and your siblings still give each other gifts?
I have six other siblings and the youngest is 16 at the moment. I don't remember us buying each other a gift on birthday or any other special occasion but few of us are already married and have kids, so when our kids are having birthday then we would buy them a gift. We of course understand each other that we have bigger responsibilities nowadays and everyone is trying to make sure we are all financially stable every single month. Any balance for the month would go into our saving before we think about gift.
My brother is happy with me buying him a couple of pints of beers on his birthday, my sisters and my mother DEMAND presents and get VERY upset if we don't or offer them money instead, I think it is a woman thing, because my girlfriend and her 23-year-old daughter are EXACTLY the same.
My sister and I always give gifts if we can afford it at the time. But if we don't, we know that it's because it just wasn't possible right now. This is for birthdays, we always exchange gifts at Christmas though...
I definitely do. It's actually for our parents that we don't tend to do "real" gifts for any more. We might do joint gifts or delayed gifts or "sentimental" gifts (ones that don't cost much money).....but we don't spend a lot of money and sometimes don't send gifts at all. There are very few of us kids, though. I make more money than my sister, so she may only send me a card or call me, but I still make sure to send her gifts when I can.
I am one of three, the youngest is in her mid twenties, and we still give each other gifts for birthdays and almost every other holiday under the sun...We can afford to do it so we like taking the time to pick something out that we know the other would like and wouldn't necessarily by for themself. If money were to get tight I'm sure we would maybe revisit our current practices, but for the time being we all enjoy giving each other gifts and will continue to do so.
I don't exchange gifts with my siblings on special occasions. I'm the one always getting stuff from my siblings. They mostly send me phones because it's the only way we can stay in touch [we hardly visit each other]. The last time I sent one of my brothers gift was when I bought an expensive pair of really nice-looking shoes but because they didn't fit me [and I didnt' want to return them to the store] I decided to send them to him as a gift.
Yes, we do, but we don't expect one another to spend a lot because it's just the way it has always been. I suppose if one or all of us got into a more financially sound lifestyle then the gifts would increase in price and quality, but even then I don't really deem it to be that necessary. I think we always just had a mutual understanding that the gifts are mostly just symbolic whereas we always expected more substantial gifts from our parents as opposed to just being mere tokens.
Actually, as we've gotten older, my brother and I have gotten each other MORE expensive gifts. We like buying personalized gifts for each other and its gotten to be fun getting gifts for our family. I do see how some people, especially as people get older, where it might just be a little thing to get something for each during birthdays and holidays. Got to everything possible to remain in the budget.
We still do, although there are no expectations anymore. As you grow up, I think it's true that your priorities actually change and so we don't really expect that each other will give gifts all the time or will give gifts that are expensive. I think if there are people who should understand your budget and not get hurt if they don't get any gifts, it should be your siblings. Also, we try to be a bit more creative. Instead of buying material things for example, we would offer special things instead. For example, I would offer to teach my sister how to bake a cake or I would help to organize her closet. I think those are equally good ideas for a gift.
Yes, we do. Every celebration and holidays that you are supposed to give a gift like Christmas, birthdays, graduations, any celebrations that calls for a gift, we give each other. This practice is not just confined to us; it is a practice among our cousins. We give gifts all to each other. We like giving gifts, we enjoy it. And also we enjoy equally receiving ones rather than buying ourselves material stuff.
Since I was young I always exchanged gifts with my siblings. Mostly it was just at Christmas time. As all the nieces and nephews came along I would buy for thdm too. A year ago my mom passed away and because of greed my family was divided. I have five sisters but only talk to two of them now. So I buy for them and their families now.
I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters. I have NEVER brought one of them a gift. Probably we are not that close. But even if you are close to someone I do not find it necessary to always buy someone a gift. If someone loves you, they can show you through actions. Not gifts.
I wouldn’t say that; I actually tend to be happier with cash gifts and gift cards than actual gifts… Anyway, I have no siblings, but most people I know with siblings do exchange gifts with them. I notice they’re usually a bit more than token gifts, but not usually the most extravagant either. Somewhere comfortably in the middle. And if the siblings in question live together, they often make fun games out of gift-giving, like making up riddles for the recipient to take a guess at what the gift is.
I am quite shocked to see in this thread that some people don't buy their siblings anything?? The notion is very foreign to me. In fact, my older sister is probably the only person that I'd prioritize buying something for over other family members. Her and my mother. My little siblings don't get anything from me simply because I don't have the means, and they get lots of gifts from everyone else anyway.
I'm the first of five and we're all very close. It's a big family, by today's standards, but we do buy each other gifts from time to time. It's mainly around Christmas and our birthdays. But it's not something we always do because of financial constraints. With birthdays, sometimes a card or even just a text is enough, especially if it's not a milestone number. We strive to buy Christmas presents though, no matter how small.
No, I don't buy my sibling a gift. We're not in good terms for many years now, so no need to buy gifts, right? Although if I have another sibling and if we are in good terms then I would love to buy him a gift.
Aww Sidney, that's awful! I hope this is something that you and your siblings can work through and resolve over time. I know I was quite cut up when I didn't speak to my brother for a few months because we fell out. As difficult as it was, we eventually both extended an olive branch, and I'm so happy to have him back in my life. We're not quite where we should be, but we're working towards that. I hope the same goes for you and your siblings in the future
@Lushlala, No, it won't happen, my bro is crazy and despicable, he doesn't even want to have a sister in the 1st place. Some people are just really destined to be your enemies, I guess.
Aww that's sad to hear, Sidney! Just so long as you have a clear conscience, I guess you have nothing to worry your pretty head about. You've done nothing wrong, and sadly there's nothing you can do to force someone to have a relationship with you if they have zero interest. Keep your head up and live your life, karma always sorts these things out
