No-No Gifts for Christmas

There was a Christmas my teenage brother got socks from 3 different people. He made such a big deal about it, we still buy them as gag gifts for him. I would say socks, underwear and diet books would be no no's.

 

Diet books! LOL Yeah, I'd be a bit hurt if someone gave me one of those.
I don't usually receive gifts so I think I'd be happy with anything!

 

I would say food one year someone gave me this really hard and stale fruit type of pound cake and underwear i wouldn't want someone else buying me underwear.

 

Underwear... seriously, mom. While I probably do need some new undies, I don't like to open that kind of gift in front of my whole family, especially if they got better gifts themselves!

 

When my husband was a teenager, his brother gave him a T-shirt with a quote on it that would make you blush - and so bad that I can't repeat it here. What his brother didn't anticipate was that the whole family was gathered together for gift giving, including Grandma, Grandpa, uncles, aunties, etc., and so it turned into an embarrassing faux pas. Why he didn't tell him to not open it at that moment I don't know. My answer to this question is:

"Inappropriate T-shirts!"

 

I don't like when people buy me necessities. I prefer gifts be things that I wouldn't otherwise buy myself.

 

Weird tasting candy, I got a box of it one time and out the whole box of candy i think there was only one thats wasn't tasting bad. If you want to give me candy , give Hersey's or something along that line!!!

 

I wouldn't buy clothing unless I knew the person really well. It can be hard knowing if someone will like a color or style you like. We all have different tastes and the purple sweater you adore might end up being regifted by the recipient if it's not their color.

 

I don't like the fruit cakes I used to get when I was younger. They didn't take great and were the butt of many jokes. Also, my sister once gave me a cellulite removal system. At the time, I had no cellulite.

 

Please people for the love of God, stop buying your mom's vacuum cleaners, or any home appliances for that matter. She deserves a real, thoughtful gift too.

 

Lol!!

That depends on the person, I think. For me, one of my favorite gifts ever was my Kitchen Aid mixer....and later, attachments for it. I adore it. <3 And I did think of it as a "thoughtful gift" because it's something I really wanted, but didn't want to put the money into myself. So for some people, appliances can be something awesome.

I probably wouldn't want to get that *every* year, though.

 

That's why I usually like to buy my main gift for someone off of their list, so I KNOW they want it. Then I try to find them a little surprise or something I pick out myself.

 

So... dishwasher?

 

I think that when someone is thoughtful enough to give you a gift you should accept it graciously no matter what it is. Not everyone is good at gift giving; not everyone has the budget to buy people their dream gift. I get plenty of things I can't use or are duplicates of things I already have and I just pass them on to others who can use them. Quite often a friend may need something and I can say "wait, don't buy that, I have an extra one I've never used."

 

I would say anything that smells awful, looks bad or is in plain bad taste qualifies as a bad gift. Thankfully I have never received or given a gift that qualified as offensive but there are plenty of such gifts available. Before buying a gift, you should think about how the receiver is going to react to the gift and then only buy something. It takes a second to offend someone but it could take a lifetime to make amends.

 

It depends on the appliance. One of my favorite Christmas gifts ever was a nice programmable coffee maker and a couple of bags of gourmet coffee.
A vacuum cleaner is work, but coffee is a treat.

 

I was going to say what Jessi and ACSAPA both said, but add that sometimes a person wants something premium, but doesn't have the money for it. Depending on their circumstances the person might only be able to get a major appliance as a gift, and then only if more than one kid (or sibling) chipped in.

A new homeowner might also appreciate an appliance.

 

I agree with jleadbet. If you are close to someone then I don't think gifts like socks or any other similar gift that feels like it wasn't given much thought would be appropriate. As much as possible it would be best to find something that is more custom to the person's personality and it would be preferable to gift something that you otherwise wouldn't buy on a regular day.