At what age do you stop buying gifts for nieces/nephews?

shep

Let me tell ya about our 2008 trip out west...
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Jun 27, 2001
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I have 13 nieces/nephews and was wondering when do you stop buying gifts(birthday & christmas)..
I had High School graduation in mind, and then of course a gift for college graduation and marriage...
 
I stopped recieving gifts from my aunts and uncles when I was about 10. I'll get an occasional b-day card and christmas cards now. Most of the family will hand out family portraits for Christmas and that's the most I will get from my family for Christmas now adays.

Since you have so many (I have only 4 other cousins) I would say about 12 or 13 is a good year to stop and just go with b-day cards and maybe $20 inside. That's my favorite b-day present now...money :)
 
Well I remember that we used to put all the kids' names in a hat and we would buy a Christmas present for that kid. Birthdays were a little different, if there was a party my parents would buy otherwise they wouldn't( there were 11 of us total), and even then it would be a set amount spent.
 
Birthday - their 18th birthday is the last time I give them money or a purchased gift. I still send cards.

Christmas - I will probably always give them a little something as long as I have the money.

Graduation - $10 for high school and $25 for college. If they go on to get their masters or doctorate they get a card.

Wedding/Baby Shower - they get gifts of course.

I also send cards at other times of the year depending on the occasion or whether I just want them to know that I am proud of them.

I guess you can see why I keep getting involved in the exchanges. I love buying gifts and giving.
 
I'm 30 and all my aunts and uncles still get me (well, me and DH now) a Christmas present every year. Of course, I get them all one too!
 
They get birthday and Christmas gifts and cards until they graduate from High School. After that, the gifts and cards stop unless there is an ongoing close relationship. The only exceptions are weddings and if we are invited somewhere other than our own home for Christmas -- in that case we buy presents for everyone who will be in the house for Christmas (including nieces and nephews).

I still exchange cards with my aunts/uncles but, as an adult, I would never expect to receive a card if I did not send one to them.
 
Unless things change drastically in the next couple of months, only the 12 year old will be getting a gift from us this Christmas. The 13,15 & 16 year old don't have a good word for or about us. They won't be getting cards either. That's because when the oldest was a toddler I sent her a card. I'd only been dating DH a couple of months. I happened to be there when she recieved it. Her mother made a big production of sending a 3 year old over and asking me "where's the money". I barely knew the woman at the time. But that is how her daughter has been raised - to be greedy. :mad:
 
If they're still in college, they get $$ at their BD & at Christmas. (quite frankly, they need it more when they're in college!) Of course, with so many n's & n's, you might want to stop at HS graduation!
 
Since I have 2 neices on my side who I am very close to(even going to WDW with them next week, yahoo!!!!) and I have no daughters to spoil, I cant see myself ever stopping their gifts. ;)
 
At what age do you stop buying gifts for nieces/nephews?

Well, Uncle Todd, I'd say by the time I'm 75 yo or so.;)

I'd say 18, unless they invite us to a party, then we'd bring something.
 
We set the stop date for birthdays at 18.

Out of 5 nephews and 2 nieces I only have
2 birthdays left.

Nephew turns 18 in October
Niece turns 18 in June 2004

I still send cards though to the others . . .the one nephew that is left happens to be my godson so he'll always get something from me for his birthday . . .

We stopped the Christmas gifts a long time ago . . .there were just too many to buy for . . .

We still give gifts for graduations of high school and college and of course weddings . . .( I was an Aunt for the first time when I was 9)

2 of my nephews are married w/children and my niece is getting married in June 2003.
 
I still give them gifts, and always will. My oldest nephew is 30. I just give them money, I don't know what to get them anymore.
 
As long as I live-----I have nephews that bring me a gift almost every week.

books, frozen pizzas, plants, note cards, the list goes on and on...Yes, when he goes grocery shopping he will sometimes buy me a frozen pizza--not sure why but they have come in handy for that quick meal.

So I guess each family sets their own limit---mine is unlimited.

PattyN
 
That is a hard question to answer. I have 9 neices and nephews and out of all of them I am only close to 6. The older 3 are all over 18 and we do not send or exchange gifts with them and have not for some time because we are somewhat estranged. However the other 6 we are very close to and I can't see a time when it will stop, therefore I don't think the gifts will stop. My one neice is a senior in HS and will be graduating and going off to college and I know I still want to buy her things for special times.

When I was growing up I don't recall getting gifts from aunts and uncles at all, I was the last child of the family born later in life so all of my aunts and uncles were seniors by that time, so perhaps that is the reason. I still receive christmas and birthday cards from two or three aunts but that is about it, I wouldn't expect it any other way. And for the record, I was never really close to them because we didn't live near each other and we hardly saw them.

:bounce::wave::bounce:
 
My gift buying varies.

With my brother who has 2 boys......I buy them Christmas presents and he and his wife buy my 3 girls Christmas presents. My SIL has ALOT of neices and nephews.

With my older sister.........who is in the process of a very nasty divorce........I buy for her daughter (starting college) for Christmas and birthday and will get her a "going to college gift"

With my younger sister......who has a little Disney lover in the making (age 2) I buy for him for his birthday and Christmas and when we go to WDW I buy him a litttle something.......She is expecting baby #2 in Jan. and I will do the same.

NOW.......to my DH's siblings.......

I used to buy his brothers 2 girls Holiday gifts (they celebrated both Christmas and Hannakah) and birthday gifts........THEN the gifts stop cominnng to my girls.......so I reciprecated and only sent Holiday gifts. MY SIL made a statement about tooooo many gifts to buy. That was fine with me. EXCEPT now..........2 of my DD's got just cards for their b-days this year and one got money!!! Can't figure it out!! It is inconsistent and my girls notice it! When the time comes I will figure oout what to do for his girls!

While I can afford to shower my neices and nephews with gifts I will. By all means they are not expensive gifts but show my love and appreciation to them!
 
shep, I'm so glad you asked this question. I've been wondering the same thing. It's really hard to stop, but I don't think I need to continue when they're adults (unless were we exchanging gifts; it shouldn't be one-way any more). Besides, I never get a thank you at all (I send them money - they live far away). Darn, I should have stopped at 18, but it's too late now! minnie, I was thinking the same as you - until they get out of college (sure hope they don't become professional students!) Here's my problem: one is three years older than the other. Do I really stop giving to one while I'm still giving to the other? Or keep it up until they're both out of school. Another complication is that I think my sister may continue giving to them. If I stop I'll be the bad aunt! Oh well.
 
Here's how we've handled things Shep, since like you, DH has a rather large extended family.

We stopped sending gifts/checks for niece's and nephew's birthdays at the age of 21--or marriage, which ever came first.

We still send the God Sons/Daughters gifts on Christmas though, but not on their birthdays.

Sooner or later you have to draw the line and cut them off!
 
then the nieces and nephews have kids..so those are my great neices and nephews...and now TWO of those have had kids.......HEY I AM NOT OLD.....I do buy for my two special neices....these are just on my side....then comes my husbands sides....I am rolling my eyes here.....
 
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