So what is the cheapest christmas present you have ever received or given?
Back in the 90s, the UK went through a big thing of collecting points from purchasing stuff, normally petrol or cigarettes. Anyway, my older brother gave me a CD for christmas that I happened to already know was only available from cashing in some of these points. It might have been ok, but I didn't even like the music on it (it was stuff like Soundgarden, Manic Street Preachers and I can't remember what else).
The cheapest I've ever given was to an uncle who every year, would give me a box of some aftershave. I very rarely use that stuff, and when I do, it is normally Old Spice I use, not some stuff made in China that looks like it might give you chemical burns if you were to try putting it on. Anyway, thinking of teaching him a lesson, I bought him a box of this stuff instead of the mid-range whisky I'd normally get him.
The next christmas, I got the same box back, :bouncegiggle:
When I was a teenager, my great Aunt Maude gave me a gift bag with a bar of soap and a stick of Mitchum deodorant with the lid taped on and a smudge of dirt on it for Christmas. I don't know if she was trying to tell me something, or just picked up some stuff she found laying around her house. I was a kind of stinky kid, but she smoked so much I don't think she could tell.
I try to give thoughtful gifts whenever I can. I am not above doing crafts or making cookies and wrapping them up to give out if we are trying to be frugal. My go-to gifts when I don't know what to give are food gifts, like fruit baskets or chocolate. I may be single-handedly keeping The Swiss Colony in business. I am also that person that will give those butter cookie tins out as gifts that people end up using for sewing materials. Those are actually really good and I think it's kind of a treat to open one and actually see cookies in them!
Quote from: Paquita on November 09, 2021, 11:09:31 PMThose are actually really good and I think it's kind of a treat to open one and actually see cookies in them.
I have a rather large blue friend at home who would appreciate one or two of those cookies :wink:
When I was a kid (first, second, third grade,) my mom would take us to buy Christmas presents for the rest of our extended family. We went to the dollar store; those were probably the cheapest presents I've ever given.
Cheapest I got was probably a 3-pair pack of socks? but I can never get enough of socks so I had no issues with that.
Cheapest I gave as a christmas present was two bars of chocolate in wrapping paper, with a ribbon tied around it. The person didn't want anything for christmas but I felt the need to give her a little something anyway.
I'm still waiting for the gift "in the mail" from my older sister. I expect it to turn up some day. It's only been 25 years. :smile:
My friend Larry (rip) gave me a card that said- "Times are tough, money's hard- here's your f**king Christmas card."
I loved it. :bouncegiggle:
Quote from: RCMerchant on November 11, 2021, 10:17:19 AM
My friend Larry (rip) gave me a card that said- "Times are tough, money's hard- here's your f**king Christmas card."
I loved it. :bouncegiggle:
:teddyr: :teddyr:
I bought my younger brother a DVD of the movie SWAT (2003) and was expecting to hear good things. What I got was a phone call that went something like this:
Nic: "Yo, bro. Where'd you buy this thing from?"
Me: "A seller in Johannesburg, why?"
Nic: "How much did you pay?"
Me: "ZAR100" [about $10]
Nic: "You got screwed: someone filmed this in a theatre and put it on DVD: I can see the dude's head in front of the screen and the guy next to the cameraperson farting in the seat next to him."
:buggedout: :buggedout:
About 15 years ago, I got a small tin of caramel popcorn at a work Christmas party. I can't remember how much we were supposed to spend (probably $20), but that gift clearly cost a lot less.
I gave my friend Larry an empty Whiskey bottle with a Dead Kennedys sticker on one side, and a Sex Pistols sticker on the other side.
My beloved Sister-in-law was notorious for her... "wonderfully thoughtful" presents like the year she gave me a made-in-China reproduction painted iron toy which had wheels and with one gentle turn scratched the floor... the same year she gave my mother the made-in-China jewelry box...that was broken. :teddyr: God I love you good girl!