On 2014-04-10 11:22 PM, Doris Night wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:04:28 -0400, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
>> On 2014-04-10 5:58 PM, wrote:
>>> On Thursday, April 10, 2014 2:47:24 PM UTC-5, Dave Smith wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I did the math.. I figured that at the time we were spending on the
>>>> average about $25 on each present. That meant that I was spending $600
>>>> total on Christmas and birthday presents for nieces and nephews. Our
>>>> son got three presents the year I cut it off. Her four kids were
>>>> getting a total of $200 in presents while they spent about $25 on our
>>>> son. The gift exchange meant I was spending $5 on behalf on my son and
>>>> she would be spending $20.... less than she would have been spending on
>>>> one present. She was saving at least $100 on presents. Knock of the $20
>>>> for the $5 gift exchange and he is ahead by $80.... but still whining
>>>> about the unfairness.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Our family got so large we went to the 'drawing names' routine; adults only! Parents bought for their children. No trying to guess if you bought a gift one of the kids wanted or not.
>>>
>>
>>
>> These days we get together with my younger brother and his family for
>> Christmas. It is usually the three of us, three of them, SiL's parents
>> and this year their daughter's boyfriend. We upped it to $15 gift. It's
>> the luck of the draw.
>
> My family does the "Mad Santa" thing, where each person buys a gift
> under $30, and we spend a couple of hours sorting out who gets what.
>
> It's *way* more fun than just exchanging gifts, and the max budget
> keeps everything under control. We've been doing it for years, and
> it's something that I really look forward to at Christmas.
>
> Explanation of Mad Santa is he
>
> http://voices.yahoo.com/the-craziest...93.html?cat=74
>
>
That is what we did .I didn't know it has a name. We had always done
that with my father's family Christmas gatherings because there more
kids on that side. There was a variation on the rules. A person who
lost a gift does not automatically get to keep the next one, but an item
can only be stolen twice. The third one gets to keep it.

It is fun. It is inexpensive. You don't have to spend a lot of money and
hours and hours trying to get the perfect gift for someone and then find
out they don't appreciate it.