What Pissed Me Off Today #7

When a holiday or special occasion comes around in which gift giving is customary, it's usually a happy time. However have you ever made an agreement with a family member or good friend to not exchange gifts? Maybe things are a little tight, maybe you're just cheap, or short on time. Whatever the reason it can really ruin your day if the person you made the agreement with goes out an buys you a gift anyway.

Example: For Christmas this year my mother, sister, brother in-law & myself all agreed to buy a new flat screen tv for our living room. We divided the cost to have a 46 inch LCD mounted on our living room wall with a new HD-DVD box 3 ways. That was supposed to be our gift to each other since it was something we all wanted, and no other gifts were to be exchanged. Overall my share was just over $900 which is about $400 more then I would normally spend on Christmas overall.

So Christmas morning comes around and I find that everyone has full stockings. Well I felt a little bad because I didn't put anything in anyone’s. Then the gifts start getting passed out. I got 2 or 3 things from my brother in-law & sister, my mother got me half a dozen items, and I didn't get jack for anyone else. So even though I'm incredibly blessed to have such a great family, I end up spending Christmas feeling like a jerk because I stuck to our agreement.

Conclusion: So for anyone out there who makes these type of deals, or is maybe thinking about it....I highly recommend buying a couple gifts (ranging in prices), wrapping them up, but without a card, and just keep them in your closet in case this happens to you. Then if someone hands you a present that they weren't supposed to buy, you can have something to give back.