Do you give YOURSELF a Christmas gift?

[oceanus]

I realize it’s better to give than to receive, and I know the spirit of Christmas involves giving to others.  I’ll all for that.

However, over the past five years of so, I’ve treated myself to a birthday present and a Christmas present.  Sometimes it’s something really small and inexpensive, sometimes it’s something that costs more than I would normally spend on myself.  But it’s always something I don’t really “need”, would really like to have and would make me smile.

So, this Christmas I’ve whittled down my list and I’m going to have to make a choice.

A pound of those fat, jumbo whole cashews and half a dozen maple-walnut cream candies covered with chocolate from a gourmet candy store.
Or
A bar of soap and a shower gel from lafco.com (never bought anything from them but Lafco soaps are on Oprah’s favorite things list).

Ummmmm, I can smell those cashews as I type. 

[MrsCrazyPete]

I vote for the cashews! That sounds very yummy!

I don't usually get myself a gift. More often, we'll go out for a nice dinner, myself and DH. We go to a place that we normally wouldn't except for a celebration.

[MommyPenguin]

I usually fill my own stocking, because otherwise it would be sort of pathetic compared to everybody else's.     My husband is also not that much of a gift person, so some years I've bought my own present and wrapped it and given it to him, which he thinks is hilarious.    (We have shared finances, so I'm not paying for it any more than I would be if he bought it for me.)

[Betelnut]

I give myself Christmas presents all year round.   

But this year, I did buy a car (used, 2011) last Saturday and yesterday I bought new running/walking shoes.  For both purchases, I told myself that they were MY Christmas presents.

My daughter is rather sad that none of the presents under the tree are for me.  I just told her that Grandma sent me a nice check, thank you very much!

[Slartibartfast]

I usually call it a Boxing Day gift - the day when all the Christmas candy goes on sale 

[jpcher]

Normally I don't give myself a gift.

This year I did. And I'm sooooo looking forward to it!

I'm gifting my DDs a day at the spa with an overnight stay at the hotel. Dinner & breakfast included.

Of course I couldn't send them off on their own without being supervised, could I?

So I just had to, you know, make an extra reservation for myself to ensure that they didn't get lost or something like that, right?

[Just Lori]

I've given myself Pureology shampoo and conditioner in years past.  This year I'm getting Bare Essentials concealer and foundation.

Who wants candy when you can get nice shampoo and makeup?

[DollyPond]

A few years ago I bought myself a set of flatware for Christmas because it was just too good to pass up.

There is a certain style of flatware that I had been eyeing for years (this one: http://www.gourmetsettings.com/treble-clef).  When it was first released it cost about $80 for one 5 piece setting.  No way I was going to pay almost $650 for settings for 8.  When i saw it on sale for $40 for 4 settings I had to go for it!

[Thipu1]

We almost always buy ourselves gifts before we do our serious Christmas gift buying.   We call it 'Breaking the Ice'.  This was also a tradition when I was a child.

They aren't big things.  I get myself a fancy bar of soap or a puzzle book.  Mr. Thipu treats himself to a half-pound of expensive cheese.  It just gets us into a festive and generous mood and there's nothing wrong with that.

[VorFemme]

Yes - VorGuy has many good points.  But he doesn't "get" how much I like to get gifts....his own attitude towards gifts is a bit "that's nice, what's for dinner?".  We have different "love languages" - to put it another way.

I got tired of buying things for everyone else to put under the tree and finding rather fewer gifts under there for me....so I started buying a couple of small things "from him" or "from Santa" when the kids were younger and putting them under the tree.

He kind of liked the green satin nightie that Santa brought me.....

[workingmum]

Since I'm a single mum, I tend to buy all my own Christmas presents. But this year, I splurged and bought myself a car a couple of weeks ago. I justified it by telling myself that I was going to buy a new one next year anyway and mum really needed a car too, so I gave her my old one and got myself a lovely 2008 Subaru with very low mileage  So technically it wasn't a Christmas present it was a need.. right???

Other than that I usually have a bit of a splurge on Amazon a few months prior just to make sure they al get here in time - I take the box home, unopened and DD wraps them and I pretend I haven't seen them.

[P12663]

Normally I don't give myself a gift.

This year I did. And I'm sooooo looking forward to it!

I'm gifting my DDs a day at the spa with an overnight stay at the hotel. Dinner & breakfast included.

Of course I couldn't send them off on their own without being supervised, could I?

So I just had to, you know, make an extra reservation for myself to ensure that they didn't get lost or something like that, right?

Just being the responsible parent.  Of course, if you had only asked I would have been willing to do the duty, thus sparing you.  I'm nice like that.

[JennJenn68]

I suppose you could say that I give myself a Christmas gift.  My gift to myself?  Not having to worry about shopping for DH.  And his gift is not to have to shop for me.  We haven't bought each other Christmas gifts for over fifteen years--money was tight just after we were married because we both became abruptly unemployed, and we decided to forgo... It worked so well for us that year that we decided to make it an annual custom.  None of the worry about buying the "right" thing; none of the frantic searching; none of the snits and hurt feelings because the other person didn't match what was bought.  When I see and hear about what some of my friends go through, and the complaining and carrying on that occurs surrounding this very issue, I am so very, very glad!

That being said, occasionally we'll each go out after Christmas and buy ourselves a little something that we want--when it's on sale, of course!  (And to me, that's the best part of all!)

[Shoo]

I've had a couple of things on my list for the past few years.  If I don't get them this year, I'm ordering them myself FOR myself.  I'm tired of waiting for some of these things! 

[Outdoor Girl]

I buy myself a ski pass every year so I guess that could count as buying myself a Christmas present.

I do buy myself stocking stuffers, mainly because I buy stuff at Costco and divvy up between everyone's stockings.