The Cheapest Gift You Have Ever Received

[cyber-sibes]

Some of these make me laugh, others just make me shake my head in disbelief! I think it's safe to say I never got anythg quite as bad as a couple of these --- like "sampled" jellies or antsy fruitcake!
I guess the cheapest gift was from one of my old bosses - a candy cane, a few stale Hershey kisses & one rock hard envelope of hot chocolate mix stuffed into a dollar store mug. Oh well, at least all us employees got the same thing.

[ramanth]

This didn't happen to me, but my sister once recieved dollar store extra large panty hose during a family gift exchange from our uncle.

Same sister got as a wedding gift from the same uncle a book about dieting.

My sister and her hubby barely weigh 100 lbs.

We were rolling with laughter.

[Blue_Frog]

From a Secret Santa excange with my extended family:

A box of Nice'n'Easy. For Beards and Moustaches. Thanks guys, last time i checked i was a girl

[WELOVESPUPPIES]

OMGosh you guys have me rolling !! Sorry Blue_Frog but I about fell out of my chair laughing at yours, LOL.

I am happy to say I cannot remember any cheap gifts of my own but I do have a really good friend whose birthday is Christmas Eve. One year relatives gave her a gift, one for her birthday and one for Christmas morning. When she opened her birthday gift that evening it was a slipper, yes A slipper...guess what she got for Christmas....yep the other slipper. Now that is cheap.

[Gin]

Some of these people sound, not just cheap and thoughtless, but mentally ill as well. How else do you explain one slipper, sampled jelly, beard & moustache dye for a girl, ancient fruitcake, and rancid perfume?

[Pam]

Some of these are hilarious! I have a story similar to Karen's. Years ago I worked in a dental office. We had a little old lady who was a patient there. I'll call her Mrs. K. She always brought gifts in for all of us each year and you could tell they were used items or, perhaps, bought at a thrift store. She was very sweet and we were honored that she liked us enough to even think of giving us gifts. After she died we continued the tradition. Each year we would look around our homes and select something to be put in what we called the *Mrs. K gift polyanna.* We'd bring them in wrapped and we'd each select one, and it was so much fun.

Personally the strangest gift I ever received was from my mother-in-law one year. I am not saying it was cheap, and it was not the only thing that she gave me that year, but it was strange. It was an apron! Maybe she felt I was a sloppy cooker and needed one.

[Killearn Kitties]

Pam, you have just reminded me of a friend of mine who received from her mother-in-law one of those row counters that you put on your knitting needle. This friend did not knit and had no intention of taking it up. It was not the only present she received. In fact, she assumed that her mother-in-law had wrapped it up in the present by mistake and offered it back to her.

[lizbud]

Some of these are hilarious! I have a story similar to Karen's. Years ago I worked in a dental office. We had a little old lady who was a patient there. I'll call her Mrs. K. She always brought gifts in for all of us each year and you could tell they were used items or, perhaps, bought at a thrift store. She was very sweet and we were honored that she liked us enough to even think of giving us gifts. After she died we continued the tradition. Each year we would look around our homes and select something to be put in what we called the *Mrs. K gift polyanna.* We'd bring them in wrapped and we'd each select one, and it was so much fun.

Aww Pam, that is so sweet. It probably made everyone happy, even
Mrs. K .

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I used to work with a woman who always gave cheap gifts. She didn't have much money, but that was never the point. She was a really good seamstress, but she never used her talents or creativity in her gifts. She always gave broken or used junk as gifts. I kid you not, I've seen this woman dumpster dive for things that she then gives as gifts. One time she found an ugly, broken napkin holder in a dumpster and she gave it to another girl I worked with as a letter holder. One girl I worked with got a broken, dirty watch from her, another a half used bottle of cheap perfume. Honestly I can't remember what I've gotten from her, there have been so many cheap things over the years.

[angelbow20]

A couple years ago I received Fake flowers from my ex's mom, the next morning my dog Chance got in the house and chewed them up!! He didnt touch anything else in the house but my gift another lady always used to give me 1 packet of hot choc mix and a piece of candy..

[k9krazee]

This year for Christmas my brother's new girlfriend gave him two books. A book all about grammar and one about women dominating men.

Not necessarily "cheap" gifts, but they made me laugh nonetheless.

[Catty1]

KBlaix...that woman sounds ill, really. I hope she got some help at some point. Sad!

[cassiesmom]

Zippy Kat, I had to read your post about the clock more than once to figure it out! I am dense. Medusa, what a great story about the water bottles. I just had a friend tell me that my Christmas gift was going to be the Chia pet grass planter but it was sold out. (No problem there!) My mom received a beautifully wrapped handkerchief for her birthday. One handkerchief. Yes, it's linen and yes, it's embroidered. I asked if the person who gave it to her had done the embroidery? Nope, it was store bought because there was a gift receipt in the box. What a strange gift.

Another year she gave me a jar she had put popcorn kernels in and a little baggie of seasoning mix to put over them after they are popped. Again, container from the Dollar Store.

I have a question about the popcorn kernels, and yes, I know it's probably dumb. My mom went with a friend to the Amana Colonies in Iowa this fall. She brought back a big container of Amish popcorn kernels and for Christmas gave some to me in a cute jar with a Christmas sticker on the lid. I think the jar might even be a re-gift of its own. Is that a lame gift? It's not the only thing she gave me. I've made the popcorn, it popped into huge puffs and tastes great. My dad loves popcorn, but there was no way he and my mom would have finished all of it, so she gave some to me.

[Jessika]

How about nothing at all.... not that I honestly care about gifts or anything, but this Christmas...

My sister-in-law was pregnant and well to put it in a nutshell hasn't had the best relationship with her parents or siblings because she was a bit of a rebel child throughout high school (which she didn't even finish and ended up getting herself knocked up instead). Her and I have had a lot of rough times with each other (she would spy on me, steal letters I'd written to HJ and photocopy them to try to black mail me, go through my stuff, spread nasty rumors about me at school, etc), and while she irritated the crap out of me I told myself I was a better person, people could change, and I needed to forgive and forget...

So this Christmas I put everything behind me, she's been around more since her pregnancy though her and HJ still weren't really on speaking terms. We were Christmas shopping and I said, "You know what I think your sister would appreciate, a day at the spa for Christmas. I know she's going to be getting a bunch of baby stuff, I think she would like something for herself and can just relax."

So HJ went and bought a $150 spa package for her at a really nice spa here in town.

Christmas Eve HJ's brother came up to him and said, "You know, [sister's name] said she wasn't going to get you or Jessie anything for Christmas because you weren't going to get anything for her."

Honestly, that was a slap in the face. ESPECIALLY considering we spent Christmas morning together as a family and watched as everyone else opened presents from her. And when we gave her her gift... she just opened it and looked at it. Didn't even get a thank you.

Now I know Christmas isn't about getting, but about giving, but dear God, she is so heartless... she says she's changed yet pulls crap like that on her brother. And I KNOW HJ loves her, she is just... difficult to deal with. =/

And it just hurt that she would pull something like that on us, on me especially, when I've been trying to hard to be civil and pull them closer together, especially after her baby, MY NEPHEW, was born. =/ It just hurts.

[Uabassoon]

I come from a large family and we all get together every Christmas. There are tons of cousins to buy gifts for so I realize that my aunts don't have a lot of money to spend due to their being so many of us. Now I don't mind the aunts that buy me things like a single pair of socks, because I at least do wear socks on a daily basis. Every single year I have two aunts that insist on buying me horrible costume jewlery. Anyone who has ever met me or even seen a picture of me would know that I would never ever wear girly costume jewlery! Every year I would rather that they didn't spend the $3 on the tacky bracelet for me. I think what's more annoying than anything is how thoughtless the gift is. In the past years I never had much money but I would always put some thought into buying gifts for all of my aunts.