Gift giving in large families

If you don't have a lot of money but you have a lot of family members, Christmas can really bust the budget. Here are some ideas for gift giving in large families.

• Give gifts to the kids, don't exchange gifts among adults. This can works if everybody has around the same amount of kids. It's not really "fair" if some people don't have kids or if one family has a lot more kids than everyone else.
  
• Pull names anonymously. Do this at your Thanksgiving gathering or whenever everyone is together. This way everyone will only buy one gift instead of trying to buy for several people. Set a dollar limit on the cost of the gifts.
  
• Play the White Elephant game. If you will be together as a family for Christmas, not only will you get to share with each other, this is a lot of fun! Again you can set a dollar limit on the cost of the gifts.
  
• Instead of exchanging gifts, do something together as a family. Have a family Christmas party where every one brings a covered dish. Do it early in December before everyone's schedules are too crazy, that way you will have a better chance of people being able to attend.