How do you decide which friends to gift?

I talk with them, and we decide if we are exchanging gifts.
With a couple of friends, we agree that, instead of gifts, we go to a nice dinner together.

I almost never give a friend a birthday gift. I don’t want to start the whole obligation to gift thing. The only exception is sometimes very close friends of mine who have a birthday close to mine, we might do something special to celebrate, I might give a small gift, depends on the situation, but it is not a yearly routine. I find obligatory gift giving annoying and stressful. i prefer to give a gift on any day because I came accross soething so perfect for someone I could not pass it up. I like those type of gifts too. I kind of made it clear to friends I don’t want to start the whole gift giving thing for holidays and birthdays.

I’m with @JLeslie. I only buy birthday gifts for my immediate family.

Very best close friends get gifts. Neither of us are upset of we don’t get gifts, though. Immediate family get gifts. It’s pretty easy now because they never want anything, so I bake them gifts. Usually something that they had as kids.

I have only three very close friends, that I’ve known for years and years, that get birthday gifts. Immediate family (parner, child, parents) get gifts. Much more likely to celebrate friends’ birthdays by going to the pub with them and buying them a couple of beers. But maybe that’s just me and the kind of friends I have…

It’s easy- I don’t. Only my wife and children get presents.

I was thinking you could get something very small, not expensive, for your new friend that you know they would like. Even if it is some sort of very practical thing, or just a t-shirt of something she likes like Diet Coke. Or, take her to lunch to “celebrate.” a new friend of mine took me to lunch for my birthday, I thought it was very nice.

I met my husband in March, and his birthday is early April. When I gave him a gift for his birthday, he thought it unfair, or uncomfortable, that my birthday was not until January, so he bought me a birthday gift a few days later.

Gift giving is tricky.

I don’t usually give gifts to my friends, unless we are actually getting together for a celebration. Most of the time, I just call them or scream “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” on their facebook wall.

As I’ve become older, the list of obligatory gifts has become shorter. The stress of finding a ‘gift-on-demand’ is not fun for me. As was said earlier, I’m more apt to serendipitously find the perfect something for someone just poking around some other time of year…and, gift it then. That way, they do not feel the need to gift-right-back.

The whole gift giving notion has gotten way out of hand. And, with the economy, it’s an unnecessary burden. Do something to show your feelings…it will be more personal.