[thedirt0115]

One great option would be to open up a college savings plan (529 Plan) for your children and ask them to contribute some small amount to that. It's less awkward than just saying "please stop buying us junk", but it can have the same effect + money for education!

[Consultant32452]

I have this same family problem. My brother did the 529 thing for his kids. Behind my brother's back the most problematic family member in this area was really nasty about it. They were insulted. They went on this rant about how Christmas is "their thing" and they aren't going to let us ruin it by restricting how much stuff they buy our children. I hope this 529 things works for some families, but in my experience it's a failure.

[jchallis]

I tried this with family. - 2 older members got the point and have been very good about sticking to it.

- N-2 members got huffy that they wanted to see the kids open things. No college contributions.