How many people do you give mishloach manot to?

amother

Jetblack

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 7:42 pm

Who do you give mishloach manot to on Purim and to how many people? Do you give to your Rabbi and Rebbetzin? Your neighbors? Friends? Children's teachers? Parents and in laws? Siblings?

Also, if people give you mishloach manot that you didn't prepare for, do you give them one back?

ra_mom

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 7:46 pm

amother wrote:

Neighbors
Teachers
Siblings/Siblings-in-Law

Give platters of cooked food for seuda for mom and MIL as MM

Have an understanding with friends that it's ok not to exchange as it only creates unneeded stress.

It still comes out to an unearthly amount of MM.

And yes, I give MM back to anyone who gives me even if it's unexpected.

Seas

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:03 pm

We don't give any friends. Just parents, siblings, immediate neighbors, teachers employers and employees. Plus a few people who need the chizuk.

amother

Green

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:13 pm

About sixteen or seventeen total. Only people within walking distance. Some relatives, some friends, some people from shul on a first come first served basis. Used to be more but some people aren't living here any more. I always keep something set aside to give back to surprise deliveries but there are very few of these any more. We pretty much give to the same people year after year.
When our kids were in school the pta collected money for group MM for teachers so there was nonei of the stress of delivering MM to rebbeim.,

mommy3b2c

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:35 pm

I never prepare a specific amount for specific people. I make an estimate and it's always enough. I obviously give to everyone who gives to me. It's rude as hell not to. This year I prepared 31. 29 regular and 3 fancy. Plus 6 for my kids so that's 37 total. We had a Purim party in the morning and I gave to whoever came. Neighbors, friends, family, kids friends. In the afternoon we drove to my sons friend (because he had no friends come to him) then to boro park and gave to my sons rebbe, mil, sil, one friend that met me by my mother in law. Then drove to my husbands grandmother and aunt and gave to each of them. Back to my mom for the seudah. I gave one to whoever was there that I hadn't seen yet. When my kids go back to school I have two more for the teachers. And that's it.

amother

Hotpink

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:46 pm

I make 12 every year. Don't have many friends in the area, maybe about 6 total to give to. One for each family who came to our seuda (there were two this year). I always have a few extra to have on hand in case someone comes by unexpectedly. This year we had two unexpected visitors. Dh took the remaining 2 to work today.

amother

Saddlebrown

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:48 pm

My DH is one of those people who knows everybody. I stopped making lists years ago and just make a ton of them to distribute to everyone and his brother who comes to the door (or who we come across driving around). Including kids' I made 100 this year shock

and we had less than 10 left after Purim.

amother

Black

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 8:53 pm

amother wrote:

DH gives to his Rav. We give to neighbors we have shaychus with. No friends. Children's teachers get a bottle of sparkling and a check. Parents and in laws get something for the seuda. We give to siblings. I made a total of 14, 12 planned for everyone plus 2 extra.

shanie5

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:06 pm

I give to everybody I see. I'm very glad that they don't all find the need to give back!
This year I made 75. Probably could have used a few more. And before anybody gets crazy about cost, I do very simple, so cost is always under $100. Total.

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:08 pm

Not more than two dozen, usually somewhat fewer. More than 15-18 gets too stressful.

In our community it is not customary to give gifts to teachers at Purim (Chanukah and end-of-year are another story). We give to friends and classmates. We try to have something on hand for people who drop by, but fortunately most of the people who give to us were already on our list.

33055

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:23 pm

I made 41, and we had 8 more unexpected. My kids give 10 to 26.

We give to 4 Rabbis my husband is close to, our neighbors we are friendly with, 3 of my kids' teachers, our colleagues, a couple of relatives, and our dear friends. We also remember someone in a nursing home.

amother

Ruby

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:31 pm

Surprised that there are others who give as few as me! I made 12 this year, which is around how many I always make. My child is too young to have teachers or friends to give to (I don't remember giving to my teachers when I was younger- is that really what people do??). We gave to our parents and some of our siblings (the ones who give to us basically) and to a few neighbors and friends. I wanted to go to some elderly people we know but didn't have time due to my baby's naps. I think next year the "older" ladies will take priority though.

I do give to those who gave us even if I wasn't planning on giving them. I make a few extra in case of that.

amother

Powderblue

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:44 pm

120 plus the kids give to their friends, say another 35ish. Plus we send some through companies to family living in different countries.

Purim is a big deal on our house!

cozyblanket

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 9:45 pm

I made 60 simple ones (total cost was $68). I like giving everyone I come across on purim. We only had one extra.

amother

Natural

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 10:51 pm

I didn't give this year :-(
I was so overwhelmed by life :-( I didn't have the headspace for mm :-(
OK, money is excruciatingly tight, but if I had the headspace I would find two food items to give to someone.

Simple1

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 11:03 pm

rlm wrote:

For people who spend less than 2 dollars per SM how do you do it!? Let's hear some ideas!

I spent over $2. But some ideas- either they give homemade. Or some people keep it very simple. As an aside, a nice presentation can make a cheap MM go a long way.

Last edited by Simple1 on Mon, Mar 13 2017, 11:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

SplitPea

Mon, Mar 13 2017, 11:04 pm

Mine cost less than $2 this year.

Containers we buy in bulk because we use them for lunches etc. .10/ each

Labels we bought 4 years ago for Purim and had left over

Veggies, dip and pretzels were from Costco and came out to $54

Sam switch baggies for the pretzels we had on hand but it was a stop and shop box of 150 that cost $2.50

Roll of tape $0.99

We made 35 total.

Came out to around $1.75 each plus a little for ink usage.

http://I.imgur.com/FZ7t72R.jpg