My bf and I are pretty much the main source of presents for each other, so to keep a decent budget I'm thinking about spending $200-250 on each other.
So I'm wondering, for members of your immediate family, kids, hubbys, whatever, how much do you usually spend? (Not excluding other holidays! Hanukkah, Kwanzaa)
Our grand total was $40.00. Bought a gift for each of my boys. DH and I are not exchanging gifts and we are not giving gifts to anyone because we can't afford it.
We have to get a new TV b/c of the digital switch, so that's gonna be the family gift. I also have to get my DD a guitar b/c she has a class next semester. Outside of those, I'm just getting everyone(X and other DD) one thing for less than $100 each. Oh yeah, as of yesterday, I have to get a new set of tires, so it may drop to $50 each.
tight times, I know. We haven't been living off very much all fall, but now that I"m getting my financial aid money, I thought 200 would help lift the mood.
The adults in my family are not exchanging presents this year...except a white elephant party and each buying one $25.00 Gift Card to go with the joke present so the blow of getting, say, my re-gifted Elvis Chia Pet head is softened by the Home Depot card.
For our three boys, we set a $100.00 limit per kidlet, and my husband and I are buying an "us" gift of a digital camcorder to record more movies of said kidlets.
As for my husband's family, we can't seem to get them into the "less is more groove"...luckily there are less of them so it isn't too painful.
we're grinching it this year. we are going to get each other presents, probably spend about 100 or so each and i think that's it. we both are working and won't have much time off, plus we are moving this weekend so there's not enough time or money. hubby and i will do stockings and small gifts i am pretty sure that's it.
the biggest part of my expenditure for xmas is postage. im living in the uk and my grown kids, grandkids, mom, sister etc all live in medford oregon. so, i spent about £100.00 on each of them, then it cost me about £40-£70 to send each package. i thought about sending them money instead cause it would be cheaper, but that would just take the 'spirit' out of it for me
i spent about £125 on hubbys gifts and he is taking £150 out of savings to go buy my gifts this weekend.
we also spent about £200 on his mom and dad.. omg we spent loads.. didnt realize how much till i typed this... now im depressed lol
next year we hope to be back in medford, so postage wise it will be so much cheaper.. will only have to send one package to his parents vs all the family i have in medford.
the most i've spent on my hubby was $150 (but usually its around 80-100 at most)...and that's when we were both working. We've both decided this year..we don't need gifts since dh is in school and we are on a tight budget. I don't really think we need to spend that much. We always show each other that we lover each other thr other methods than gifts (:
The most I've ever spent on my husband for Christmas is about $100. I was thinking this morning of buying him a token gift although I've given him gifts throughout the year.
We bought a new laptop which is supposedly my christmas present but I also bought myself a ring ($60). I don't expect a 'gift' from him. I personally don't care for gifts, I rather us buy things we want when we want.
For my inlaws, we spent about $150 and my parents will be about the same.
I should do this, but I haven't kept track. I know it's way to much though. I'd guess at least $1,000.00 between parents, siblings, and other family and friends.
$420 is what we spend on immediate family and our two best friends. That comes out to $30 for each person. We spend an additional $60 on Christmas cards (printing and postage) and about $50 on office party gifts.
Right now we're at about $300 to/from each other and $400 for a joint gift to ourselves. We really spoil ourselves and each other for Christmas as we're on a super-tight "no gift" budget the rest of the year. We both had several windfalls in our side-businesses this year, so that financed all the gifting and our Wii (the joint present).
We usually spend more for the family, but we decided on a $30 limit among all of us. (How SHOCKING that both sides of the family agreed to the limit!) We're all over-18, so Christmas is more about spending time together than gifts.
This was a blessing as DH needs tires. That's $1000 out of our pockets right there, plus I just payed property taxes, our yearly homeowner's insurance premium and two extra mortgage payments. The end of the year is SUCH a pain financially!
Last edited by Kim_Star060404; 12-11-2008 at 10:51 AM.
I give $50 to each of my nieces and my two best friends kids. All that adds up to $400.
I give a gift basket to my two best friends, my brother, my sister, DH's sister and my parents. It's easier as none of them live nearby and they ship right from the company. Each basket was $50 to $100 for a total $600 (approx).
My DD is getting a boatload of CDs ($150) and a few other things. I imagine it'll all come to about $300.
My DS is getting an iPod touch--but he's been told it's a combo Christmas/birthday gift (he was born on Christmas and this is the first time I've done this, but it's an expensive item at $400). He is also getting a watch. All in all he'll be about $600. Don't worry, I spent more than $200 on my DD's birthday last month so they're "even."
I got a couple small presents for my in-laws who live here--about $100 total between the two.
Often DH and I don't exchange presents or we get little things that we can use like cologne, books, etc. But this year, DH wanted a camera so we got that $850 and I happened upon a great deal on a treadmill which was worth $4600 but we got it for $1000. So that's our Christmas to each other.
We were actually hoping to downsize a bit this year but it didn't happen--mostly due to the stuff DH and I got (and yes, we're already using them so it's not exactly a present but we've agreed not to buy each other anything else).
I buy for my mom, step dad, (dad rip), sister, brother, sisin law, nephew, boyfriend, and my best friend, and two good friends. It usually averages to 50 dollars per person. Sadly, all of it went on credit cards this year.
We're estimating about $150 total for about ten people. Hubby and I are on disability, and the past several Christmas, we've spent even less (or probably about the same, just spread throughout the year rather than just spent in Nov/Dec), as we made gifts. Hubby cross-stitched and I crocheted.
We're visiting my family in Illinois, so we'll probably spend another $300 in travel expenses. It's going to be a tight January, but it's been a couple years since we were able to visit for Christmas.
My folks have finally switched to a one main gift per adult system (Everyone buys $20 in gift certificates and some small gifts, wraps them, and then they play games for the gifts. If you win twice you don't get a second gift certificate, you get one of the smaller gifts as a prize). I've been trying to get them to do something like that for years, but my sister finally persuaded them.
I'll probably spend an additional $30 on jerky making ingredients as it's a Christmas tradition, and I didn't make it last year, because I wasn't feeling well. When we visited my family in June, my 7 year od nephew asked if I was making jerky for Christmas, so I can't disappoint him.
Oh, and I should add that our family has the dubious distinction of having four birthdays in November, four birthdays within a week of Christmas and three birthdays the first four days of January.
How much do you spend on Christmas?
