Christmas Budget Question

[tomthebarncat]

I have a budget for everything. I buy one new pair of shoes and one new handbag a year. My budget for each is 300-500 Euros. If they come in under budget and they have if I get a pair on Sale, the budget does not carry over. One year I got a pair of loafers at Prada for 100 Euros, so that covered my shoe purchase and came in under budget. This is the only way I can get my husband to understand my expensive handmade in Italy shoe and purse obsession. So, I would say buy it and if it comes from the heart and was underbudget that is even better!

 

[Patience]

For family, if I find what I want on sale, I do not spend more but I am usually looking for specific things and just want to get the best price on those things. For example, I bought my daughter a Zoomer Zuppie for Christmas for $40 because she wanted a specific one and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find it closer to Christmas. They are on sale this week for $30 so I took my receipt back to the store and received a price adjustment and saved $10. I won't spend $10 on an extra gift because I have a list of items that I am buying for her and I don't want to buy stuff just to buy stuff.

For gift exchanges, it depends. If I find a $50 item on sale and that is the item I intended to buy anyway, I won't try to make up the difference and will just save the money. If I was just out shopping without a specific item in mind and found a $50 item on sale for $25, I would probably buy it and then find something else to go with it.

 

[scottmel]

50 is out of pocket 50...I spend full 50

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Settle a debate between DH and I: If you budget $50 for a person on your list and find a $50 item on sale for $30, do you continue to shop for that person until you have spent $50? Or do you call it a day and move the non-spent budget elsewhere?

I'm answering this without reading any replies and letting them influence me. Whenever I'm in a gift giving situation with limits, I usually try to get as much as I possibly can for that DOLLAR amount. So, I'd be thrilled to find something on sale for $30 and still have $20 left to spend to make the gift look better.

Another reason I'd say stick with dollar amount is some of these original prices are so inflated and not true value, i.e., if you bought it at Kohl's, I would never consider the original price at all.

 

[RitaE]

It depends. I try to keep the money I spend on my kids about equal but given the wide gaps in their age ranges that isn't always practical. I've had several years where I've given up trying to spend more with my youngest son and I've instead put the remainder into his savings account.

When it's other people like extended family or co-workers etc. I buy the gift and wrap it up and move on. I'm not going to micro-focus on the dollar amounts for those gifts.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My mother and I have this debate every year at Christmas. In our family we draw names and buy a $25 gift. My mom feels that the $25 is original retail and not what you actually spend. I argue that you need to actually spend $25. Places like Kohls or Macy's never actually have the things for full price and everyone knows that.

 

[EdgeOfGlory]

If the QUALITY of the item is worth $50, it shouldn't matter what you actually paid for it. I would leave it at that and not purchase anything else, putting $20 into your budget possibly for someone else.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I look for sale items that drop me into my budget range (not vice versa). So, if I set a $15-$20 range (my niece/nephew limit), I'm normally looking for $25-$30 items that they want that I can get for a deal (that drops me into my "budget"). Now, I don't look for $50 items that somehow become $20...but if I find those, yes, I do buy them and gift them and decide that niece/nephew just got a little more spoiled...

 

[ilovemk76]

It depends.

If the gift can easily be found for $30, I would add to the gift. If the gift was an amazing fine that would not happen again and it is perfect for the person, I might not add to the gift.

I also use the rule of how does it compare to the other gifts.

 

[pryncess527]

Our household budget in YNAB has a master category for Giving. In the Giving category, we have sub categories for birthdays, Christmas, unexpected, charitable, and political gifts.

Our policy is that if we have $50 budgeted for my sister's birthday, and I find her the ideal gift for $30, the $20 left over gets moved into the charitable giving pile. If there was something else I really wanted to give her, which I could buy for $20, we'd do that -- but honestly that never seems to be the case, and I'm not going to buy my sister some crap she doesn't need just to hit an arbitrary dollar amount. But at the same time the money was earmarked for giving, so we like redirecting the leftovers to charity.

 

[AquaDame]

Settle a debate between DH and I: If you budget $50 for a person on your list and find a $50 item on sale for $30, do you continue to shop for that person until you have spent $50? Or do you call it a day and move the non-spent budget elsewhere?

Well, I budget the max I want to spend. In the end, I buy what I think they would like that is $50 or under $50 and call it a day. We've never used "minimum" amounts for gifts.

 

[pkelly6]

I think it's interesting to see how everyone handles this. I'm like a lot of you in that if the budget is $50, but I found a something on a killer sale, depending on who it was for and what it was, I might add something to it. DH feels once you've bought it, sale or not, you're done.

 

[diznee25]

Settle a debate between DH and I: If you budget $50 for a person on your list and find a $50 item on sale for $30, do you continue to shop for that person until you have spent $50? Or do you call it a day and move the non-spent budget elsewhere?

If this is the personal budget you've set, then really you can go either way and do what's comfortable for your situation.

I was thinking more in terms of a Santa Exchange Drawing, where everyone agrees on a specific amount. If a group does an exchange, and sets the budget at $50 for each person, then I'd be inclined to spend the whole amount. If I buy something that's $35, then I'd also include a $15 gift card or something.

I just wouldn't want anyone in the group to be upset if they realized their secret santa didn't spend the whole amount.

 

[dprincessmom]

The $50 thing I think is just easier for people to swallow. If I find an item that would be $50 that is on someone's list and I pay less because I found it on sale, happy dance for me that's my bonus for shopping smart.