Christmas Budget/Shopping?

[soccerchick]

I don't have a set budget per child, though I do limit the # of presents -- they each get three, just like Jesus. They also get their stockings, which I shop for all year long, usually from target clearance aisles.

I tried to limit gift giving b/w my brother, sister and our spouses and pull one name out of a hat. That only lasted a year, but I did get them to agree to one gift per couple and limit it to $20-$25.

I do tend to go more overboard w/ my mom, who watches my kids for me while I work part-time. She offered to do this and doesn't ever cash my checks I give her . So I stopped giving her checks and try to buy her things she truly needs as well as some wants and splurges I know she'd never buy; she always puts others before herself. I am a major budget shopper though, and still don't spend crazy $.

Dh and I don't exchange Christmas presents except some needs in our stockings. We do birthdays instead.

 

[mamalle]

I shop year round and have already put away alot for the kids this summer from disneydirect and the disneystore. I find I am able to buy them more things for less. I tend to spend a few hundred on the kids and around $25 on other family members. If I find a great deal on somethings than it will be less. I have my xmas list all ready in my documents and adding to it when I can. I buy my cards at hallmark the day after christmas and other gift items that will be great gifts for the kids teachers, etc.

 

[ericamanda01]

I started my shopping a couple of days ago at the disney direst sale. We try to keep it under control, but we can get carried away. So we have limits for everyone, kids $25 each x 5. Then we always spend at least $100 on my in laws, the deserve so much more. Then for each other we can't go over a certain amount. I am finding it more do-able now that I started so early this year. Normally I start in October.

 

[michvin]

I'm with you too....My husband has what I consider a really good job, but as a stay at home mom who runs the household, inside and outside, the kids, and the checkbook, I feel that Christmas should be about the time of year and now what we spend. I mean, my in-laws....what do you get the grandparents? Sometimes, I feel that people just buy just to give someone something..anything. Espcially when its the adults...I just feel like its gets silly giving each other things (and some in our family give out their family's "list") like things they need for their house, ie. dish towels!? Stuff they could afford themselves. So, for us, its usually around $500 for us (me, DH, and dd1, dd4, ds6) and then about $200 for the rest of the family..maybe. Some years I do make cookies or fudge...its from the heart that matter as opposed to the pocketbook...I can't tell you how many things we've gotten have ended up at goodwill or yard sales just so someone could "give a gift"...I'd rather you come over and be with us on Christmas and just be together. However, this year, there will only be a few things from Santa and the stocking because we will be in Disney for 8 days in October...Christmas is coming early at our house..that's for sure!

 

[Clancycat]

I'm shooting for $1000 this year. $20 taken weekly out of our checking into another acct.

For my kids, I usually shop all year round for X-mas & b-days when I see a good deal. From the Disney sale, I've gotten them the fleece embroidered princess robes ($15), princess dress up box w/ 3 dresses ($15) as well as a few other things that I can't think of at the moment.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I was at $15 per person last year, but have upped it to $20 or less per person. I do try to get items off-season and on discount -- got the guys all sweaters that are $50-$60 full price.

We were at $50 per last year--for 11 people outside of our children and us. And the gifts weren't seen any different than anything else.

We wanted to make a transition so that the spirit of Christmas is there--but the retail part of it is eased down a bit.

There are ways to get buy on a base price of less and fill it with more.

In reality--I kind of hate gift exchanges as expectations--b/c instead of exchanging $10-$20 items that may or may not go over well--lets just save us the trouble and buy something for ourselves and save the trees and bank account by not having to wrap it. A little bit of scrooge in me--but the practical side of me sees this as completely silly.

 

[winniedapooh]

For teachers gifts up to 6th grade I usually give gift cards to Walmart, Book Store, Target etc. or glue sticks, pencils, tissues, wet wipes, paper towels, colored pencils, stickers, etc. and a lotion for the teacher. I subbed through grad school and still do it once in a while when I am off on a Friday. I was amazed at how many kids come to school without supplies and the teachers end up getting them because their budget has run out! I also send in snacks, often the teachers keep a stash because some parents never send in a snack for the kids. DD's, 8 today, teacher sent me home a beautiful note thanking me for my silent contributions and a gift card-she retired this year and knows that I will just buy more stuff for the school with it. That note made me feel like I made a small difference.

 

[Princess Glenda]

Amii, we usually buy a gift for the classroom on my child's birthday. At holiday time, I want to buy a gift specifically for the teacher so she knows how much she is appreciated. I'm looking for ideas.........

Last year for teachers and Sunday School teachers I put together a CHRISTMAS MORNING BREAKFAST BASKET. I included pancake mix, syrup, a red pancake turner/spatula from Bed, Bath and Beyond, hot cocoa mix, marshmallows, and a cute Christmas pancake mold from Williams Sonoma. The gift was very practical, but looked really nice in a basket with a Christmas patterned basket bag and ribbon. Everyone seemed to like the gift.

My SIL put together movie baskets using paper Popcorn Boxes, microwave popcorn packets, a few pieces of movie type candy and a GC to Blockbuster. We enjoyed this present also.

 

[bunny213]

What an inspiration you all are.....I admire all your ideas and plans...I'm going to try and learn from you. I hope this thread keeps going and going and going! I try to stick to a budget...this year I'm REALLY going to do it, and I'm going to start now picking up things that would suit people. I find my married children to be the hardest to buy for....and now I have 10 grandchildren! I try to be fair...and spend the same on each. Being retired is hard sometimes...I got twice as much husband and half as much money!!!
I'm thinking that this year I would take some old photos...and write a little story about what is in it....(from my childhood) and put together a little book for each family. I think I could get it run off at a copy store. If I used a nice loose leaf binder - I could add pages to each book every year. With my parents gone now....I'm really the only ones who have these memories, are my brother and sister. So if I start the book...maybe they'll contribute to it next year too.
What do you think? I'm not very good at pasting pictures on the computer and stuff...but I can type it out, add the picture and get it run off somewhere...couldn't I?
Anyone have any tips?
One year for people who I wanted to remember, but didn't want to make them feel like they were obligated......I picked up a few boxes of those little spreaders that come four to a box. They were Christmas themed - I typed out a cheese ball recipe, decorated it and tied the spreader on the card with a red satin ribbon. I made about 20 of them....and they were well received.
Please keep this thread going....like the energizer bunny!!!
Thanks friends....I'm off to start planning and making my list!!
Barb in Texas

 

[ShariVT]

Barb I think the photo book is a great Idea.
I have day care and every year the kids make cinnamon tree ornaments they smell great and are easy to make the parents love them and one of the kids took some to school for his teachers also.
At my house santa brings the one gift you want the most and fills your stocking everything else comes from mom and dad.
Christmas is my favorite time of year and this year we are going to disney the first week in december and I have told everyone it will be a disney christmas little do they know most of it I will buy from disney direct on sale.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Coming from a big family with an even bigger extended family I always waited till the last minute and didn't know how I was going to pay for it all Since I've had my children - DD3 & DS4 my DH & I have decided that it's about the kids and I start shopping right after the holiday itself. My DH & I do stocking stuffers for each other - real basic stuff like deck of cards, candy, toothbrushes, mints, etc. but no big gift. We either get something fun for the house - dvd player one year - or just splurge on the kids - Santa is very generous . We go over board on our kids but try to keep it real for the rest of the family. About $50 per parent(s) - mine are divorced - but my inl yell at us every time we spend any money on them so I try to pick up more personal gifts for them - ie: picks of their grandkids, grandma & grandpa stuff, etc. I have 7 brothers & sisters and because we don't see each other all the time and some have limited funds we don't exchange gifts other than we give my sister something because she does free daycare when needed for us. We only do kids at gatherings.. there are 6 cousins. Great tip to put away...Toys R Us has a sale every spring on Little Tike stuff and on Fisher Price stuff - buy one get one! This way my kids have ended up with every, and I mean every Little people piece out there and the other gifts end up costing about 10 bucks and they get a new ornament every year that I picked up on clearance at Hallmark after the previous christmas (make sure no year tag on these). I always shop the clearance aisle - never know when you;ll find something. Hallmark always has little nicknacky things up to 90% off - just picked up a grandma pillow for 4.00 12x12 size. Check clothing stores...Christopher & Banks had a rack where everything was 1.00 - I mean long dungaree skirts, courderoy skirts, shirts, sweaters - I picked up 6 outfits for under 15.00 and normal ticket per piece was 35.00 and up!!! Broke this up and gave my mom 3 for her birthday and keeping the rest for Christmas. Oh another tip - school is starting soon so all the school supplies including crayons, markers, pencils, paper will be on sale. Add to the Christmas pile because come christmas time you pay 4X the cost. Best bet to keep it under control is really don't wait till it's too close. I like to have at least 75% done by the beginning of school then I can sit back and enjoy the holidays more ie: get some baking in, visit relatives, not HAVE to go out in the snow because I already picked it up. Good Luck.

 

[StephMK]

Barb - I think the book idea is great and love the spreader idea too!

I hope this thread continues too. I wish I had some good ideas to contribute, will have to think some more.

I didn't explain it well but when I said - where are all you families? I meant because I don't seem to live near any of the budgeting ones. I feel like I buy my kids too much it's really not much and their friends get tons of stuff. I just wish their friends had similar budget minded families so our house wouldn't look so meager in comparison. I'm trying to teach them to appreciate what they have but it can be tough.

I think I'm getting through to the middle DD though, last Christmas when asked what she wanted Santa to bring her, her reply "nothing".

 

[minniedisney1]

I shop the sales year round for everyone. I don't really have a budget, but I LOVE a good deal. I have a huge rubbermaid storage container in my closet for gift storage that my DH hates. I try to keep things even with the kids. I make sure that the nieces & nephews all have the same amount of gifts from us. No matter how good of a deal I get, I try to make sure that the retail price would also be about equal for each one. Just so no one would feel slighted in any way. Everyone else in the family gets one thing from us, on sale of course. I can't leave Target without going by the toy section to see what has been marked down. Now my children are another thing all together. I usually shop sales year round and get them one or two big things from Santa. Try as I might, they still end of with a ton of stuff under the tree every year.

 

[Rootskate]

Last year for teachers and Sunday School teachers I put together a CHRISTMAS MORNING BREAKFAST BASKET. I included pancake mix, syrup, a red pancake turner/spatula from Bed, Bath and Beyond, hot cocoa mix, marshmallows, and a cute Christmas pancake mold from Williams Sonoma. The gift was very practical, but looked really nice in a basket with a Christmas patterned basket bag and ribbon. Everyone seemed to like the gift.

My SIL put together movie baskets using paper Popcorn Boxes, microwave popcorn packets, a few pieces of movie type candy and a GC to Blockbuster. We enjoyed this present also.

What a great idea! Thank you!

 

[we3disneygo]

I start the day after Christmas....my dd11 was born 3 days before Christmas and i found that a birthday party for family with dinner, birthday party for friends, and Christmas was expensive!!!! I make a list and stick to it....you can find books at the library for the gift mixes to make in a jar, we always give something dd and I make together and a new picture of her for the grandparents. dh and I don't spend more than 30.00 or 40.00 on each other. I always have my shopping done by Thanksgiving- less stress to focus on what this time of year means.

 

[floridagirrl2]

DH and I buy our WDW annual passes for ourselves each year for Christmas . Other than that, we will spend about $100 each on each other just to have gifts under the tree to open.

For my extended family and DH's extended family, we all draw names, and the limit is $50 per person. This means we spend 50 on ONE person in my extended family, and $100 on DH's extended family (since his family does "couples" exchanges for the adults). I also buy a gift for my mom (usually clothes, because that's what she likes, about $70).

I found out last year at my workplace that the tradition there is to give small gifts to everybody, so I will be buying my favorite scented soaps this year(http://www.bellasoaps.com --I have no financial or personal interest in this business --I just happened to purchase some of her soaps when I was visiting family in Pennsylvania, and the soaps are just the most superb, subtley-scented ones I've come across!)for about 25 people. This will total about $100 including shipping.

Total for this Christmas will be about $1100-1200, all in cash.

BTW, I appreciate people who ask for things like dishtowels--I think they are probably trying to let you know that you don't need to spend a lot of money on them! Perhaps they are trying to help reduce the financial pressures of Christmas too!

 

[EthansMom]

I'm thinking that this year I would take some old photos...and write a little story about what is in it....(from my childhood) and put together a little book for each family. I think I could get it run off at a copy store. If I used a nice loose leaf binder - I could add pages to each book every year. With my parents gone now....I'm really the only ones who have these memories, are my brother and sister. So if I start the book...maybe they'll contribute to it next year too.
What do you think? I'm not very good at pasting pictures on the computer and stuff...but I can type it out, add the picture and get it run off somewhere...couldn't I?

Barb, my Grandmother had reproduction photos made for me off the original black and white photos she had of my Great Grandparents and Great Great Grandparents. I especially love one photo she had reproduced that is my Great Great Grandfather out hunting on the Olympic Peninsula in WA -- she had it copied to an 8 x 11 size and it's just amazing. I'm sure your family would love old copies of photos -- you may want to look into the reproductions, look under Photos/Photography in your yellow pages for Photo Reproduction. Make sure to label the backs of the photos with an "Archival quality pen" which you could buy in the scrapbooking section of a craft store like Michaels. Photos are a great idea for a gift for family!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Something I did one year for a homemade gift was make shirts. I bought a white Hanes sweatshirt and some fabric paint and had all 5 of my kids put their handprints on it. Then we wrote their names and put something like "World's greatest Grandma" on it. We made a t-shirt like that for DH, too. I thought he might think it was cute and put it away, but he actually wears it all the time. The shirts are easy to wash, too, you can even bleach them and the paint doesn't come off.

I love the idea of the reproduced photos, too. I have very few pictures of my Mom who passed away when I was 12 and one of her sisters sent me some pictures of her, their family, and their childhood home and I cherish them.

 

[JoyG]

I have three kids, and I also buy presents for 6 neices and nephews, dh, my parents and his. Total Christmas budget including cards, and food is about $1200. I only spend $10-$20 on gifts for inlaws, parents, and neices/nephews. I try to buy throughout the year also.

I'm a teacher and I like to receive baked goods or gift cards at christmas time, but no gift is really needed or expected.

For my own children's teachers, I bake banana bread, wrap it in cellophane bags with a pretty ribbon and use custom labels from myownlabels.com (they've got a cute santa label). It really makes a great presentation, and I can make a lot of gifts for a little amount of money. I actually give the bread to the inlaws as a gift too.

A few years our extended family has played a game at Christmas which was to buy presents for everyone that cost only a $1. We tried to see who could find the most useful, original gift for that price. Lot's of fun, and I spent less than $20 for everyone in the family.

One idea that I'd like to try out is instead of giving gifts to extended family at christmas, I'd like to organize a collection for a donation to charity in our family's name instead. My husband thinks I might come off looking "cheap" to his relatives so I haven't brought it up yet.

 

[Barbmouse63]

This is an awesome thread! Thanks so much for the ideas and motivation! I do not shop early but want to start earlier this year than last. DH and I get bonuses in Novemeber which goes toward our gifts for each other and dks. I am going to try for $250 each for our kids. DH and I usually get each other something we both want such as digital camera last year. We are considering a cruise this year and if we book it before Christams we will spend less on dks and come up with some fun way to tell them a cruise in June is part of their Christmas.
I have also done the movie basket and always get great responses. We also do it for our kid's friends for bdays. A Blockbuster gift card and they sell boxes of micro popcorn and maybe stick in a candy bar. Another good gift is to make other themed baskets for teachers, etc...include candle, body wash, lotion, etc., basket with scrapbook supplies for those who scrap, movie basket with a video or BBcard, popcorn, 2 liter drink,etc, I have received a beach basket with a beachtowel, sunscreen, novel, etc. There are many of these..we could come up with good ideas to share on these boards! Love the pancake breakfast idea! I have also given inlaws dinner and a movie...I bought movie tickets from a local theater and a gc from a local nice restaurant.
I could use help with inlaws and my parents ...both sets are older and have everything and if they don't have it they buy what they want which isn't much of anything. Every year I feel that I'm buying just to give them something! Love the photo book idea!
Anyway, can't wait to read more great ideas on this thread. Thanks for getting me motivated early.