Christmas Present Budgets - how'd you do?

[TwoMisfits]

You are such an awesome mom to know that your DDs want these things. I was (and still am) a big gamer as a kid, but my mom never really got me much of what I would actually want. I got lots of clothes, jewelry and skin care products when I was a teen.

I lived it...although my mom just did the clothes, since she knew I didn't do the makeup, jewelry, and skin care...so I try only to get those types of items if they specifically asked for them (this year, that was the boots). My mom did come through with a shoebox full of books every year, so she did her best (that was always my favorite gift). Plus, my kids' dad believes it's an awful Christmas if you don't get at least one "toy". So, yes, my husband even gets some "toys" at Christmas - always has, always will...

 

[Alicefan]

I hit Kohl's this Summer when they had all of their winter clothes on sale and I counted 14 sweaters and blouses, along with 8 baby outfits for around $140!!!! I had a 30% coupon and got back $30 in Kohl's cash! I couldn't believe that they had men's big and tall Chaps sweaters marked down to $4 to $8 each! Then 30% off of that? They might as well have been free! lol Needless to say, I have my brother in law and sister covered for this year and the next.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I am almost done! I am about $200 over budget (not counting what DH is getting me as he has that covered), but I will have it paid off by mid January. I think I did a pretty good job - used a lot of rewards points, Kolhs cash, Macy's cash and coupon codes.

There were some big ticket items on the family Christmas lists this year.

DD - Barbour jacket, Fitbit, memory foam pad for her bed, Tile for her keys, Urban Decay makeup setting spray, 2 bralettes, Ipsy
DS - a suit, dress shoes, Vineyard Vines shirt & boxers, record player & records, LL Bean moccasin slippers, concert tickets, college sweatshirt, fraternity tie,
DH - a Bose ipod dock, underwear, dress shirt

2 Neices - 3 months of Ipsy
My parents - Wine Club 4 times a year


My list: Roomba (from DH), bubble bath, perfume, pants
3 nights at Williamsburg Great Wolf Lodge with water park tickets (gift from my parents), Colonial Williamsburg tickets, dinner at the King's Arm Tavern, maybe a ghost tour

 

[Sagginit]

I did better than I thought. I am currently 36 weeks pregnant so I tried to buy some things on sale and stash them away. I needed things to "finish" the gifts and went out today for the first real Xmas shopping of the season. My SIL set the budget at about $30 a person this year for that exchange which was actually nice as it gave me more direction. Here is how I did:

- breakfast gift basket for BILs brother & wife (have travel mugs & basket plus giant bag to wrap it in from clearance sales earlier this year)- got coffee on sale plus 30% off cartwheel at target, just need maybe syrup, pancake mix, and a cute spatula (budget is about 25-30 a person so may be under budget on this one as items are being found so cheap)
- nephews (had one board game for each from Target summer clearance- about $7 each! various small items from clearances for stockings) got them 3 bath items for $1 to add to stockings today so they are now done, will finish with a $15-20 Target GC so they can pick out a toy they want- think this is more fun than trying to guess what to buy to finish. Overall about $35-40 each.
- SIL (had some beauty items stashed away and chocolate I got on sale a few weeks ago) got her a nice beauty pouch & two body shop items at TJ max- was about $20 so the total for her will come in to almost exactly $30
- BIL (had a cocktail and mocktail book I got on sale previously for a few dollars each) going to get him a bottle of tequilla, wanted some syrups/bitters but can't find a gift set, so bottle size will vary based on that to bring it to about $30

- husband- no real budget but we don't go "crazy" as he says. I spent $105 on nordstrom rack- got a dress shirt, hoodie, tee, italian merino wool sweater, boxers, and dress socks. spent another $45 on amazon for a game and kindle paperwhite cover. I previously spent about $25 on stocking stuffers/small items. This will bring me in under $200 but give him quite a few things to open.

- mother- I bought the majority of her items on sale/clearance earlier in the year. Today I picked up a few stocking stuffers at TJMaxx. She gets one nice big gift from my husband and I so I think on her it came closer to $400 when all said & done as that item was $250 if I remember correctly.

still need gifts for brother & SIL plus nieces, don't know if/when I will see them as they have newborns that are premies. my mother's boyfriend/partner is super hard to shop for, plan on going to BJs this week and hope they have maybe a nice snack basket for him as he likes nuts/sunflower seeds/chips.

I also have done really well with holiday sales on loading up the nursery and buying things we need for the baby, I needed a pram suit and even found a nice one today for $20 while at TJ Maxx. I think after we return our last round of duplicate registry gifts and get a credit I will actually be able to finish up everything we need other than diapers/wipes and the breast pump which is thrilling. I spent so much at Target and so much time trolling their sales my husband now refers to the store as my "boyfriend" as he feels like I sneak off to there so often lol.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I don't budget as I lost my first two children and tend to overcompensate with my remaining son buy getting everything on his list. At least he will ask Santa what he imagines DW and I would like to have. Last week I donated 4 of his wrapped gifts, which weren’t on the list, to a local family as the tree pile started to get out of control. I have buyer’s remorse, but the guilt is stronger.

I understand and you deserve a big . I am sorry, going through the grieving process my self and it still hurts after all these years.

 

[AlohaNow]

I’ve done pretty well this year……I actually resisted the urge to just get stuff as ‘filler’ for under the tree. Some years I would order like five more things per kid off their wish list just for ‘volume’. No more. The kids are older now and of course what they what costs more! Plus, we went to Europe this summer and everyone understands that was a pretty big trip for us, so to expect less under the tree. But everyone is getting their top most wanted gift and about five other things. Top gifts are Xbox One and Cozmo, both of which I got killer deals on over Thanksgiving weekend. Both kids are also getting a pillow, which I know sounds so lame, but they are the pillows that DCL uses, so they are just dreamy and I know they will appreciate them! (I got one earlier this year and I love it!)

I was kind of last minute in ordering a gift for family in another state. When I went online to order a package from Omaha Steaks for them, they were offering a deal where if you chose a delivery date after 12/25 then the gift giver receives a $25 credit towards a future order. So for the same shipping cost I could have had it delivered this Saturday or after Christmas. I chose after Christmas to get the credit. Does this make me a bad person? No, I think not; it just means I am a Budget Boarder!

Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[Vijoge]

I think I came in right about where I planned. I saved a bit with some sales and then blew my savings on headphones for DH lol

 

[Sadie22]

My adult sons were impressed with the high quality Star Wars Coloring Books I gave them. Free with disney movie rewards points.

 

[sunshine1178]

I spent a lot less than usual this year because we moved, and there were a lot of unanticipated expenses. I feel very badly that I couldn't buy everyone what they wanted, or things that would really make them happy.

And tonight I feel worse because I found out that my husband spent more on one distant relative than I spent on both of our children combined. Although I went over the budget and gift list with him several times, he claims he "didn't know."

 

[tcufrog]

I went way over budget quite unexpectedly. Months ago I started looking for a puppy for our family since our kids have been begging for one for 1+ years. We're limited on breeds because I was very allergic to dogs growing up. I'm not allergic anymore but I'm concerned about my allergies coming back if we get a dog that sheds everywhere. I spent months haunting Pet Finder and other websites including rescues unsuccessfully looking for a dog that would work for us. A friend of mine has a 3 year old Golden Doodle and highly recommended the breeder she had used. I put down a deposit in October but wasn't expecting for us to get a puppy until January or February. Right after I had bought everything for the kids a few people dropped out of the breeder's que. We're picking up our puppy on December 23rd. I didn't have a lot of time to buy everything but thankfully I was able to get most of it online. We told the kids tonight and they were super excited. They just helped us get everything out of the garage that we'd hidden there and we just finished setting it up.

 

[superme80]

I just went over by $20. The boy's budget is $50 each, and I added pjs for Christmas eve. All the boys got exactly what they wanted. Except the youngest. He switched up at the last minute, and I told him nope.

 

[kathy884]

I've never set a budget, but I'm not much of a shopper.

Adopt a family ($600), but that came out of my charitable contribution budget

DS (21) $640 ($200 Broadway ticket to see Wicked in May, really good seat) ($240 Patagonia Water Proof Backpack) (2 $100 bills) // The Wicked ticket is really more a vacation expense than a Christmas Gift. I have tickets for all three of us to see another show on that trip too, but DS would really like to see Wicked too and doesn't mind going on his own when we are in the area to visit relatives.
My dad $35 on metal wind spinner for his Garden
My mom $18 (Two DVDs that I'd like to watch with her when she comes to visit. One is a very good used vs. new and she would very much approve of that
DH (one DVD) $20
Mother-in-law (flowers) $40
Brother and girlfriend (pears) $35


Cash and Visa Gift Cards for people who do services for us $250)

I've heard budget experts say that that 1% of gross income is a good guideline for Christmas gifts.

 

[Toon crazy]

Wish I could stick to a budget at Christmas. But for my wife and daughter I just don't seem to be able.

 

[Kbendig]

I don't budget as I lost my first two children and tend to overcompensate with my remaining son buy getting everything on his list. At least he will ask Santa what he imagines DW and I would like to have. Last week I donated 4 of his wrapped gifts, which weren’t on the list, to a local family as the tree pile started to get out of control. I have buyer’s remorse, but the guilt is stronger.

I'm so sorry for your losses. I do the same thing, for the same reason. We don't buy through the year, but there should be presents for 5 under the tree not 2 so I overbuy. If my son asks for it, and it's reasonable, then I buy it. You're the first person I've "heard" say the same thing, so I had to chime in. I once told my bereavement support group how I overcompensate but would try to stop. The next day I ran into another member as i was coming out of a store holding bags. Oops.

 

[mom2rose&john]

Well....kinda. I stuck to the budget and am notorious about using coupons and scouting the sales ads. My husband decided he wanted to buy a few extra things for our two children on his own. He does not even know the word budget or sale. So as a whole we totally overspent.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I'm within my budget, at least so far. It's not going to be a big Christmas this year, as far as quantity-wise.
under $400 for DDs/SoILs/GCs
$1000 DS
$2000 Vacation

DD#1 and SoIL#1:
Dr Horrible's Singalong Blog DVD (they've never seen it, and love NPD)
Dr Who Dalek talking bottle opener
3 Funko Pop figures (Marvel)
$50 GC to Amazon

GC#1 (adopted to another family)
$50 GC to Amazon

GC#3 (their son)
2 outfits
4 board books
Vtech Wiggle & Crawl ball
Oball copter
Oball jingle toy
Fisher Price animal discover treehouse

DD#2/SoIL#2
Laugh It Up FuzzBall: 3 pack movies Family Guy Star Wars
4 movies (Beetlejuice, The Vow, Life As We Know It, The Ugly Truth)
$50 GC to Amazon
Flynn Ryder Tsum Tsum plush

GC#2
3 board books
MegaBlocks 80 piece set
Oball Copter
Vtech Learn and Turn Driver
Lion Guard Talking Bunga plush
Munchkin Stacking Caterpillar Cups

DS:
Computer (Desktop) He and DH are building
Computer Desk/Chair
Steam GC ($20)

DH/DS/myself:
Vacation! 5 days away from the house. No cooking, no cleaning, peace and quiet.
Monday: traveling 7-8 hours to Ski resort in NC
Tuesday: snowboarding
Wednesday: Tubing, then 3 hours travel to Raleigh
Thursday: Natural History Museum/other museums/sightseeing
Friday: museums/sightseeing or?; Escape rooms that night
Saturday: travel home


ETA: I forgot. We did a Secret Santa exchange online. DH spent $30ish and I spent $38ish. We also did 2 Christmas Tree donations (spent about $150 total on those) plus 4 shoeboxes ($50 total there).

 

[AlohaNow]

Well....kinda. I stuck to the budget and am notorious about using coupons and scouting the sales ads. My husband decided he wanted to buy a few extra things for our two children on his own. He does not even know the word budget or sale. So as a whole we totally overspent.

Imagine my shock in reading your post to discover that my husband is also married to someone else!

 

[wilkeliza]

Depending on how much I spend on my (future) mother in law will decide how much I went over budget. She is the only one I have left to buy for and I kept to budget on everyone else but then bought a "household" present for myself and fiance because it is hard to get right now and we both really liked it and I spent the money I had set aside for MIL for it (the Nintendo classic). I just couldn't pass that up so now over budget.

 

[dreamin_disney]

My kids are teens or young adults now and I stayed in the general range of my budget. I'm struggling because DD16 doesn't have any big wants so I haven't decided what to do for her yet.

I use an app called Santa's bag. It has been a huge help to keep track of what I've spent, deliveries, and gift ideas.

Same here my DD18(just turned 18) doesn't have much on her list. Its hard because she is a December Bday. Only thing she asked for was an eye brow special thing for $25 and I gave her some cash. She also saw a blue tooth speaker that lights up and a strobe light that she got earlier for her outdoor bonfireShe ended up getting $400 from family plus friends gave her giftcards and lil things and one friend(he likes her) bought her 2 tops, 2 sweaters, shoes and a ring.
Now for Christmas she just asked for
-$40 simple ankle type boots
-$15 a book
-$67 tonight she saw some adidas shoes so I text hubby a picture and he bought those after work
-$25 jamba juice card
- Brand new regifted plastic starbucks see through cup with straw for her home made shakes
-$50-$100iTunes card Hubby got those not sure if it was $50 or $100
-$15 I bought her a black memo wipe board from Michaels I just need to find more colored markers for it
plus a few snacks in her stock and some cash. I think this year is the hardest to buy for her because she doesn't really want or need much. Fiancialy we are doinga lot better and no idea what to buy-lol!

I heard about blue tooth earphones for music but have no idea which is good