Christmas Spending

[KellyNY]

My family is all spread in different states so we do not exchange gifts. I have some family in NY but only gifts we get each other are candies, maybe some lotions, and not to everyone, just general gift for the family. We give gifts to my parents, no particular amount, but no more then $200 total. I get my DD 1 or 2 expensive things and few cheap like make up. She is 19 but still loves lots of gifts even if they are cheap. As for me, I do not really buy for myself, just because I need a gift. I see what is on sales and see what I actually need. This year I will actually spend more because I need a new laptop by usually I spend much less.

 

[kkandaj]

But if I could, it would be under $700. Our kiddos have a budget of $75 each. DH will probably get some cologne, I will buy myself a Christmas ornament. We are taking my parents and MIL to Disney in May, so that will be their gifts. I did get my parents a Mickey head pancake maker thing today and a fleece throw ($15 total), so they have something under the tree. MIL lives 1500 miles away, so we will send something small to her. I will donate money to charities in my grandparents honor, as they do not need or want gifts. They love having donations in their honor.

For neice and nephew, I will spend about $25-30 a piece.

(2) x $75=$150
My parents=$15
MIL=$30 (?)
(2)x $30=$60
Teacher $15
Grandparents $100

Roughly $400

My parents went OVERBOARD every Christmas and DH had NO Christmas gifts. He literally got money from his single mother after Christmas to hit the Christmas sales. He now wants to make sure our kids have Christmas, but also sees how spoiled kids are now. We would rather spend our money on vacations than tons of toys.

Granted, our children are young and we can get them several items for $75. Honestly, their favorite gifts are still crafts and gift cards to Quik Trip, a local convenience store so they can buy their own slushees.

 

[MomToOne]

I track every penny I spend for Christmas, from the After Xmas sales in January where I pick up a few gifts for next year all the way up to Christmas Eve. So, per my very detailed spreadsheet:

Friends and Family - Approx. $300 total
DD11 - Approx. $450, incl. stocking (but I will probably that back some more -that's more than I wanted)

But my budget breakers really are outside of the gift department:
Travel - Approx $850 (plane tickets to my mother's + pet sitting + parking + rental car + checked bags - I got FF tickets one way this year so this is actually much lower than normal)
Shipping - $75 (both gifts to family that we send down ahead of us and gifts we get while travelling that have to be shipped back)
Activities and other Misc - $200 (nutcracker tickets, christmas tree, christmas cards, etc.)

Grand total for "all of Christmas" this year should be about $2000. And that's with watching all year for deals! It's amazing how expensive it all is when you add it all up together....

 

[Shmily1]

Way more! That's like the amount I spend on one kid. Actually, DS21 and I went shopping last Friday and if you include the iPhone I got him, we spent way over that jut messing around for the day.

 

[superme80]

I think with baking it will be around $700. DH and I are taking my parents to see Wicked in the summer, so there goes about $400. We have no idea what we are getting the kids. DS #1 LOVES movies. I mean he LOVES his dvds. Last year we got him 2 Disney movies and he was thrilled. DS #2 will probably get some cheap toys that DS #1 can't stal from him.

 

[Priorityonecb]

Hmm...that question got me curious. We don't set a budget, we just buy what we want each person to have. Let me think a bit, now that I know everything I am buying.

Daughter 20- $300
Daughter 14- $500
Neices- $30
Mom and Dad- $40
Sister- $20

Dh and I really don't buy for each other. Although we'll take our youngest daughter out to buy for the other parent. So, I guess we are over $700.

 

[mrudman]

I'll be spending over that, but my "holiday budget" includes 4 birthdays as well, since both my dd's birthdays are just a few wks before Christmas, and both of my nephew's birthdays are within 2 weeks of Christmas... But I am kind of splurging this year also.

DH - $125 (Touchpad that we already bought and received)
Me - $200 (New generation Itouch that I already bought and recieved)
DD#1 - About $425 (b-day + christmas)
DD#2 - About $350 (b-day + christmas)
Mom - $50
Dad - $50
Nephew#1 - $45 (b-day + christmas)
Nephew#2 - $45 (b-day + christmas)
Niece#1 - $30
Niece#2 - $30

So about $1025 total... and I've already bought everything, so now just have to stop myself from buying anything else for dd's, lol!

 

[dizcrazee]

This is a fun thread! I love seeing what others are planning to do. Here is our proposed Christmas budget for our family of three:

20 teachers/co-workers/friends/neighbors x $7-8 each = $150
10 extended family members x $15 each = $150
2 widowed Grandmas x $50 each = $100
Hubby - $100
Me - $100
DD - $200
Charity/church donations - $100
Extra food, decorations, paper products, flowers, etc. - $100

Grand total - $1,000

I plan on making homemade goodies in pretty Christmas tins for the 20 teachers, co-workers, etc.

The 10 extended family members will probably be something like a Yankee candle or bath stuff for the single females, and the single males will probably get a food item or maybe a sweatshirt. The couples will get a $30 gift card of some sort.

The two grandmas will get something like jewelry, a sweater, bath stuff, perfume - that kind of thing. I like to get them each several things to open.

Hubby always gets clothes and I get clothes and books.

DD will get clothes, books, stuff for her collections, an i-pod gift card, etc.

For charity, we always give $100 at Christmas.

And finally, I am including $100 for all the extras. We usually go all out and get a big ham, a big turkey, etc. We usually do a big pork roast on New Year's Eve, too. I like to cook up a storm during the holidays.

 

[Swimalie]

It's hard for me to figure out exactly how much I spend because I shop for Christmas all year long. When I found something for my mom for her birthday in April, I happen to find a 2nd thing so I saved it for Christmas. I do this all the time. I don't have a big family (just my husband, our son, 2 grandmothers, 1 grandfather, a sister and brother in law, and sister in law). My sister and brother in law get a donation in their name (and they make one in our name as well) so that one is done I make bread for friends and my son't teacher is Jewish so I'll do something for Hanukah for her. I'm in the below $700 group. Probably not WAY below but below it a bit.

 

[gilby]

We have totally cut back on gift buying. We no longer draw names or buy family members gifts, instead we will buy an ornament of 10.00 or less and play the dirty dice game. Spending time with family is much more important than buying them gifts. Now days if people want something they go buy it.

I have even cut back on buying for my kids, they are grown and you don't need every thing one thinks they need. I may spend 150.00 on my kids. Its not necessary to buy them a lot of gifts, it takes away from the real meaning of Christmas.

 

[NYEmomma]

Yanno, I really don't know how much we spend. I have a set budget for each person, but I've never really added it up. This might be scary!!

DD's birthday is December 31 so I shop for birthday and for Christmas at the same time & then divide everything up when I start wrapping -- she gets more for Christmas than for birthday but my number's going to be an estimate since I don't really keep track of which goes to which occasion.

DH & me: $100 each ($200)
DD: $200-ish??
My mom & dad: $40 each ($80)
DH's dad & step-mom: $40 each ($80)
DH's mom: $15
My brother & his girlfriend: $35 each ($70)
DH's 4 brothers: $20 each ($80)
DH's 2 sisters-in-law: $20 each ($40)
3 nephews: $30 each ($90)
DH's grandma: $20
My grandparents: $20 each ($40)

$915. It's scary to see that in writing but I really wish we could spend more. I'd love to be able to get something nicer for my parents because they do SO much for us... but we just can't afford it right now.

 

[wvjules]

I also answered "other."

DBF's parents - $100
DBF's sister and her family - $150
My parents - $100
My grandparents - $50

Gift for me - $50
Gift for DD - $50
Gift for DBF - $50

Total on gifts is $550

So gift-wise we are less than $700 but our 'gift' to ourselves is that DBF, DD and I are spending Christmas and New Year's in Hawaii. That's quite a bit over $700.

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I spend around $250, generally $20-$30 a person, sometimes more if I see something that's perfect for them, but I only buy for about 8 people.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

This thread made me LOL, as I just pre-ordered my DH a new 2012 750Li to be delivered Christmas morning with a big red bow.
I'd say I'm in the way over $700 category, but it will be so worth it to see his surprised face! He has had a great year, and deserves a special treat from Santa too.

 

[wvjules]

Holy crap, you bought your husband a $90,000 car?!?!?!?!? WTH are you doing on the budget board?

 

[Soarin_04]

We normally spend $25 per person on extended family (10 BILs, SILs, nieces and nephews, so we're talkin' $250).

DH and I don't buy each other anything because our anniversary is 12/31 so we usually do a weekend trip without the kids in early January and that's our gift to each other, and we both kind of contribute to that get away fund all year, so even though it's money spent, it doesn't seem like it (if that makes sense?).

In the past, I've been able to get away fairly cheaply with our sons (13 and 11), keeping it to about $200-250 total and I was hoping to do the same this year, but...

...both boys want to upgrade from a Wii to an Xbox. That blows the budget to smithereens.

I'm hoping a former student who works at GameStop can help me out with a refurbished one, or that I can find some really good sales.

The bright spot? The 13 year old said he and his brother talked it over and they're willing to go half on it. The brighter spot? He said it doesn't matter if they don't get it because they really just like being with the family and the whole holiday thing over the gifts. :

 

[Donaldswife]

Well, let me see if I can figure this out.

DH's gift for me: $400
My gift to DH : $400
DD's presents: $500
Mom: $75
StepDad: $75
Dad: $75
StepMom: $75
MIL: $75
FIL: $75
Grandma: $75
DH Grandma: $75
DH nephew: $100
Stepbrother & wife$50
Stepbrothers 2 kids$75
SIL $100 (she is serving in Iraq, care package + shipping)
SIL & BIL $100
DD's POM coachs $25
DD's teacher $20
DD's after care teachers $10 X3 = $30

That is a grand total of $2400.

I don't like this question....that amount doesn't even include the baking, bringing dishes to potlucks, etc. that go along with the holidays. Hopefully there will be some great deal this year so I can trim that budget a little.

 

[carebee21]

We're way over that amount.

I got DH a DSLR camera and accessories, so that's $700. Plus I'll probably pick up a few smaller things like a football team shirt, itunes gift card, etc.

DS wants an ipad and then I'll need a case for that. Plus add in a few other things like board games, art stuff, itunes gift card, vinylmations, stocking stuffers and I'm sure I'm looking at close to $1000 there.

I'm cheap this year. The only thing I really want from DH is Tory Burch flats, so about $200. But then I'm sure DH will add in a few smaller things, like Philosophy body washes, fuzzy socks and/or pj's. So maybe $300?

Then on top of that, we have Dads, moms, grandparents, teachers, a couple close friends and a few kid cousins that we buy for. So probably another $1000 there.

My sister. She lives by herself and doesn't have a lot of extra fun/spending money and she buys a present for each of the 3 of us vs. 1 for her, so we always get her a few things or a nicer, bigger item, so probably $200-$300 on her alone.

$400 on our plane tickets to fly "home" for Christmas. Usually about $100 to ship stuff from our house to my parents house and then back to our house.

And $100-$200 (depending on Black Friday sales) for Toys For Tots gifts.

And lastly, probably another $500 on just misc. stuff. Christmas pics, a christmas tree, christmas cards & stamps, the unexpected stuff (last year I couldn't find our tree skirt so I needed to buy a new one, the year before we needed new outdoor christmas lights since 2 strands wouldn't work, etc) $10 to paint a ceramic ornament school fundraiser, etc....


Yikes!!! That's really scary when you sit down and look at the numbers but we set aside money into a "christmas" fund each month and I shop throughout the year and put stuff away when I see a great deal.

 

[Pigeon]

Dh and I will spend about a thousand dollars, and that's pretty much just the two kids. We've cut back giving gifts to other people as we both come from huge families and it had gotten ridiculous, even if you only get a modest gift.

We are getting dd14 a bow for her violin. She's a serious student. We bought her a good violin about six months ago, and got a really cheap bow. The ones her tutor is recommending are about $500

I'm considering getting dd11 an iPad2. We are not early adapters. . Dd14 doesn't have any fancy electronics other than an iPod nano, but she does have a reasonably decent cell phone with unlimited texting. I don't want dd11 texting all the time, but she I think it's time to get her something with the "wow factor" that big sister doesn't have.

This will be the first year we've gone from a slew of smaller gifts to one big gift. It makes me nervous.

 

[disykat]

2 kids (teenagers) @ $200 = 400 (It is more some years if they have a specific need)
8 family members @ $20 = 160
dh and I @ $20 (stockings only) = 40
cards/stamps/wrapping/decor/baking = 100


For our family total, we come in right around $700. We consider ourselves very frugal. I agree, it's hard to vote in the poll. These are dh and my combined expenses. The kids probably spend about $50 a piece on immediate family gifts as well, plus more if they're dating someone.

Then we tack on about $500 of travel expenses to visit family.

I'd like to get a new artificial tree this year, but it's not in the budget.