How much do you spend on nieces/nephews for Christmas?

[julsmom]

I was just wondering how much you all spend on nieces/nephews for Christmas. And is it reciprocated?

 

[ellenec]

I have no children so I spoil them "rotten"!!!! I usually spend between $150 and $200 each. I buy them things mom and dad won't!!! Amrican Girl, psp, etc.

 

[MPLsDad]

Usually $40-50 USD. It's reciprocated. I have three nieces and five nephews.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

I have no children and I too spend a lot on my nieces and nephews, usually around $200 a each. I don't expect them to reciprocate because it is a gift I give them. The one gift I truly love receiving from them is a picture of them each year.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Ours are distant (and more than from location). In an effort not to give awful gifts to teens we don't know particularly well, we usually give gift certificates, about $20 each (we've done Blockbuster, Target, Amazon).

It's not acknowledged nor reciprocated by about half.

 

[tar heel]

It's nice to meet you Aunt Ellen!

We spent $10-$15 each on my nephews when they were small and now usually give family gifts.

 

[EthansMom]

I have 3 nieces and 3 nephews. I spend no more than $20 per child for Christmas/Birthdays.

One SIL spends about the same amount on my kids, one SIL sends cheap junk late (I'd rather that she just didn't bother), and my stepbrother doesn't send anything for my kids.

For my nieces and nephew who are distant, I usually just send a gift card or $$$. In the past, I've spent just as much on shipping as I have on buying the gifts -- ugh!!!

As our kids get older (and our home is overrun by toys & other STUFF), it would be nice if we could get away from some of the gift exchanging (maybe all of the local family go to see the Rockettes or something instead) that goes on at the holidays.

Edited to add: I've yet to have one of the nieces/nephews thank me for a gift. I often don't know if the distant relatives even receive their gifts. I know for a fact that the local niece/nephews break and/or lose the pieces of most every gift within a day of two of reciept.

 

[gopack]

We have 10 nieces and nephews on DH side of the family. We draw names and since we have 2 kids we draw two names. We spend approximately $50-75 per child. On my side we only have four, so we buy for each in the $50 range. It is reciprocated. In fact, one family gives each of my children a $100 bill in one of those money puzzle things. The kids LOVE that!

 

[luv2nascar]

$15-$20 and I have 3 nephews and 1 niece. They are getting $25 savings bonds (that will cost $12.50) plus something else small. Bil/sil spend $25 ea on my two girls.

 

[rainy~daze]

typically between 25-50 per child. we have 10 nieces and nephews also, and 2 of our own children. so this year we are starting to cut back some, so probably around 25 per child. birthdays usually up to 50 also. it is getting tougher now that are kids are getting older and the families are getting bigger. but i like to buy bigger items when they are on sale, so they may get a 90 gift that i only spent 30 on.

 

[ilovejack02]

Iam an only child no no nieces or nephews, but i do have one very special cousin and our kids are the exact age she is also my son's godmother. At xmas i spend 40ish each and at birthday its usually 50.00. I dont know the exact amount she spends on my little guy but she usually gives him really nice gifts.

 

[Tamarap]

Somewhere in the 20.00 range and it is reciprocated.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I have 3 nieces and 3 nephews. I spend no more than $20 per child for Christmas/Birthdays.

One SIL spends about the same amount on my kids, one SIL sends cheap junk late (I'd rather that she just didn't bother), and my stepbrother doesn't send anything for my kids.

For my nieces and nephew who are distant, I usually just send a gift card or $$$. In the past, I've spent just as much on shipping as I have on buying the gifts -- ugh!!!

As our kids get older (and our home is overrun by toys & other STUFF), it would be nice if we could get away from some of the gift exchanging (maybe all of the local family go to see the Rockettes or something instead) that goes on at the holidays.

Edited to add: I've yet to have one of the nieces/nephews thank me for a gift. I often don't know if the distant relatives even receive their gifts. I know for a fact that the local niece/nephews break and/or lose the pieces of most every gift within a day of two of reciept.

OMG -- it's like our family cloned!!!!

How DO you get away from giving so much STUFF? People in our family keep broaching the subject, but a decision's never made -- I haven't forced one because I'm afraid of being "Scrooge" and the one referred to as "the SIL who made us stop giving presents"

 

[Lisa_M]

We have 2 neices (on friday it will be 3) and we live about 10 hrs away. We have always sent gifts for christmas, bdays, and births, but we aren't going to send stuff anymore. They range from about $50-$100 for the various events including the shipping costs. We don't have any children, so gifts aren't reciprocated, but my problem is they are never even acknowledged. We never get a thank you phone call, email or note and the kids are young and barely know us.

We got married 3 months ago and my DH's sister (the mom) didn't give a gift or card to us for the shower or wedding or at the very least even say thank you for buying the FG dress, paying for the hair-do and the FG gifts. She barely talked to me at my own wedding. So we have decided we are done with the gifts.

 

[disneygirlatheart]

we spend 50 a piece on three. They usually spend 30 a piece on my 2 children.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I was just wondering how much you all spend on nieces/nephews for Christmas. And is it reciprocated?

We had the only kids in the family for 5.5 years and every year all aunts and uncles have bought them birthday and/or Christmas gifts.

The understood budget since way back when on hubby's side of the family has been about $25 per person (parents spend more though). We reciprocate with each other.

Last year was the first Christmas with a cousin. He was a month old--so between shower items and Christmas, he cleaned up. This year we have one more cousin in the mix and we intend to reciprocate the gesture for this year and years to come.

Hubby's family is big into Christmas and this tradition will continue until someone asks for it not to, but I don't really see that happening anytime soon as they are now beginning to distribute those Christmas lists.
(We've received 5 already. They don't bother me except they are FULL of suggestions and are about a mile long. )

 

[kilee]

We have just 1 of each... we usually spend $120-140 each on them. This year things will be a bit tighter so I'm positive it will be less.

 

[EthansMom]

OMG -- it's like our family cloned!!!!

How DO you get away from giving so much STUFF? People in our family keep broaching the subject, but a decision's never made -- I haven't forced one because I'm afraid of being "Scrooge" and the one referred to as "the SIL who made us stop giving presents"

I've tried giving savings bonds to the kids. I have no idea if my SILs even know where they put the ones I've given.

I've tried asking the adults in our family to not give DH and I gifts. Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don't.

I've tried asking Grandmas and Grampas (our kids have 4 full sets due to divorce and remarriage) to only give one toy for each of our children. I recommend books, videos, and clothes as other acceptable gifts. I've started offering recommendations of toys that the kids would REALLY like. My Dad and his wife send each kid $25. DS5 uses that to buy any toy he REALLY wanted, but didn't get and if he got everything he wanted, he puts the money in his piggybank.

As for me, I've cut down how much we spend and to whom we give individual gifts. Our parents and grandparents get professional photos of the kids (cost $100-$150). I limit the nieces and nephews to one gift worth no more than $20. I've gotten accustomed to the fact that (1) I will not get thanked, (2) monetary gifts will get wasted and (3) toys will get lost/broken. As the kids get older, I'm going to save myself some aggravation and just give them all $20 cash.

I've also trimmed my budget for toys/gifts for our kids. This year, I'm budgeting no more than $150 per child for our two kids' presents.

Don't even get me started on dealing with all of the adults when I host holiday meals...

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I have two nephews and one niece. I usually spend about $20 apiece for the boys, but it's never reciprocated or acknowledged so this year instead I bought them savings bonds that I'm going to keep until they're 18, they'll get a card and that's it, for some complicated reasons.

My niece is a new addition and I spend about $40 on her, but she was born at the end of Nov. so it was a new baby gift as well, it wasn't reciprocated, but they did send a nice thank-you note which is just fine with me (my kids don't need more stuff!). This year I plan to give their family a zoo membership.

 

[Kycha]

DH and I do not have our own children but we do have 16 nieces and nephews. We limit gifts to the $20-$35 range. I would really like to get away from giving gifts this year. These children really have too much as it is. In fact, when we give gifts to my husbands 2 nephews(his youngest sisters kids), his sister will tell us "Oh Alex already has 2 of those" or some such nonsense. When they moved from their last house, their one basement wall was lined with about 30 60-gal rubbermaid totes that were filled with toys. So, you can see my dilemna.

We did give them savings bonds one year. Another year we did family gifts. Last year, we had a childrens gift exchange. This worked well. The parents were only responsible for getting gifts for the number of children that they had and their kids were guaranteed to get a gift. This also means DH and I won't go broke buying gifts for all those kids.