Just curious - what's your Christmas budget?

[disykat]

I'll make this an anonymous poll because I'm curious. I think I spend less than normal, but I wonder if I'm as alone as I think.

 

[pfishgirl]

I always spend alot, but we have a BIG family and people everywhere. Sometimes the postage alone is worth more then the items being mailed..

 

[ilovepcot]

Have never had a budget for Christmas. We do, however, try to be careful to spend the same amount for each child in the family. (Would never want any hurt feelings!) As far as money spent for adults, well....sometimes it may be a hefty amount down to a very modest amount. Mostly depends what their wants and needs are at that particular time, or what I "perceive" them to be.

 

[newholidayx2]

this year its btwn 1500-2000

 

[aprilgail2]

I am keeping it under 2000 this year...I usually spend 600-1000 or so on my 6 year old daughter, depending on what her big gift is from year to year...this year its a portable DVD for the car so it wasn't that expensive....but the years she got broadway tickets, well that is almost 250 right there for the pair of tickets! This year she is getting Disney princesses on ice so those were only 19.00 each through group sale with the girl scouts. Last year she got a new computer so that was her big gift then and she got the broadway tickets for her birthday.....I spend 200-300 on my mom, 100 on my brother and then the rest is on my list of like 25-30 people that we exchange gifts with.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Here I thought we weren't spending much this year and then I totaled it up and realized we'll be spending close to $1500. Yikes. We gave each of our 4 kids a $100 budget for stuff that they are asking for, which isn't much. But there there will be the things that we're picking out for them, and gifts for our parents. We stayed with my sister at her timeshare this summer and never got them a thank you gift, so we want to give them something. And we decided to get TIVO, with the lifetime subscription as a family present, so that really added a lot to our total. Without TIVO we would have been closer to $1000.

Oh, and I'm getting a new van. Not exactly a present, but still money that we'll spend.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

well we did spend more than usual this year
we are taking teh kids to wdw in dec but that wasnt there xmas present
and also bought for our parents, younger siblings
grandparents and stuff like that
the previous 2 years we only bought for the kids really as we were being very frugal with ds20 months being born and i was on bedrest for all if it
we wanted to do alittle extra for everyone as a way to say thanks and we love you

 

[Freyja]

I spend around $2500. That includes gifts for 4 kids, DH, parents, siblings and approx. 10 others. It also includes new clothes for all of us. Although we spend this much, we´re not giving big gifts at all, we just live in Iceland where everything is 2-3 times as expensive as in the USA. The Little People animal farm that retails for about $25 in ths States is being sold for $80 here!!!

 

[becka]

My budget is just under $1000. I put money into a Christmas Club account each paycheck and that is the money we use. I will probably spend around $200 for each kids, $400 or so for other family, friends, DH and myself, and the remainder goes for new decor, pictures, etc.. We always buy a few new ornaments, something new for the house, etc..

 

[chris1gill]

I'm being CHEAP this year... I have finally realized I always spent too much $$ on the children when they were younger... the oldest is now nearly 11 & let me just say as they get older, the gifts get more expensive! I should have saved the money when they were younger

Anyhow I spent $359 between the two kids & I spent $40.00 on DH....

Course we are leaving on December 19th for a month in Hawaii & Australia, so that explains some of my cheapness They're lucky to get anything this year!

 

[Chicago526]

$350, but we don't have kids AND we have a small family.

I'm sure in a few years when we have little one running around it will be higher!

 

[Disneyrsh]

I try and make a list of what I'd like to get each person, then I try and find the best price for the item (I love you, overstock.com!), and then I total it up. If it's too high, I start winnowing down the things until I'm comfortable.


Then my mother shows up and we go out shopping and my whole carefully planned list/budget goes right out the window

My husband is trying to convince me to not shop for Christmas until 3 days before, but I want to start today...

 

[Pooh67_68]

Well we used to drawn names in my family and the limit was $30.00 but everyone agreed last year that there really is nothing that we need so we didn't draw names for this year. So now we just buy for my parents and sister, and parents don't want us spending a lot of money on them, but we always spoil my sister.

My husband's family is not close (parents are deceased) and we never see them so there are no gifts to buy there.

 

[CajunDixie]

Holiday expenses are so hard to compare when everyone has a different amount of people to buy for and such varied incomes.

My brother alone has 8 kids with one married and one engaged and they live in FL, except the engaged one. It used to be easier to buy 1 large family present.

 

[HayGan]

Well, since our Christmas budget includes a trip to WDW and a stay at the Poly, you can probably guess where my vote went

 

[Mishetta]

I don't set a budget, although I really should! Each year I spend way too much & my DH gets mad at me! I spent about $125 on my 4 y/o already, my oldest is 10 & he gave me his list which has about 25 items listed which are waaaaay beyond anything I can afford to buy him! We may get him the PSP this year though. He's the only kid out of all his friends & neighbors that still has the original playstation! He has been asking for the PS2 since it came out but we may just get him the PSP (which he also wants) because it's supposed to "grow with him." Well, if we get that, it blows any type of sane budget we might have thought of!

I have a friend who gives each of her children 3 gifts because she says that is what Jesus received on his birthday (which we need to remember WHY we celebrate Christmas) & they are very reasonable gifts with meaning. I think I need to start doing that. My kids are more into the Santa thing than the real meaning of Chirstmas! That's our fault too though since when they're small, we talk up Santa!

 

[skiwee1]

We have 3 kids and each one gets at least $500 in gifts. Well, maybe the younger one isn't getting that much because my house cannot hold much more toys! You can get a lot of toys for $500 if they are 6 y/o. My other two are older and $500 doesn't buy much. DD is getting the Nano and everything that goes with it. I also got her a couple of cashmere sweaters. I only bought these because she is always borrowing mine! When you add in stocking stuffers it gets to be way over $500. Same with DS. He is 17 and everything he wants costs.

 

[Marseeya]

Less than $1,000.

We try to keep it between $200 and $250 for each kid. DH and I don't set a limit for ourselves. We also have my family and his family to buy for and we usually don't go outside of that, although he'll get small gifts for his coworkers and choir members.

 

[RadioNate]

My budget and my reality are two different things. I checked my budget but I always end up going over. I can't help it. Things I want to get people are always more than I want to spend and the cheaper versions always seem so cheap to me.

Like for SIL, I only wanted to spend $50 and she wants clothes. That $50 doesn't go far at places an 18 year old likes! I could get her a few things at a cheaper store like Forever 21 but everything seems like it will fall apart after a few washes.

 

[MoniqueU]

Well just one of my kids is getting xbox 360 and all the games and accesories that come with it. I have 2 more kids so you can see my budget is way on the high end. Those AG dolls, PSPs and Ipods add up. Buying for younger kids is so much less expensive.