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June 2011 Moms
magnoliablossom00
member
Christmas Spending
magnoliablossom00
member
How much do you spend on Christmas every year? I usually love Christmas and try to be pretty generous, but our family is getting larger and larger, so it's getting harder to watch our money. We are obviously having a baby the week before, so I especially want to watch the budget this year (hospital bills, newborn pics, announcements, etc).
We usually spend like this...
Me and Dh (on each other and from LO)- $150 a piece (so $300 total) However, this is usually just clothing and needed items, not really "gifts."
LO- $250 (diapers, needed clothing, a few toys).
My parents- $50 total
ILs- $50 total
My sister and brother- $25 a piece, so $50 total
SIL- $25
My ILs insist that I buy gifts for DH's grandparents (he has 5), which I have never heard of in my family. My grandparents didn't want me to spend my money on them (they have passed) and would get annoyed if we did. They only accepted gifts from their children (who were obviously grown and had children of their own). In any case, I will be making them small gifts from LO and printing a few pics. I just kind of flat out refuse to be bullied and spend tons of money on people we don't even see, especially when there are 5 of them! So grandparents - $25ish total on homemade crafts and printed pics.
My brother has a new serious girlfriend (who has a child), so I assume I will be spending about $25 on each of them as well - $50
Gift wrap, bows, ribbon, and paper, etc- $20ish
Christmas AM breakfast groceries- $100
Plus I will need some gifts for LO2 this year (of course)- $100 (I am planning on mostly buying diapers, wipes, clothing, etc).
All added up, Christmas is going to cost around $1,020. 
Now, I love Christmas, but this seems like a lot. I really don't know where to cut back, though, except on dh and I giving to each other. But, like I said, it's mostly stuff that dh needs, such as new underwear, socks, and shirts. So, if I don't buy it, then he will just continue to need it later.
Anyway, how much do you plan on spending for Christmas? What ways are you planning on cutting back? Do you have any fun ideas for crafts?
I would love to make this plate for us, my parents, and ILs this year.
https://pinterest.com/pin/156218680794812804/
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Christmas Spending
Unfortunately, we aren't too far behind you! We plan to spend 830 but will save 900 for some wiggle room. Here's our breakdown:
Me and DH $100 each 200
LO $100 100
My Parents $30 each 60
My siblings and SOs $25 ea 100
ILs $30 each 60 (we don't exchange gifts with Dh's siblings)
Dhs nephews $20 ea 120
Godchildren $20 ea 60
Dh's extended family gift exchange 50
Tree 30
Baking 50
The 70 wiggle room includes shipping the nephews' gifts to Nebraska and gift wrap. We already have a ton of gift wrap, so maybe I won't need new stuff. I am considering hosting Christmas brunch for my family which would add at least another $100. Yikes!
Ours is pretty overwhelming, too! About $1,000 total:
We spend about $100 on each other, so $200
DD $100
My parents $150
My siblings/BIL/niece $200
DH's parents $150
DH's siblings/BIL/niece $150
handmade gifts for my two aunts $20
handmade gifts for 5 co-workers $50
DD's daycare teachers $50
I told DH I will not be stressed last minute buying gifts and worrying about the budget and I think we ate doing good so far.
My Christmas spending can be a little ridiculous. I don't even want to say what we spent on Finley last year because it was a lot. However, many of her things were necessities that she needed. We just said that they were Christmas gifts and gave them to then. I said that first year would be the only one we would spoil her like that because she didn't know any better yet. Her convertible car seats were two of her gifts. She also got most of her winter wardrobe. I won't lie, she also got a bunch of toys too. I was just really excited about her first Christmas and it was more for us I think.
So this year for Christmas we will spend a little less on her. Probably around 400. Don't judge. I know that's steep in some people's opinions but that includes her play kitchen. This will probably be her last Christmas as an only child.
Dh and I spend about 200-250 on each other.
We spend about 75 on each our parents. Sometimes more.
30ish on his siblings. Sometimes more
25 to 35 each on our nieces and nephews....there's 5 of them.
30 on my Godmother.
Theres other randoms thrown in and this is just approximate based on what we find everyone.
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I don't even want to know what we spent in the past, but last year, I decided to end the shenanigans and I told everyone well in advance that we would only be buying gifts for the children in the family. It was way too much money when we were buying gifts for our nieces, nephews, siblings, parents, and grandparents.
We had to make sacrifices in our budget in order for me to become a SAHM and when we put everything down on paper, we realized how much we were spending during the month of December!! In my opinion, Christmas gifts are more fun for the little ones anyway.
DH: 34/Me: 35
Married: Feb 2008
DD: June 2011
TTC# 2: April 2014
BFP!! 8/29/16 --> EDD: 5/11/17....it's a GIRL!!!
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We also spend a ton on Christmas, but we're able to and it brings me a lot of joy to give presents to the people we love (since at many points in my life I couldn't afford to give much so my gifts were always very humble ones), so I don't feel at all guilty about it... IMO you shouldn't have to feel guilty about sharing with others, you should feel more guilty if you spend all your money on yourself (unless, of course, you're barely scraping by, in which case, by all means, just take care of yourself!)!
DH and I probably each spend $200 on each other. This is usually split between one gift that is just for fun and then several other gifts that are things we each need and that would just be ordinary household purchases if it were any other time of year, but since it's Christmas we wrap them (socks, kitchen utensils, etc.).
We didn't spend much on LO last Christmas and I don't think we will this Christmas either. I buy her clothes at a couple of large consignment sales 2x a year, so she shouldn't need much by way of clothes, and she gets enough other gifts from her aunts & uncles, grandparents, etc. We will probably get her one toy and maybe a couple of books -- $30-50 max.
Our spending on our siblings and their spouses varies a lot. Some siblings and their spouses don't want to exchange gifts so we just give them small gifts ($25 or less for the couple)... we still want to give them something, but don't want to make them feel awkward when they're not giving gifts. For the siblings (and their spouses) who are into exchanging gifts, give around $50 gifts per person or $100 per couple.
Nieces and nephews get around a $20 gift each, OR, if we don't have a good idea for their gift, we write a check to be used for something they need or want OR to go into college savings.
For our parents it really depends on the year and what our gift ideas are, but it's usually in the range of $50-100 per parent.
I also spend a good amount on materials to make our Christmas cards, which I send out to all our family and friends. I usually don't give extended family or friends Christmas presents, just the cards.
So that adds up to about $1200. And that doesn't include travel costs and so forth. It's definitely an expensive time of year! But I build it into the budget so it's not a shock... and so I am able to enjoy buying gifts and not stress about it.
I really don't think the amount of money you spend matters at all, as long as you can afford it and your spouse is on board with your approach. Since at this point in my life I'm able to give nicer gifts than I used to be able to, I enjoy doing so, particularly since others in our family don't have as much and really look forward to Christmas as a time to hopefully get some of the things they want or need but haven't been able to get yet. If at another point in my life I can't do that anymore, that will be ok too, and my gifts will all be home-baked and handmade.
We spend way, way too much at Christmas.I'm sure when it's all said and done it's probably well over $1000.
DH and I spend alot on each other, probably 400-500 if not more. This doesn't come out of our family budget though. We each have our own separate accounts that we buy for each other from.
We will probably spend around 3-400 on DS. I wish I could make it less but my Dh loves to spoil him.
We spend about 250 on my mom and maybe 300 on ILs. They are all so generous to us that we try to give them something very nice from us and DS. Last year we got them laptops.
I have just a few family members that we exhange gifts with....an aunt, an uncle and one cousin...about 25 on each of them. Thankfully we don't exchange with anyone on DH's side. We give something to DS's godparents so another 20-25 on them. We have some very close family friends that have two daughter's that are like DS's cousins. We get them each a gift as well so another 20 each or so.
Then there's the random "stockings" I make for our parents and DH. And the cookies/candy I make for the neighbors. That's probably another 100.
I'm starting to get sick...lol. I'm really going to try to get a few things out of the way in Oct/Nov this year so it's not such a budget buster in December.
Last year DH and I didn't exchange gifts or spend a lot on others since we spent well over $1000 traveling home so that our families could meet Maya. We used to buy for his mom, 2 sisters, 1 BIL, and a niece and nephew, as well as a little something for my mom. Last year we did a secret santa with them so we only had to buy for his mom and 1 sister. My siblings and I decided years ago to make things easier on everyone and not exchange gifts.
I have been making polymer clay ornaments as gifts for friends and family for a few years now and everyone loves them. This year I plan to send those or other homemade gifts to those on my list, although I need to start making them now if I want to finish! Since Maya already has so many toys, I don't anticipate spending more than $50 on her. We'll be doing a skype gift opening with DH.
Dh and I don't buy gifts for each other. Our anniversary is around holiday time and before dd we used to go on vacation to celebrate so that was our Xmas anniversary gift to ourselves. Now that we have to be more careful we are kinda boring and buy ourselves something we need as our gift. Last year it was a new mattress. We only give each other "gifts" on bdays.
I really agree with previous posters that say buy for the kids only. We don't have many kids in the family yet but I think buying for everyone gets out of hand.
Exactly this. I've never thought to add it up because we don't buy everything at any one time. We buy gifts year round. Yep. We do. I also don't add up cost for food and gift wraps but we're also not very extravagant. For years now, DH and have converted to using brown paper for gift wrapping and just adorning it with colors, bows, baker's twine, etc. It really saves.
We don't spend very much last year, though I would have liked to, DH just doesn't really believe in spending a lot of money.
This year I'm not sure. But I really would love to get diamond earrings for Lexi and DH was thinking of getting me some as well so Lexi and I have a matching Christmas present lol so that would be a bit of an expense. I'm not exactly sure what gift we're going to get her but I'm sure a ton of toys.