Christmas Spending

Pokedot · November 2013

How much do you spend on average on the Christmas season? This would be for your entire list of gifts. From Santa too.

ETA: Your entire list so extended family and beyond.

redneckmomma25 · November 2013

For just us? Or for the family we buy for as well?

hmp1 · November 2013

Usually less than $1000 but James' big gift is expensive so I think we will be just over $1000 this year.

Pokedot · November 2013

I ETA your entire list so extednded family and beyond.

redneckmomma25 · November 2013

We used to buy for our entire extended family which was ridiculous. Now just kids I'm hoping for less than $500 but I put $500-$1000

LyndseylovesHugh · November 2013

Honestly I do not know, I buy things as I see them and not all at once. I would guess between $500-1000 though. Before Audrey it was probably on the lower end of that range and now that we have her it will probably be towards the higher end, I tend to go overboard with her (if her birthday and just every day life are any indication).

hmp1 · November 2013

Pokedot said:

I ETA your entire list so extednded family and beyond.

We only buy for kids. Grandparents get a small gift from the kids, like a framed picture. Our breakdown is like: $200 for DH's extended family, $200 for my extended family, $200 for each other, $200 for each kid = $1000 but like I said we usually are under this.

BarefootContessa · November 2013

I put 1-2K, only because I know we are always right at 1K or just over. We buy for both sets of parents, sibs, nephew, each other and the babe. I'll admit I tend to spoil DH a little too much.

DH's family doesn't spend anything less than $50-$100 on each other.. and that adds up when you're buying for 7 other people.

BeebopandBuddy · November 2013

We have 4 kids, so that gets expensive. We said about 5 or 6 presents for each kid. I'm almost done shopping for the little ones and they are at about $100 each. The older ones are teenagers so they get really expenesive.

We only buy for the nieces and nephews on DH's side and we spend $30-50 on the 4 we buy for. Then about $100 for a gift for DH's dad and wife and DH's mom and husband.

I think we will land between $500-1000.

Kissty · November 2013

Before DS we bought really nice gifts for one another because we don't do gifts any other time (i.e. birthdays, anniversaries, v-day). I selected between 500-1000. I'm hoping to get out cheaper but I just don't see that happening.

melody921 · November 2013

I think we're in the $1K-$2K range. I don't buy everything at once, but by the time I add up gifts to each other, the kids, our parents and siblings and grandparents and charitable stuff, that sounds about right. I hope to God we're not over that. This makes me think I need a budget rather than random spending.

ktobin0519 · November 2013

With three kids @ $300 that's close to $1000 right there. Add in my family and DH family and each other and we end up in the 1-2K range. After reading these posts though, I feel like i overdo it and need to budget better.

MarisaKathleen · November 2013

This year I'm keeping my spending in check.

I have budgeted $1500 and have already spent almost $500, but I have 2 nieces completely done, 2 nieces started and 3 nephews started along with my Mom completely done. Oh, and N. she's done too save for Christmas pajamas. I bought her Hanukkah ones my DH is annoyed about.

I spent more on my Mom this year than normally....etsy featured some artist on their page a few weeks back that takes handwriting and makes jewelry out of it so I scanned one of my Dad's old letters in and had her make a bracelet that says "love." It's really cool. https://www.etsy.com/listing/150997405/special-handwriting-necklace-custom-made Typically I only spend around $100 or so on my Mom, but I just thought this was really special.

I still have DH, FIL, whoever's names we draw with my siblings, Nancy's Nana, my BFF (under $30 limit) and craft projects for cousins.

danabsd · November 2013

LyndseylovesHugh said:

Honestly I do not know, I buy things as I see them and not all at once. I would guess between $500-1000 though. Before Audrey it was probably on the lower end of that range and now that we have her it will probably be towards the higher end, I tend to go overboard with her (if her birthday and just every day life are any indication).

This exactly.

melody921 · November 2013

MarisaKathleen said:

This year I'm keeping my spending in check.

I have budgeted $1500 and have already spent almost $500, but I have 2 nieces completely done, 2 nieces started and 3 nephews started along with my Mom completely done. Oh, and N. she's done too save for Christmas pajamas. I bought her Hanukkah ones my DH is annoyed about.

I spent more on my Mom this year than normally....etsy featured some artist on their page a few weeks back that takes handwriting and makes jewelry out of it so I scanned one of my Dad's old letters in and had her make a bracelet that says "love." It's really cool. https://www.etsy.com/listing/150997405/special-handwriting-necklace-custom-made Typically I only spend around $100 or so on my Mom, but I just thought this was really special.

I still have DH, FIL, whoever's names we draw with my siblings, Nancy's Nana, my BFF (under $30 limit) and craft projects for cousins.

That handwriting bracelet is very cool!

danabsd · November 2013

melody921 said:

MarisaKathleen said:

This year I'm keeping my spending in check.

I have budgeted $1500 and have already spent almost $500, but I have 2 nieces completely done, 2 nieces started and 3 nephews started along with my Mom completely done. Oh, and N. she's done too save for Christmas pajamas. I bought her Hanukkah ones my DH is annoyed about.

I spent more on my Mom this year than normally....etsy featured some artist on their page a few weeks back that takes handwriting and makes jewelry out of it so I scanned one of my Dad's old letters in and had her make a bracelet that says "love." It's really cool. https://www.etsy.com/listing/150997405/special-handwriting-necklace-custom-made Typically I only spend around $100 or so on my Mom, but I just thought this was really special.

I still have DH, FIL, whoever's names we draw with my siblings, Nancy's Nana, my BFF (under $30 limit) and craft projects for cousins.

That handwriting bracelet is very cool!

Yea, that's awesome!

kjskjs · November 2013

We usually aim for less than 500 by a lot. Most Christmases we try to keep it at inexpensive as possible.

Pokedot · November 2013

I voted between $1K-$2K because we host Christmas Eve and we are also having an early Christmas celebration with my brother the 1st weekend in December. We usually spend about $100 per parent (we don't buy for siblings) and now that we're starting to have kids we include them.

mrsjenni · November 2013

Probably around 2k, maybe a little more.

Hyaline · November 2013

We do Secret Santa for my extended family, just exchange gifts with DH's mom and siblings (no extended family exchange there) and we're not too crazy with the spending. This year might be the first we go over $500 because there are a couple bigger things I'd like to get DD and doing it as Christmas gifts rather than rando ordering something in March seems like more fun.

DH and I usually buy gifts for one another, but I might suggest doing a big household purchase instead this year. Or setting aside money for a vacation. So that wouldn't really count as "Christmas spending" so much.

thetwinkies&Vivi · November 2013

We try to keep it pretty minimal,Christmas stresses me like nothing else. This year we're doing something they want,wear,need and read for the girls. As for each other, we try to find a few small things we've mentioned through the year, and then a family gift collectively for his side and mine. Honestly, I'd be ok not buying gifts,but I always feel so pressured during the season. I do try to make a lot of our gifts and that's cool.
ETA: the past few years we've been somewhere between $500-1000 but weren't following the want,wear,need,read idea either.

kelbel527 · November 2013

I budget on a per-person basis but always end up going slightly over each person because the gift I pick doesn't always fit neatly into the budget.

I love the holidays and admittedly go overboard. But at the same time, it makes me happy to buy gifts, I'm not doing it because I have to.

This year, we're discussing buying ourselves (each) an iPad. So, yeah, we'll probably be on the higher end if we decide to do that (I voted $1K-$2K). But, we'll likely put our credit card rewards towards that, so it won't be out of pocket.

That said - because I don't want a million more toys - our kids usually get a ton of clothes for Christmas. They're clothes I'd buy anyway, so I don't have trouble justifying it.

melody921 · November 2013

Pokedot said:

I voted between $1K-$2K because we host Christmas Eve and we are also having an early Christmas celebration with my brother the 1st weekend in December. We usually spend about $100 per parent (we don't buy for siblings) and now that we're starting to have kids we include them.

I hadn't even factored in the cost of hosting Christmas Eve. I was just thinking gifts. Now, I really need a spending plan.

myjohnsonboys · November 2013

I think we will be closer to the $2000 mark. I have budgeted $400 per my three boys and I usually do around $300 for my mom (ipad mini will push me over) and $100 per my two siblings but I will probably go over for my younger sister who has requested a MK tote bag. Now that I see the numbers I think I need to cut back.

Stasi · November 2013

We spend around $500 for gifts for the entire family...maybe closer to $750, this is PRE-Kate, so we'll see how this year goes.

This is just for gifts - throw in $$$ for outfits for holiday parties/Christmas mass, extra food for entertaining & baking, the handful of Christmas decorations and ornaments I buy every year and it's easily another $500...

terri_doula2010 · November 2013

I hosted a Discovery Toys party a few weeks ago and so pretty much all their stuff from us and Santa this year will be DT. I got a lot of free and 1/2 priced items!

My ILs wanted a detailed Christmas list for the kids, so we put a bunch of things we were thinking about getting them on there.

We have decided to each choose $150 to spend on household items that interest us (like for me it will be kitchen stuff...not sure about DH yet), and then we do stocking stuffers as a surprise.

We don't buy much for anyone else. Small gifts for nieces and nephews, photo books for parents, crafts for SIL.

MommaP12 · November 2013

I try really hard to stay under $1000 and usually do. I'm terrified this year since I'm not working the month of November, but whatever we'll get through it.

klgrh6 · November 2013

We usually spend between 500-1500 on gifts for 15-17 people but this year we decided we aren't really buying presents. We will buy DD a few smaller things less than $50, and an ornament, and instead of buying each other gifts we are going on a nice date. We've had a lot of extra expenses with my sister's wedding(this weekend), medical bills, and birthdays which made saving for a house or paying down debt impossible. I hate that we aren't doing much for Christmas because I love buying gifts but this is what will really help us move toward our goals.

tinyhumantoe · November 2013

I have no frackin clue!

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