Today’s questions is from Christen:
I was wondering how much people budget for Christmas? My hubby and I are trying to find a reasonable amount to budget. -Christen
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In the past we have budgeted about $1500 – this year we cut way back and budgeted $750 (including tree, cards, baking supplies, our 3 kids, each other, our parents (4), my grandparents (4), pets, extended family and friends, teachers, etc. We are spending $100 on each kid, $50 on each other and everyone is budgeted for $2 – $15 depending on who and how close we are (parents $15, neighbor $2). We had some Cabelas points that we used up (we are now done with that credit card and am on a cash only budget, thank you Dave Ramsey), swagbucks/Amazon cards and just good deals. We are making a lot of things this year and shop at the resale shop for the kids. The pets get treats at Christmas and Easter and the rest of the year we only buy food for them. This year I actually got several bags of cat treats for free at Target, and scored free canned dog food (a treat at our house) at Marsh with triple coupons. We also got some bird food as my 4 yo loves to watch them out the front window.
We spend $150 on each of our 4 kids, typically. The oldest, almost 18, is getting a gun to hunt with, so his is running a little higher this year. The youngest, 3 gets slightly less. We try to keep all gifts for extended family members to around $5-$10 each. I only buy gifts for my BFF, not other “friends”.
We save money in an envelope throughout the year, specifically for Christmas.
We spend around $50 for our son and that includes 3 gifts (because Jesus got 3 gifts) and stocking stuffers. That is plenty for him because he also gets a lot from family. With that $50 he will probably get an outfit, toys/puzzles, and maybe a movie. Plus a few little stocking stuffers. I would probably be spending more than that if I wasn’t using coupons. There are always coupons for clothes and toys!
We also buy for eachother, for the names we each chose for Secret Santa, stocking stuffers for the parents/siblings, and some close friends. I’m hoping we don’t spend over $400 total because that would be the top of our budget.
This is great. I am a 50 year old homeschool mom,this is my 22nd year of homeschooling. Our four daughters are here at home, ages 18 to 29.
I really wish I would have had a site like this or a newsletter, (anything!) when I was a young mommy. Some of us don’t know what is normal and feel like we are barely getting by and perhaps slighting our children if we don’t have this kind of support, especially if we live in an affluent area. It can be very difficult on a mommy’s heart. So this is GREAT and a huge blessing to many I am sure. : )
My husband has always been self employed and is a Realtor Broker, commission only, bills to pay for our business. Our budget started out to be $25. per daughter this year but it is now $50. I’ve gone a little over on a couple but it seems to be evening out. I’ve made a homemade furry scarf for each of them and whenever I see a deal I pick it up.
This has done me a world of good reading other mom’s budgets, I don’t feel so out of whack now. For other family members, we don’t trade gifts with my husband’s siblings. We give to our parents though and I try to keep it to under 15.00 many times and much less if I can find a respectable gift that looks very nice. Books are wonderful finds too for many. My 81 year old dad has macular degeneration so a nice book on tape is a great gift for him. Sometimes ebay will have a really great deal on a book or book on tape I’ve been looking for. I found a Christian mystery series on ebay for a third of the price of Amazon in the wrapper too. This way I can buy a little something else for my daddy too. And of course swagbucks is nice too to use on Amazon when I do find a nice series etc., every little bit helps! : )
Great info here and to me? This kind of thing has probably soothed some mommies hearts this season.
It soothed mine even at 50. Blessings to you this Holy Season of Christmas. ~Amelia
My husband gets an incentive (Read: bonus) in late fall. We know in March if he will be getting it or not that year. Our Christmas budget (for gifts, travel, decor, etc.) is his incentive check minus a set amount for savings minus annual car insurance minus a semester of day care minus property taxes.
It usually leaves us a decent amount. That’s our budget. But we only do one large (Santa) present for our kids, stocking stuffers (for 10 people, but cost divided among 4), and a few clothes and books. Any left over $ goes back into savings or whatever.
If we didn’t get the incentive, we’d set aside $50 a month or so. We buy 6 large Christmas presents a year, so even at $50 a present, that gives us a ton of overage to work with.
I also like to set aside Christmas budget money in cash in the house vs. a bank account so that I can buy throughout the year without dipping into other funds and then having to pay them back.
We spend $900 and that includes the cost of shipping, tree, donations and gifts. There are 6 people in my immediate family. We also buy for 2 sets of parents, a nephew and a “family” ($75 limit) gift for our exchange drawing.
We put aside $75 per month throughout the year to pay for Christmas. For the kids we limit their gifts to 3. Usually 1 big and 2 smaller items. I read once that Jesus only got 3 presents for his birthday and decided that was a good rule for our family too. For birthdays and Christmas we follow this rule. It helps to rein me in–it’s so tempting to overindulge and this rule makes me think about what would be most useful for my kids–and helps them appreciate what they get.
We do the same thing as the first commenter. Too many people got married this year so we were down to $30 to cover Christmas, a birthday, and two showers (love is in the air i guess). I had to shuffle some money and was able to transfer $350 to the gift envelope. FYI we don’t have kids so this is just for my husband and i, our parents, and my two siblings, with extra for possibility of any non-white-elephant gift exchanges at parties.
Treats to bring to parties/potlucks come from “fellowship food” and special events comes from “entertainment.”
We normally don’t do cards but there was that Rite Aid promotion a couple weeks ago. Then I lost them so I guess we aren’t doing cards this year either.
Any decoration purchases any year are treated the same as normal decor.
We budget $600. This includes 4 sets of grandparents, my parents, my husband’s parents, husband’s 4 brothers and their wives, my brother, our niece and nephew, our daughter, and DH and I. Shipping costs are included with that $600, since we live far away from family. We don’t really do birthday gifts or anything throughout the year, unless we happen to be with someone on their birthday, but if we did it would probably come out of that amount too. I really like the idea of including all Christmas related “necessities” in the budget and I think we should do that next year!
My husband just finished his degree and got his first job. But then our baby had to spend 5 days in the hospital and ate up our savings. Anyway, I generally spend about $100 divided among my 6 kids (most of our gifts are homemade out of repurposed items – FREE), and then about another $50-$100 divided among grandparents, one of my siblings (varies by year), and others. 2 of my kids also have birthdays the week of Christmas (bad luck!) so I also have to think about that. Still, we usually just do about $20 for a birthday. I don’t think kids need to get everything on their list (I sure never did), but try to make things they will enjoy and gather things throughout the year (yardsales, clearance, etc.).
We spend about $100 per person in our immediate family (us plus three kids) and $15-25 per neice & nephew (four of them). We don’t buy for other adults (siblings or parents). We buy Christmas cards ($20). Any decor wanted ro food comes out of the food budget. So about $600-$700 for the whole thing.
Really though, its going to totally depend on YOUR disposeable income 🙂
We have $20.00 come out of each weekly paycheck for our Christmas–by the end of the year we have $1000! We usually try to spend $100.00 per person in our family of 5, and that leaves extra to help others. I grew up in a large family, and my parents bought each one of us 5 presents–2 clothes, 2 toys, and one “fun” (like bath powder or Loves Baby Soft perfume and funny socks) My husband came from a small family, and his parents saved up all year long, and then splurged so that Christmas was an awe inspiring load of gifts from Santa. Some years, I would take the $100.00, and see how many $5.00 gifts I could find (20 per person, 5 people, 100 presents!) but I don’t like the emphasis to be on presents. This year, my children are just getting 3 presents each—and they will be thrilled because these are nice items that they thot we couldn’t afford. And we’ve already donated food and gifts to help others. AND we’re spending time remembering that Christmas isn’t about celebrating presents………..Christmas is about celebrating Jesus…..
Being a single mom of 3 kids (ages 13 1/2, 10 and 3) on a very limited budget I manage to spend 150.00 for the older two, 40 on the youngest, 80 for Santa and stockings, 40 for extended family (7 brothers/sisters, 6 nieces/nephews and 3 parents) and I give each of my kids 10 to get supplies to make their own gifts for whomever they want – if they need more, they have to take it out of their allowance. Each of my kids birthdays is spaced every 3 months (December, March and June) which makes it harder to save – I budget 100.00 for each – this includes food, decor, invitation/thank you cards and a present. Then 30 is budgeted for each kids’ parties they are invited to throughout the year with another 40 for extended families birthdays = $740.00
To be able to do this, we make many of our gifts getting more and more creative each year such as colorful duct tape wallets, food/first aid/hygiene baskets, denim purses from worn out jeans, baby activity mats, cloth books from old shirts, art boxes, candle potpourri lamps, basket woven rugs, etc.
To get ideas we go to all the local craft shows taking note of what we have or can get for little to no cost – many of which others have seen and wanted but didn’t have the money for, some that was forgotten about but can use and very little of these gifts are repurposed.
For things we cannot make, I buy on steep discounts after each season has ended – sometimes I have coupons for which makes them better.
This years Santa gifts are – for my toddler: after halloween I bought 4 costumes for 1.00 each and 2 animal hats with matching gloves and tails for 3.00 to put in a small footlocker (2.00 – end of school supply season) so he has his own dress up box. For my 10 yr old I managed to snag 4 cans of paint in his favorite colors for 6 (end of summer sale from orders not picked up), paint kit (pan, rollers) for 1.50 and 10 sponges I cut into shapes (1.00 – end of spring cleanup sales) then I added 2 twin bedsheets I made into curtains for .25 at a garage sale and put all items in a wooden fruit crate (picked up from local store throwing them away) and screwed on 2 thin tree branches for handles – he has been wanting to decorate his room and now he can. For my 13 1/2 yr old I picked up an old desk and chair for 5 at a garage sale, sand paper for .50 (end of summer sale), 2 cans of paint for 3 (end of summer sale from orders not picked up), a medium sized mirror (after christmas sale last year) and made her a vanity stocked up with 30 bottles of nail polish (various sales – mainly after halloween .10 – .25 each) for 7, make up for 12 (throughout the year sales) and 6 packs baby wipes (excellent make up remover) for 3 (various sales) then for stocking stuffers – each has a pair of thick gloves -6 (end of winter sale last year), 6 lip balm for .10 ea (various sales), hot chocolate mix for 2.25 (FM mix/match sale), 8 small bags of holiday candy for 3.00 (wags candy sale on med sized bags and using soon to expire rr’s to get total down) and a bottle of bubble bath for 3.00 (various sales) ……so my total comes out to ~64.00 and its all tailor made for each childs’ interests for year round enjoyment.
This years family gifts are….for the adults – triple chocolate orange liqueur truffles….10 ea. for 8.00 (just had to buy grand marnier – 3 travel size bottles) wrapped in cellophane for 2.00 (target 1.00 bins) http://www.duncanhines.com/recipes/specialty-desserts/dh/triple-chocolate-orange-liqueur-truffle-pop…….for the nieces and nephews art boxes for 11.00 from same sales already stated (1 can chalkboard paint – 3.00, 6 boxes chalk for 1.50, 50 sheets blank newspaper print – left over rolls from newspaper printing place cut down to same size as box, 12 pencils for .25, 6 pencil sharpeners for 1.50, 6 boxes crayons for .60, 6 boxes chunky markers for 1.20 and 6 hardcase make up boxes for 3 )…saving ~21.00 from my extended family budget leaving me room to make gift baskets for my 3 neighbors….. 3 baskets for 1.50 (after easter sale)….baby basket for the new parents – various free samples saved like lotion, baby bath, baby oil, coupons for diapers and 6 packs wipes for 3.00….a movie basket for single mom and teen – 2 boxes of 3 packs ea. popcorn with redbox code for free movie in ea (Fm mix/match sale), 2 specialty popcorn tubs (target 1.00 bins), 6 packs theater candy for 3, 3 totinos frozen pizza’s and a 2 liter dr pepper for 13.50….. and a home warming basket (new neighbors – 3 adults) – household cleaners such as scrub bubbles toilet cleaner, comet, Palmolive, glade plug in and apple cinnamon scent and candle, ajax all purpose cleaner, fab laundry soap, downy fabric softener liquid, windex and a roll of paper towels for 12.75 (already had from spring clean up sale) and I am still saving 8.00 from what I budgeted out for Santa and family gifts.
After last Christmas sale I found mp3 players for 3.00 ea, sleds and snowboards on sale for 4.00 ea, bedding in a bag for 10 ea and bath kits for 5.00 ea then amazon gave 2.00 in music mp3’s for free a couple times I managed to get, hot topic had a major sale this fall – 90% off most items so I picked up 4 t-shirts for .75 ea then they were discontinuing knee high sneakers that was a part of the sale which was already marked down to 20.00 from 80.00 and the after summer sale I found bathing suits for 1.00 ea, slip/slides for 4, swimming pools and sandboxes for 5.00, miscellaneous gardening supplies (seeds, tools etc) for .50 – 1.00 ea…I combined a few sales with 8 giftcards I got for free saved from previous sales, reward points, 2 25%’s off coupons and 27 in rewards rebates which brought these purchases down to 24.00 out of pocket so all in all I brought my year round gift budget down to ~ 220.00 leaving ~520.00 left to stock up on after season sales this next year.
Thanks for sharing! Those sound like amazing gifts that they will love!
WoW ! Impressive
We actually don’t have a “budget” per say though I would guess we spend $700-800. What really interested me though is the number of people that everyone gives to – I always thought I was normal but I guess not – we have 45-50 people on our list every year (parents, grandparents, sibs, nieces, nephews and our own 4 kids make up 80% of that list).
We try to do about $150- this is for me, my husband, our children, our family gift (something we do together- a game or something) and our parents. We then do $150 in special giving- to our church, operation christmas child, and/or other special offerings.
We have 5 kids and a large extended family. My inlaws, cousins, sister in laws and Aunts are always giving gifts to not just our kids but to my husband and I as well. A few years ago we had a hard time budgeting just for our kids and felt guilty when we couldn’t do much to give back. Since then we have decided to prepare early and avoid the financial stress of the holiday. We start early by finding great deals on toys at the after Christmas and New Years sales. Last year I found enough toys to even use for birthdays all year long. I love buying the 50-75% off gift baskets days after Xmas (like the perfume and kids bath sets). We also buy gift wrap and holiday decorations when they go 75% off. Then I always keep and eye out at thrift stores for little gifts too. From June to now I browsed and found a total of 4 brand name new with tags mens shirts for my husband at the thrift store:) Along with some caffine loaded black Friday shopping and year long flea market/ yard sale shopping too. Plus, we earn a lot of gift cards with awesome coupon shopping (usually moneymakers) and save half of those for holiday shopping. Add a little couponing for a few baking supplies for yummy gift goodies and my holiday gifting is ready to go!
We planned on spending $300 but after all the preparton and deal hunting we managed to get everyone a lot of gifts and only spent $120 cash and $60 in gift cards! Yay! A guilt free holiday!
Every year our Christmas budget is different depending on who we are buying for and what we want to get our children. But one way we keep ourselves in check is by making sure we donate at Christmas at least as much as we spend on our family and friends
Our budget is about $100 for our family of four and our extended family. Not only do we not have very much money, Christmas is about Christ. It just isn’t about buying huge gifts and spending tons of money.
Our total Christmas budget is $720, with $300 spent for our three kids. The rest is for our parents and siblings. We have a cash only budget and set aside $60 each month towards Christmas.
http://workinghomekeeper.blogspot.com/2011/12/green-christmas-paying-cash-for.html
Mary Ellen
The Working Home Keeper
I doubt I can add anything new to what is written here but will add anyway. 🙂 I have close to 30 people to buy for including my 6 kids and husband, 2 set of parents, grandparents, extended family gift drawings, and all teachers. I make as many of the teacher gifts as possible and try to keep that to around $2-5 each. My kids’ budget changes yearly depending on what kind of credit card points I have that I can turn in for gift cards etc. I’ve seen many people talk about how as the kids get older the gifts get more expensive. That’s true but who says that when you buy a gaming system or even the games for one it has to be for just one kid? To help our budget we give the big gifts (if we get them) as whole family gifts.
I spend $100 per each child (there are 5 children)
then $50 for all the stocking stuff (candy, lil gifts, fruit, etc…)
$25 for each set of parents and since they are divorced and remarried that makes for more sets of parents
Last year siblings and I agreed no exchange of gifts and I believe we are doing that again this year.
Extended family and close friends get a nice greeting card that has a professional family photo on it and they are usually pretty excited to get that each year.
Then there is the cost of the festive dinner and even though we eat away from home, I still like to fix a nice ham dinner during Christmas week to have for us here.
Also now that the kids are getting a bit older (youngest is 7), this year they put all 5 names in hat and drew 1 name out to buy for their brother or sister and they decided a cap of $15 for gift. This comes from their own commission (savings).
Our ongoing goal now is to give an equal dollar amount or more at Christmas than we spend on gifts to family & friends.
This year we budgeted $400 for 23 people. This is tight (around $15ish per person), but by starting the process about mid-year, using coupons, and other sales/deals each person receives gifts that are at least twice that amount in value.
This year we will be giving an additional $400 (above tithe & our normal additional giving) to Lottie Moon & a few other ministries.
I love Christmas, but I have come to hate our western consumerism. I’m definitely a gift giver and still love to give gifts to our family and close friends, but attempt to do so as frugally as possible.
Here are only some of the startling statistics on our western consumerism:
* $462 billion was spent during the 2010 holiday season, between November 1st and December 31st.
* U.S. homes spend the first six months of every year paying off their Christmas debt.
* Photos with Santa in American malls generate $2.3 billion dollars each year.
* Visa cards are swiped 5,340 times per minute between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
* Only 44% of 7-11 year-olds regarded Christmas day as a celebration of the birth of Jesus.
* On average, the western consumer spends over $500 on Christmas.
* Some 800 million people in the third world are left hungry and undernourished. This includes 200 million children under 5 years of age.
So what can we do now? Is it hopeless? By no means. Each of us, as individuals and families, can set a Christmas budget and find new ways to have a frugal Christmas.
Our family’s budget is $200, including stamps and money for packages, buying for 10 nieces/nephews and extended family, plus our own family. This year, through couponing all year long and getting many items for free or nearly free, we should come in much lower, about $100-$125. Budgeting is personal to each family; the more important matter is our heart behind our spending. I definitely recommend the Gospel for Asia Christmas Gift Catalog (gfa.org/gift) if you are looking to give a gift of hope to suffering people around the world.
Admittedly we enjoy being a little (not crazy) extravagant at Christmas time. My husband and I don’t buy many toys (rarely) during the year other than their birthday so we like to have fun at Christmas time. I spend a lot of time researching prices for specific toys they’d like and use coupons, free gift cards and yes, even black Friday deals, to get the gifts. We usually spend around $200- 300 on both the kids (which includes some books and “needs” like pjs and toiletries), $50-100 on each other, 30-50 on each set of parents and 10-20 on each sibling in my family (there are 7 of us including myself and my husband) and for my husbands family (we draw names most years, also 7 of us) and then my niece and nephew. We also budget money for a tree, special Christmas foods, a few smsll gift/ ornament exchanges and some charitable giving. We save throughout the year and use one of our “free” paychecks (my husband gets paid bi- weekly so twice a year we have a pay check that we don’t have to pay regularly scheduled billed from) to save and we’ve never gotten in debt for Christmas. This is just us, I know some families spend way more, some spend way less. Like most of you have said, it’s about the joy of giving and celebrating Jesus our most extravagant gift!
Our Christmas budget is $0. We just don’t have extra money to set aside. So, I take advantage of things like the recent Target coupon for a $10 gift card when you spend $50. I use my grocery money and buy my groceries for the week, being careful to keep it just at $50. I hand over the coupon and get a $10 gift card. I then use that gift card to buy a gift AND I use that to reach the next $50, so the next time I only had to spend $40 of my grocery money.
I was able to print 2 of those coupons last week, so I got two gifts, then another 1 this week, when I got another gift. I’m out of grocery money now, but I’m hoping that they do it again next week!
I also take advantage of $10 off $10 coupons that come from Kohls and JCPenney.
This year I am also making pot holders using materials from around the house. I spent $9 on materials for the outside and thread; that came out of grocery money. These will go to our parents.
I bought one gift from Amazon using Swagbucks.
I have a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card that I earned through MyPoints. This will buy another gift each for my kids, and hopefully 2 more gifts for my niece and nephews.
Finally, we are able to give our parents a nicer gift this year because we went on a planned-with-cash vacation for my brother’s wedding and my husband put everything on his credit card, then turned around and paid it all off with the cash we had saved. We earned enough rewards points to get some restaurant gift cards for our parents. I don’t recommend doing that, though, unless you are extremely disciplined 😉
Oh, and that was considered part of the kids Christmas presents, so they know to expect a smaller Christmas this year.
So, we don’t budget a certain amount for Christmas. Instead we be creative with the coupons and resources that come and somehow we always seem to have a wonderful Christmas.
I LOVE those $10 off $10 or more coupons that come from JC Penney! I use those around the holidays to buy gifts or something special for myself that stays right around the $10.00 amount.
My husband and I don’t have any children yet (our first is on the way!) so the bulk of our Christmas money goes to immediate family members. Counting only parents, grandparents, and siblings we have 22 family members to purchase gifts for.
Our Christmas budget this year is $200 (though we may end up spending $250). That includes any Christmas decorations (like the tree!!), gifts for the 22 above mentioned family members, and a few small gifts for friends outside the family–but NOT the gifts that my husband and I give each other.
Our budget is:
$3 or less for friends/extended family members
$5 or less for siblings and our two nieces
$10 or less for parents/married-adult siblings
While that sounds like a tiny, tiny amount I’ve been thrilled with how far the money has gone (Black Friday helped a LOT!). For example, this year on one side of the extended family we drew names and set the price limit at $15-$20–which is WAY higher than my husband and I were planning! But on Black Friday I found a sterling silver necklace valued at $70, and I got it for $1 including shipping!! Whoo-hoo!
As far as the gifts between my husband and I, we both love giving gifts to each other. We are very secretive about the present, the receiving spouse has no clue/input into the present, and we plan MONTHS in advance for just the perfect present. We also don’t budget for these presents, mainly because we are so secretive neither of us like our spouse to know dollar amounts. Because we are committed to staying out of debt, this means that we squirrel away cash starting looong before Christmas. The present I got my hubby was something he found in a pawn shop this past summer and fell in love with. I went back the next week and put it on layaway, and it’s pretty much taken all my spending money since then (plus occasional robbing of the grocery budget) to pull the present off. But the look on his face when I give it to him makes it TOTALLY worth the trouble. 🙂
My uncle is a part-time doctor, part time professional musician. So my dad (a pastor and also a musician) plays lots of gigs with him at Christmas for which my uncle shares his fees (often very generously) and that usually pays for Christmas expenses. My mom also tries to set aside any honorariums my dad gets for doing weddings and funerals to help pay for things. They do set a spending limit, but if it’s been a rough year sometimes it’s not until the first couple weeks of December that they manage to figure out how to pay for everything. It was similar for my husband and me this year. I’ve been working very part time from home for the past few months (just a few hours a month) around August I started setting aside portions of my paychecks to pay for Christmas gifts, when I realized that there probably wasn’t going to be any money for it otherwise.
Our budgeting has changed dramatically over the years. When the kids were all younger we’d spend very little on each one and they loved it. Now they are all elementary age. It’s a hard age. They have much more extravagant lists then a toddler/preschooler and are not quite old enough to truly understand it’s not all about the gift giving. (Two of mine also have ASD so them grasping concepts like that are harder.) Starting last year, we didn’t buy gifts for anyone else in extended family so that we could put that budget towards our kids. We’re happy with that decision for the next few years. It is always all cash spent!
I agree as they get older it is harder to keep the $$ down and also keep them understanding that they don’t need lots of gifts. My kiddos have friends that get lots of stuff and make them feel like they didn’t get much…..even though they got what they wanted.
We only buy for our 2 sons, 3 nephews, and a neice. For my 10 yr old I spend about 100.00 which I shop all year for to get the best prices. I have a newborn born in Nov. this year so he has about everything he needs this year. I spent about 20.00 or less on him. For my nephews and neice I usually do some sort of gift basket theme. Last year it was movies I bought extremely cheap all year, candies, popcorn, etc. that cost about 20.00 total -worth way more if I had paid full price. This year I’m doing a cookie theme with a bunch of cookie mixes and cookie cutters. I will probally spend 10.00. One year I did a craft basket. It is always something they can do as a family.
We really don’t have a budget. I get a list of what my 3 kids want (15, 6 and 2) and watch sales throughout the year and especially black friday and try to get one “big” thing for each and then small things to even the number out. I also thrift shop AlOt! I already have a big motorized truck for my 2 yr olds April birthday (ride on) for $40! When i asked my kiddos what they wanted, all of them mentioned 2 gifts and that was it. My oldest wanted an IPod touch (asking for over 2 yrs) and that is her big gift and her birthday is Jan 2nd and she is getting a kindle ($85) but got both at black friday sales with gift cards included that helped pay for the other 2 kiddos gifts (leapsters ($30 each), train table ($100 with tons of pieces with it) and video games (bought buy 1 get 1 free)). I watch for deals all year with gift cards and keep them till the holidays. We send flowers to family (using shop at home for cash back) and only buy for neices and nephews (4) and those are gift cards as well. If I am not mistaken this year we have spent about $800 including the birthday in Jan, gifts for hubby and me, and gifts for teachers and homemade gifts for others. This year we are starting a new tradition of taking a trip on Christmas since we are not close to family and this year we are doing the Polar Express and it is costing about $1000 with hotel, food, gas and the train ride but well worth it! This is our vacation for the year and it is making a ton of memories for the kiddos and they don’t realize they don’t have alot of gifts (most of their friends are only kids that get LoTs of gifts). It seems like alot of money but I save all year so we aren’t struggling around the holiday. With a teenager and a hubby that likes gifts also it is hard to keep the cost down but I feel if I plan and only spend what I have saved it is ok. Next year will be cheaper since my oldest wil finally have her IPod touch and the younger ones have their train table they have been asking for. It always seems like one year is much more expensive than others….
We also do secret santa for seniors in our area and help a family in need….hence only having a couple gifts each for the kiddos to realize it is better to give than recieve!
We have three small children so we spend under $50 each on the older two and maybe $15 on the littlest 🙂 …and they receive so much from their grandparents anyway. Over all for family & extended family…we spend under $400 on everyone. We choose to have a more simple Christmas.
I am a SAM, but I tutor privately part time and we use that money ONLY to do Christmas and to cover both our boys winter birthdays. (In case anyone is alarmed, I do report my income to the IRS, pay taxes on my tutoring income, and I hold a valid business license). My husband and I are very tight with our budget, but we splurge at the holidays and “make up” for the 9 months a year we basically buy our children nothing except necessities. The boys get NO toys from us “just because” during the year. The children do get LOTS of necessities at Christmas though, new coats, shoes, boots, jammies, and a few toys too. The best part is that my tutoring income is in cash and December 26 feels so good knowing that there isn’t a single charge on our hardly used credit cards!
We budget $70 per month to go towards Christmas – so by the end of the year we have a total of $840. We usually do not “set an exact amount” for each person. For instance, my 15-year old nephew wanted a $20 video game, but for my 6-month old niece, we got a $19.99 book set on sale for $7 – so that is all we will spend on her. We may spend $150 on our daughter, or if we find great deals throughout the year, we may only spend $50. Whatever we have left over at the end of Christmas goes in to our daughter’s savings account – whether it be $75 or $400.
The only difference this year is I think I am going to surprise my husband with a PS3, which he has really wanted for a while now (boys will be boys) :). He works so hard for our family as a professional Fire Fighter working 24 hour shifts + an owner/operator of a gas/mechanic station – so I think the splurge is very deserving!! I would not do this if we did not have the money saved, but because we have been diligent every month – it is all possible!
More importantly, you need to make a list of who you want to buy for and look at your budget. My husband’s sisters spend far more than we do, but they also make far more money. Although even if we did make as much money as they did, we probably wouldn’t spend as much as they do.
But since you asked 🙂 We did away with buying for our siblings years ago and we just buy for nieces, nephews and my parents. We spend around $15-20 on nieces/nephews (used to be $10-15 and at one point $5-10 when we had debt). My parents, it just depends, probably closer to $30-50 each. My two teenage boys we spend more. Their wish lists are very short but more costly. One may get $$ to go towards his item. My younger daughters’ wish lists, well they love everything and are easy to buy for and they are actually happier with the less expensive items.
Due to my husband’s childhood Christmas’, he feels the need to buy everything on wish lists. I disagree, they are “ideas” and I have to be the voice of reason. Between both sides of the family, our kids actually get too much. They get so much that I will put gifts still in the box in the closet and bring them out months later.
We budgeted 120$ for 15 people. We came in at 110$. We really watched sales and clearance items and stocked up through out the year. We were lucky World Market had a really good sale after Thanksgiving and we were able to get some really cool toys for 5-7$ for the children.
We budget $600 which includes 2 kids, and about 8 others. This also includes our Christmas cards, teachers gifts, etc. We put away $50 a month starting in January and then have the cash ready to go!
This is a hard one…..I have three kids and have always stuck to $30-$40 per child and was able to get a big pile of gift for each child. Now that they are 10, 8 & 4, I’m getting bigger and more expensive wish lists from them. I feel bad not getting them something that they really want when i know I can afford it. I’m just afraid that the list will get bigger & bigger!
We don’t spend money on family for Christmas. We do stockings and I’ll say we budget about $10 for each stocking but most of the items are free do to RR or giftcards I earned or homemade. In our family we don’t do gifts but exchange causes or we buy gifts for people in need (secret santa). We might put together some tissues, clorox wipes, and school supplies for a teacher in a low income area. We’ve also donated massive amounts of food to some nuns that feed the poor. We’ve sent gas gift cards to families we know that are struggling, etc. Again for the things we donate I use RR and gift cards and about $100 or so. For us, it’s about the true meaning of Christmas and that doesn’t mean more stuff for ourselves.
As for friends and family I prefer to send a random gift during the year. If I find something someone will love then I send it to them randomly. I always send birthday cards and Christmas cards.
I’m not saying our way of doing things is better than what others do. It’s just what works for us.
My husband and I bought a camera for each other. We will spend $100 on our 5 month old. $100 for each of our parents and siblings (7 total). $200 to a friend in need, recently divorced with two young girls. $50 to an animal shelter. $400 for tips, a real tree, and misc….we don’t budget, but this is what it appoximately is….about $1400, not including the camera, which was $800 (a planned splurge paid for with bonuses from work). We pay with a credit card and pay off our balance (always)….we love our miles and points!
We are spending $75 per person in the immediate family and $25 per person for extended family. We are trying to focus more on the real meaning of Christmas and spend more time together doing activities and time with friends. As long as we pay cash, that is what matters most to me. We adjust the budget depending on if it is a tight year or not. Our kids are teenagers on up now and it is harder to find good things in the budget compared to when they were young. Plus, they have their own tastes, etc. so I find that cash or gift cards are a good idea so they can choose things themselves.
We spend $500 for our only child each Christmas. During the year our child buys his own video games and other things with gift money from his birthday and Christmas. He gets $5/week allowance for chores and keeping his room clean. Messy room = no allowance. We used to spend $25 for each niece and nephew but this year we set the limit at $10/niece and nephew, which adds up to $70. For siblings and parents and other family members, we don’t buy for anymore, we gather for snacks on Christmas Eve and a wonderful dinner on Christmas day.
I don’t actually set a strict budget, but try to stick to $100 per person (includes stocking stuffers). We don’t buy a whole lot through the year for our kids as far as toys and such, and what we do get usually comes from yard sales (they don’t care!). I try to really think about the gifts I’m buying–is it something that they will use or really play with, or will it end up in next summer’s yard sale box?
I also buy stuff on clearance and even find brand new items at yard sales throughout the year, so that helps!
We will spend around $350. 2 boys -$100 each, grandparents $25, inlaws $50, other $75
I make food gifts for around 10 people, but that comes out of my grocery budget.
Our budget is about $210, and I feel like we get a lot of bang for the buck. We have four kids (9, 4, 3, and 7 mos), and since we don’t buy them a lot of stuff often, they are very happy with anything they receive. I have gotten my oldest ones into garage sale shopping, and they think it’s actually cool to get nice used things once in a while for pennies on the dollar. Last year, we splurged, and got $1300 worth of Wii equipment and games, etc. on Craigslist for $150. But right away, we sold some of it and made back 1/2 the money. We only used it less than 10 times this year, so will sell it again for a profit, which will help this year’s Christmas budget.
Here’s a breakdown: Three parents to buy for: $20 ea., married sibling gift exchange (my sisters and I draw names): $20, cousin exchange x 3 kids: $15 total, $30 for each of our children (we give one garage sale/Craigslist gift to open first, before the shiny new toys and pj’s). We don’t do gifts between my husband and me right now since we can’t afford to, but I do wrap up a few clothing items that he needs for work and wait for Christmas to give them to him, so it makes it fun. We are beginning to focus more, as a family, on the incredible gift of the birth of our Savior, Jesus. Baking, giving, Christmas carols, candlelight, Christmas lights, decorations, parties, dressing up, etc. is all fun, but the only really important part of Christmas is worshipping Him for His great gift!
We have two teenagers. We only buy necessities throughout the year, so birthday and Christmas are their only gifts. We spend $500 on each for Christmas. My husband and I do not buy gifts for each other. The best thing we ever did to simplify our Christmas was to cut our gift giving down to our kids only. Our extended families were so relieved when we decided to do this a few years ago, turns out they didn’t enjoy the stress of buying for everyone either! We also quit doing Christmas cards, and cut way back on the decorations. Our Christmas season is so much simpler and we have a lot more time to enjoy family and volunteer.
My husband and I budgeted out $600 dollars this year out of our regular income. However we also used about $150 in swagbucks and about $350-$400 of my husbands art buisness (which isn’t really a true business just a hobby that makes money at christmas time). We don’t buy a lot all year for our kids so christmas is a big thing, but we try not to go over board. As they are getting older the budget has gone up because items are more expensive. We also spend about $100 on each of us, but again we don’t buy for ourselves throughout the year. For 3 kids, 2 adults, 5 grandparents, 1 sibling, 2 nieces, 1 nephew, and a few other special people we do great I think. I would like to say I don’t buy gifts for people like the paperboy…I think it is weird to give a stranger a gift and not some of my family members. Also we budget all year round and put money aside, also I like to buy early. We also take advantage of sales and coupons. Our budget also includes some fun christmas traditions, like new christmas pajamas and a new ornament every year.
I think we will spend upwards to a $1000 if not more. We don’t really budget but we try not to go too overboard. We are only able to do this because we are married with stable jobs and no kids.
We shop for each other, both sets of parents, my 3 siblings and 2 nieces and nephews (this will double to 4 nieces and nephews next year), 2 gift exchanges on his side ( he comes from a large family), 2 for siblings on his side who still live at home and who we see on Christmas, 1 gift for work exchange, 4 girl friend gifts, and charities including toys for tots.
I think we will eventually have to cut down gift giving on my side of the family as it continues to grow.
I have been wanting to get better about buying things on good sales and getting amazing deals but I often feel at a loss when I try too. But maybe I will get better and begin to save lots of money on Christmas.
Sometimes I feel we spend too much, but I love shopping and buying for other people. Giving is a big part of Christmas for me. But when we are luckily enough to be blessed with kids, I would like to cut back on our Christmas spending. Hence why I want to get better about finding amazing deals.
We have no set budget per se. I start in September and buy for four grown children and their spouses, two grandchildren ages 2 and 2 months; my husband; six co workers (homemade treats), two gift cards valued at $25 each for the family “gift game” on Christmas Eve ; my parents (a ham), two nieces, and two nephews, baked treats for my son’s in laws, the same for my daughter’s in laws. ( eggnog poundcakes).My total for this year, which does not include extra groceries, (other than the food gifts I mentioned), is about $1800. I spend cash only. Spreading it out over four months is the only way it works for me. My husband does not generally contribute to this fund ( other than his gifts to me), because he pays all the “big bills” such as mortgage, utilities and car out of his paycheck. And while I pay some of the smaller bills throughout the year, Christmas has always been ” all me”. I am a dog groomer and own my own business, and I have always worked part time at it.
I am so glad that this topic was posted. My husband and I have been married for many years and for whatever reason, he has always refused to set a budget. Financially times have been harder in the past than they are now that the kids are grown, and Christmas was always was a struggle back then. It was important to me to have a great Christmas, and I utilized layaways and frugal shopping to make it happen, even though I was a stay at home mom then.
My goal is to scale back every year. The focus shifts to the grandkids. I honestly can easily do without a gift from my husband, but he doesn’t want to do that. We used to give gifts to every family member! Then we drew names, then we even cut that out…and play the gift game instead.
While we don’t have a set limit from year to year…as it seems there are new nieces, nephews, godchildren, etc nearly every year at the season of life we are in. We do however set an amount for each person–$50. This goes for mine and hubby’s parents our siblings and their spouses, their children and our grandparents. Since we’ve only been blessed with one child, thus far, we do usually spend between $200-$300 on our preschool age daughter. While that number seems high, her big gift is usually more on the lines of a necessity versus a toy–this year we’re giving her a child-size table and chairs set for her to do her homeschool lessons as well as arts and crafts at and will be something that will last many years…not a random toy that she’ll lose interest in before before Valentine’s Day. We also limit her gifts to 3–one for each gift the wise men brought the baby Jesus. As far as hubby and I, we usually don’t exchange gifts. If we do get something, its usually a mutual, household gift. This year, hubby received an unexpected bonus this fall, so we used it to buy a $100 wi-fi capable Blu-Ray Player that we came across marked-down 50% off on Black Friday. Some years, especially those first in our marriage before the little one came along, we usually exchanged gifts, but they were things that were needed–pajamas, shoes, undergarments, etc. I would say after it is all said and done, our ‘budget’ is in the neighborhood of $1500.
We don’t really have a budget.. I just write down the people we will buy for (Parents, inlaws, my nephew (we only buy for the kids not the parents) our daughter, my best friend/roomate, dirty santa and christmas parties) and ideas for them and pick them up through out the year. This year we will spend about $300 for everyone and the parties. Last year was higher (around $1200) but we had saved all year so I could buy my hubby an xbox and the whole set up to go with. Next year we are planning on saving 10 or 15 a paycheck (every two weeks) so we will have a bit for us saved up =]
This year our Christmas budget looks like this:
kids x 7: $15-$25 for 1 gift
stockings will be needed items fun breakfast foods
parents: $30-$60
my siblings & spouses: $5 or less (girls give to girls and guys give to guys)
Usually we don’t exchange any gifts between nieces and nephews but last year and this year we’ve been trying out exchanging names. The kids enjoy it but since I have half + 1 of the grandkids it seems kind of silly:)
cousins exchange: $5
Sometimes my husband and I exchange gifts and sometimes we don’t. This year he gave me a bookcase (early) because my other one broke. He will probably be getting a new pair of house slippers and some nice socks.
I am a collge student on a very limited budget. I have budgeted $10 for my 3 parents (mom, dad & Stepmom) and grandparents. I have 6 siblings (2 biological, 2 half and 2 step), 4 of whom are married, and 5 nieces and nephews. My bugdet for my siblings is $5 each and if they are married its a couples gift. My nieces and nephews are $10 each.
This Christmas, however, I have used various rewards, coupons, and deals to get my siblings gifts for an Out of Pocket of $15. My younger brother has less money than I do, so his gft is a box of food and paper goods that i got all with coupons and sent maybe $5. His gift is probably one of my favorite that I have got this year because if he were to pay retail for the food, it would cost him $50. My married siblings are getting baby food jars (which I have been collecting from my sister since last year) that I have repurposed by covering the lid with christmas fabric and filled with Renuit crysals which i got for $0.50 a bag.
Next year I plan on cutting the budget and getting more of their gifts on sale.
I don’t have a budget to work with necessarily, but I write down who to buy for, and how many gifts for each person. We have 26 people to buy for each year, not including my husband, and myself. This includes our 4 kiddos, 8 cousins, grandparents and our siblings. Plus, I have 3 december birthdays and an early Feb birthday that I plan for.
In addition to family, we love playing Secret Santa for a family in our neighborhood. Last year we filled a box full of home canned fruits and vegetables, and $200. I heard through the grapevine they were SO grateful and couldn’t believe that God was answering their prayers. That made the sacrifice totally worth it.
I don’t think anyone should feel bad about what they spend or don’t spend. As many have said it’s very individual. God has us all in different seasons in life. I enjoy reading the comments and hearing all the wonderfully creative ideas people share but know that I can’t do all of them because I am limited in my giftings. While I maybe able to cook I can’t sew to save my life.
We budget $20 a month for Christmas. I try to be creative all year long and find deals. For me it’s hard because my love language is gifts. However, I need to honor God in my finances EVEN if my love language is gifts. It doesn’t me I spend if I don’t have it.
If you are in a season of blessing and can afford a big budget there’s nothing wrong with that. And if your season is a little dry now but you find joy in giving in other ways be happy in that.
I appreciate the openness everyone has in sharing but don’t compare myself with it. I find nuggets that are helpful to me, like thinking about all the expenses that go into Christmas like postage etc. if you’re doing holiday cards.
A side note: I don’t pay for postage of holiday cards to people at church or neighbors. If I see them it gets hand delivered.
I hope everyone can find ways to feel loved and blessed this Christmas season and to be love and a blessing to others.
If you put $20 a week aside, you will have about $1000 at the end of the year. This year I tried to put $50 aside each payday, hoping for $1800 by Christmas (I get paid once a month, my husband gets paid twice a month) ….after birthdays, anniversaries and misc. we still had about $1300 left for Christmas! I was very excited to have those funds available!!!
We budget $10 per outside family member and friend. My husband’s mother and grandmother and my parents we sometimes budget just a tad more if we have some wiggle room. Our kids get a budget of about $150 each (this includes Santa gift, two other gifts and stockings filled). There is wiggle room in the $150 on years that my husband’s November bonus is more than we expect.
This is such a hard question because how do you define it? Decorations? Food? Travel? Charitable giving? Presents? Tips?
We’re having a big year here this year. Not counting charitable giving, we’re probably looking at $2500. I’m getting a new DSLR camera ($800) and my husband is getting a new laptop (which he really needs). We’re counting those as Christmas, though they were purchases we were planning on making anyway. My mom is getting a bigger-than-usual Christmas gift, but it is her birthday gift this year too. We usually spend about $125/parent (4 of them), $50 on siblings (we have 7 between us), and probably spend about $100 on our son, though again, much of that were things we would have bought anyway. Christmas is at our house, so we won’t have to travel, but will be hosting dinner and guests, so food will probably be a couple hundred bucks. And I’ve spent $150 on decorating this year between the tree, greens, flowers, etc.
We’ve had a good year, and can afford it. But I was struck tonight at the grocery store how very expensive this time of year is for people who are having a harder time than we are. The food banks near us are also going to get bigger-than-usual checks from us in celebration of the season. And next year I bet we’re back down to something closer to $1000-1500 all told– unless my computer dies, lol.
Thirty plus years ago I asked my sister and her husband if they wanted me to buy them gifts or if they wanted cash. They quickly agreed they wanted the cash. So for all these years I have given them cash and they use that to buy all of their gifts to others for Christmas. Makes it easy for me and saves them lots of money.
We spend about $50 on our youngest child, $100 on 8 year old and will probably spend more than that (maybe up to $150?) on our 11 year old (he’s not getting electronics though – he’s really been wanting a train set and since we don’t purchase toys for our kids throughout the year this is a huge treat!) I shared more in a post here – http://passionatepennypincher.com/2011/11/how-much-do-you-spend-on-christmas-2/
We do $50 for each stocking, $150 from us and $100 from Santa. We use the $150 for a bigger gift. This year a 3ds for one child and tv for the other. We then spend $50 on each parent and sibling, $30 for aunts and uncles. Between $150-$200 on each other… $25 on teachers and $15 for bus drivers, newspaper, mail etc…
Our budget is different from year to year–we’re remodeling our house, so a lot of our “extra” money goes into that–so Christmas money is whatever we’ve saved and can spare without incurring new debt.
I love to find each person on the list that Perfect Thing that will light up their face with that “how did you know?!” look we all love to see…but as inexpensively as possible. I watch sales, use prescription incentives (i.e. Gift card w/new or transferred prescriptions) when available, shop online some, buy “bundles” when they work for me, scour clearance shelves, make gifts when possible/practical…last year it was fleece blankets that zip into robes for all the nieces & nephews, with fabrics in their favorite colors/patterns (University of Michigan colors for one nephew; Michigan State colors for his sister) for about $10 each for all materials…
Also, whenever I am invited to a home party like Pampered Chef or the like, or asked to buy from a fundraiser, I try to find gifts to stick away for later. I went to a 31 Gifts party in July & scooped a great deal on big totes w/matching string backpacks and coin purses for my daughters for Christmas, and it helped my friend, the hostess, get free stuff. Win-win-win. =)
About three years ago, my sister and I stopped doing birthday gifts for each other’s children. Instead, we have one big “Unbirthday Party” for all 5 of them (her two and my three) with a sleepover, goody bags, games, cake & ice cream, bonfire & s’mores, the Unbirthday Song from Alice in Wonderland…the whole thing costs us each about $50 total, which we split, and it’s way more fun than getting together on five occasions where only one child gets a gift each time. =)
Your “Unbirthday Party” sounds like so much fun!
I budgeted around $800 this yr. 2 kids and myself. Both the girls get a gift from mom every yr and this yr it was an iPod for dd 7 and a lapser pad for dd 4. I then get them about $100 a piece for other things they want. They do not get anything during the yr except brays. I have a sister and brother,bil,4 nieces/ nephews. This money also includes a lg gifts for mom,teachers and neighbors. I have a Xmas acct where I directly deposit $150/ mos into. But our big expense is going on our first Disney cruise 5 days next June. Our Xmas acct is also our vacation acct. Cruise will be paid in full in feb and all with cash. We love to travel so a decent portion of our money goes to travel.
Laurie
We budget $250 for Christmas gifts and $600 for everything else gifts (birthday, showers, weddings, etc.). Family of four plus grandparents, few sibblings, friends, and cards for others.
Someone shared with me that they decided to give each of their children 3 gifts since that is how many Jesus received from the wisemen. I thought that is great a more meaningful/practical than giving our little ones tons of stuff.
we do three gifts also–from Mom and Dad. Santa usually brings one large gift. This year I think we will do gratitude letters instead of sibling gifts. I am hoping this will help them think a little kinder of each other.
That is a great idea!!!
I’m really enjoying all the comments. What a wide range of ideas. My ex gives me $1,000 from his annual holiday bonus. I use that to buy for all five of our children and their grandparents. I use my holiday bonus check, approximately $350 to pay for my other holiday gifts, the paperboy, teachers, babysitter and special holiday meals. I don’t have to budget and I don’t have to charge for Christmas. I also use my couponing stockpile for stocking stuffers and gift baskets.
I try to stay between 7 and 10 gifts for my kids…yes I know that seems excessive compared to some people. However, this includes cheap gifts like new blankets, hats, sleds, books, etc. I grew up not celebrating Christmas and I enjoy seeing my children having a great day.
Well we really dont have a budget on christmas gifts but I actually do A LOT of christmas shopping a few days after christmas when all the christmas sets and things are very much on sale (for relatives). As for my son, I like to save about $5 a week for a few months also I saved a lot of giftcards I got from target… We try to give him a good Christmas because we are the only ones buying gifts for him.
We aim to spend the following:
$35-$100 on each other (depending on the year…)
$20 or less per child (2 years old and 5 months old)
$35 per siblings and spouses (5 total)
$40-$50 per parent (4 total)
$25 or less per niece/nephew (2 total)
$10 per grandparent (3 total)
$10 per girlfriend (5 total)
$10 for husband’s work gift exchange
$5 or less per husband’s immediate co-workers (5 total)
$10-$15 for our pastor & wife
Our budget for gifts has changed over the years. But the one thing that is a priority is paying cash! I use some credit cards to get better deals/rewards, but ALWAYS pay them off when the bill comes.
We have a weekly amount that we hold back throughout the year and it is used for every gift that we may need to purchase. This year we didn’t have as many showers or other unexpected gift giving, so we are spending more on our children for Christmas.
Our children are adults who are living on their own and are in need of more practical things for their homes. So our gifts reflect that and are not just extravagant, but more on the necessity side.
In addition to paying cash, we also made sure that giving to Compassion children and donating shoe boxes of gifts to Operation Christmas Child were high on the priority list.
I am a nurse and only work 2 months in the fall, very part- time giving flu shots. All of that money is designated for Christmas money. Usually about $1500 dollars. It goes for all things Christmas, celebrating, dining out, parties, presents, etc. We are fairly frugal throughout the year and don’t buy much for ourselves, except the necessities. Christmas, we feel, is our time to splurge. We spend usually $75 or less each on our 2 kids ages 3 and 5. Our little one 18 months, we spend about $20. We spend $300-400 each on my husband and I. Extended family we probably spend about $200-300. It is our time to feel a little more free with our spending and “celebrate” the holidays. We always make it a priority as well, to share with others, because we truly have been blessed with so much!
My Christmas budget is $300.00 and I’m going to easily be under that. Almost done, except for the baking, and only have spent $180. I have a teenage daughter, mom, dad, step dad, step mom, g’ma, two aunts, sister, brother in law, 3 nieces, 1 nephew and some extended family that are getting baked goodies. I have used a lot of swagbucks to get gift cards, CVS has had some great deals, going to make up baskets with the freebies. Freebies in the mail are great stocking stuffers. And don’t forget the yardsales all year long. Got some great books and movies from church sales as well. This year I’m giving back to my community with donations to the food bank and my local meals on wheels. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night 🙂
Zero! We only give homemade gifts that we can make for free.
This year we are giving snowman kits to our nieces, and for our daughter we made a puzzle, etc.
What?
We are really tight this year but we celebrate Chanukah and Christmas. I made a couple gifts for my kids. Baked bread and apple butter for family and friends. I sold things on craigslist and bought some big ticket used toys. Shopped the big sales. Used my free $10 (2 of them) the Kohls sent out to buy clearance items… and all in all I think we will have a very good holiday for about $400 total.
$960 ($80/month). We buy for 5 children (two of them ours) and 8 adults (none of them us). I’ll come in a little under budget this year.
My husband and I finance our gifts to each other however we can (free money from surveys, setting some aside whenever there’s a little extra “allowance”, etc.)
We set aside money every month and budget around $2,000 for Christmas. It seems like a lot, but that includes a large chunk for adopting a needy family for Christmas, doing Operation Christmas Child (we do at least three boxes and pay for shipping), small gifts for teachers, the mailman, and the newspaper delivery person, and any other miscellaneous gifts. We may go a little overboard at Christmas with buying toys for the kids, but we don’t really buy them much during the year, so it is a special time of spoiling. I love having the money put aside to spoil my husband, too, since we use Christmas money to make purchases of more expensive “toys” (which are generally practical in nature, but not necessities).
What is an appropriate gift for the newspaper delivery person? I have no idea what to give.
We get our mailman one of those gift cards to the restaurant chains: Chilis, On the Border, Macaroni Grill – in hopes that some other people do the same and he can pick the restaurant he likes. Actually last year I got him an Arch card because I always see the mailmen at the local McDs for lunch. In his thank you he said he was one of them 🙂
Thanks, Alison!
We set a budget of $75 for our son… but spent $125 and will probably save $50 worth of gifts for his birthday. We set budgets of $50 for each other this year (down from $200 last year that was loosely enforced). We spent close to $10 each on our 4 parents. I buy gifts for two close friends, my husband does not. I set their budgets at $20 because I know that’s what they will spend on mine and I think that is only fair. I’m making blankets for one grandmother and one young girl cousin. I plan to make either cookie dough or apple butter for the other grandmothers.
So our total is around $250 including any last minute gifts we run out to buy because we will inevitably forget someone.
We have a family of 7: 5 kids and 2 adults. We also buy for my mom, my younger brother and sister, and we send gifts to about 6 far-away relatives.
We used to WAY overspend on the Holidays, by waiting until the last minute to buy. However, in the past 2 years we have saved a ton of money and stress by shopping and budgeting throughout the year. This year, nearly all our gifts were purchased by Thanksgiving. We spent approximately $500 on EVERYTHING. Much of the toys for the kids were purchased very inexpensively, or free– using store promotions such as spend x-dollars, get $10 off your next purchase. These types of promos happen all the time if you shop at multiple stores, so it’s easy to rack up a lot of free items purchased with store credits.
Also, we did quite a bit of shopping on ebay this year. My oldest daughter really wants a Leapster Explorer for Christmas. In stores, the deluxe bundles cost around $200– and only come with 2 games. I picked one up on eBay for about $95, including lots of extra accessories, and 5 brand new games, which retail at $25-30 each. I also bought one of my other daughters a HUGE lot of Barbie accessories, including 2 doll houses. Retail cost on all of it would have been around $350. I paid $90 for all.
We bought 16-cent ceramic tiles (x 30 of them), to make kid hand-print coaster sets for all the far away relatives. 5 kids’ handprints on 5 tiles, bundled together with pretty ribbon= 1 personal set of drink-coasters that relatives will love. We also took advantage of online photo print offers and scored $90 worth of photos to send to relatives– all for around $18 bucks.
Much of the money we used to purchase our gifts was money that I made by selling various unwanted household items throughout the year. I stored up the funds in my Paypal account as I sold items, so when I needed to take advantage of time-sensitive great deals, the money was there and ready. In addition, we budget $20/month for gifts.
By shopping throughout the year, and planning ahead, we saved a bundle! I will NEVER go back to the stress of last-minute again. :0)
We celebrate Hannukah, which last 8 nights! Typically each child gets a gift everynight. To stay on budget, I buy each child one “big” gift ($50 budget) the first night. The other 7 nights I do small things, like a coloring book or piece of candy.
We do something a little different- one night is a dinner with friends, one night we go to a Hanukkah party and one night we do a service project (toys for tots, food bank, winter coat drive, etc…) so that leave five nights for gifts. The kids are 10, 3 and 1 so the little ones are easy and I probably spent $25 on them for $200 worth of presents by dealing with sales, etc… and my stepson only wanted one thing but it was $100 so that is his present. It is a good thing that I bought ahead because we were hit with huge unexpected expenses last month and any gift money was gone. My husband and I are rebuilding our emergency fund so we are not giving each other gifts this year. When the fund is rebuilt we will do something fun together to celebrate so we have that to look forward to.
About $1500 for each other, our 1 child, both sets of parents, 3 siblings, 1 adult sibling in an exchange, 8 nieces and nephews, my grandparents, a few co-workers, and a few neighbors.
I do almost all my christmas shopping the day after christmas online. So dec 26th 2010 I bought all the gifts for this christmas for secretaries, teachers and most of my family members. I do this every year because I can get great gift baskets for almost nothing and great deals on everything else. I end up spending very little for a great gift. OOP for teachers and coworkers is no more than $5. I have a small family so I spend $50-75 on each of my two girls, nothing on my husband, $30-50 each on three siblings and $40-50 on each parent. Any other family members(grandparents, aunts, uncles) get updated pictures of the girls. I also reuse all gift bags(I have not bought bags in years!) and only buy paper after christmas when it is on sale
This is such an individual choice. Based on the year and how well we’ve done, our budget changes. But we buy for a lot of people outside of our 3 children, 5 nieces and nephews, three grandparents and three great-grandparents. We have secret santas, grab bags, CCD teacher gifts, regular teacher gifts (x3), three Jesse tree gifts through our church and six godparents. Plus about 15 other friends and family that buy for us and our children. I agree that gift giving has gotten out of control (as you can see from our list), but I would never spend anything we couldn’t afford, and the truth is I love it. I really love buying for others, wrapping, and generally feeling merry 😉 Look at your income, and make an informed decision about what you can do. And remember, no one would turn up their nose at good ole’ homemade baking! Good Luck!
I guess I’m lucky since the only person I have to buy for is my daughter. I do not buy for any family what so ever. I spent $125 this year on my daughters Christmas gifts, which was much better than the $700 I dropped last year for an Xbox 360 and Kinect plus games.
Wow! I feel really extravagant. I probably spend $2000 – $3000 at Christmas. This includes gifts for needy children and toys for tots, etc. However, I spoil my loved ones rotten. It’s really unnecessary, but I feel blessed to be able to do it.
We purchase gifts for 21 people and our budget will be about $3,000. That sounds like a lot compared to everyone else who has commented but it fits into our budget, we use cash, get good deals, and really enjoy spoiling people like our parents. My husband and I both find a ton of joy in giving, so it’s totally worth it!
Married, mid-twenties, no kids, paying for medical school: Excluding my husband and I, we purchase for 11 adults and 4 children in our family, and then I make something little for my five close girlfriends. For our Christmas cards, I make postcards and have them printed at Office Max for $0.17 a sheet (4 on a page!). We easily stay under a $500 budget, but are probably able to give at least $800-$1000 worth of gifts – thank you sales and Swagbucks 😉
Looking at my Christmas shopping spreadsheet (please tell me someone else out there loves Excel as much as me!) from the last three years, these are the averages:
Spouse: $80-100
Parents (x4): $30-35 each
Married Siblings (2 couples): $15-20 per couple
Single Sibling (x1): $25
Nieces/Nephews (x4): $10-15 each
Close Friends (x5): $5 each
‘Secret Santa’ for extended family (x2): $15 each
Christmas Cards (64 cards at $0.33 each for printing + postage): $21
Hope that is helpful! 😉
Yay for Excel! Yes, I too, have a Christmas spreadsheet. However, this year I moved it to Google docs so that I could share it with my husband more easily! 🙂
We save each month throughout the year. This year we had a budget of $1600 for Christmas. This includes gifts for our immediate family, parents on both sides, neices/nephews, teacher gifts, Christmas cards and stamps, food and ingredients to cook for the many Christmas functions we attend, babysitters for a couple of Christmas parties, ornaments or dirty santa gifts for parties, any new decor and wrapping, any craft supplies for the kiddos, and a generous amount to spend on a family (or individuals) in need. We are a family of five.
I completely agree that you should spend what you can and don’t feel guilty if it isn’t what others spend. That being said… We get the kids $120 each (X2kids) we have the same fake tree as last year. We don’t send cards. $70 buys a photo calendar for all parents and grandparents and great-grandparents. As far as giving to each other… we get what we need and we are SUPER thankful for it. It’s usually a lot of money but we can’t justify it the rest of the year. My husband sells some of his vacation back so we paid cash for me to get a new double oven, upright freezer, vent-a-hood, dishwasher, and work surface. Just make sure you aren’t going into debt… I know A LOT of people that “buy Christmas” on credit. It isn’t a good plan.
My parents had the same fake tree for 20 years—and then they gave it to us! We eventually replaced it after several more years when it started shedding more needles than a real tree. Real trees start at $80 for a tiny one where we live (plus, I’m allergic to them) so having a fake tree (and a fake wreath) is nice because it doesn’t cost us each year.
I agree with the fake tree – I’m also allergic so we have to use a fake tree. My parents’ fake one is long-gone but I found a really inexpensive pre-lit tree last Christmas that I’m hoping lasts a long time. Killing two birds with one stone – avoiding an allergy attack and lowering stress for my husband who gets really stressed over stringing lights on the tree each year!
We had a fake tree growing up too. A wood stove was our primary heat source and the real trees dried out way too fast and were a fire hazard. It didn’t smell as nice but it stayed green until December 25th 🙂
Real trees in our area are not quite as much…we could get a very decent real tree for $40…though they always have trees that go for $80 and up! We had always bought real trees…my husband loved the smell and didn’t mind watering it daily. However, after hearing my sisters horror story of 2 years in a row, getting real trees, putting them up, and then coming down the next moring to find that the warmth of the house caused some unseen spider eggs to hatch over night, had convinced me we needed a fake tree! I don’t do spiders…ever!!!! Fortunately this happened to her and not me! 🙂
So last year, about 2 weeks before Christmas, we took a trip to Lowes to check out fake trees. At first we thought we waited too long cause the tree we wanted was completely sold out! When the sales guy told my husband that, my husband asked him how much they would sell the floor model to us for. After talking with his manager, he came back with an offer….$25 for the floor model!!!! This was a $140 tree!!! I couldn’t believe our luck! The sales guy then told us that they no longer had the box for the tree….no big deal….they had huge plastic Christmas Tree storage bins on sale for $15! So, for what we would normally spend on a real tree, we got a fake one along with a storage bin! This is our second year with our fake tree and it has now officially paid for itself! LOVE this tree!
well, we save all year as well. i budgeted about 1200 (plus another 400 for my adult daughters flight home), but since i LOVE to give i always go over a bit. i just can’t stop buying! i love the look on those 3 little (and two big) faces on christmas morning! we do not live near our families and don’t get many gifts from them so i feel like it’s up to me. We have only had the means to do this in the last few years after getting rid of our debt so we enjoy it. My husband and i both grew up with far less so we feel blessed.
I think this is so individual, and it is really had to budget! Christmas can be such fun and it’s hard to not get carried away! I’m enjoying reading other people’s budgets.
This year, we have $120 budgeted for our family name draw on my husband’s side (1 person for each in our 4-member family – there are a total of 29 in his immediate family – really – and it would be way too much otherwise) and another $100 for everything else, including postage, cards, wrapping, shipping, etc. I bought 2 games for $11 total and then I got a full Lego set for my son and a Barbie set for my daughter both in the box with all the pieces each from a friend who was cleaning out – they were free to me! My kids will get those things and I made them each a custom pillow case, a tutu for my daughter and a crown for my son from things I had at home.
I make homemade gifts (cocoa mix, cookies, hand or foot scrubs, etc.) for friends and teachers, etc. and package them in a thrift store basket ($0.25 to $0.50) with tissue paper that I have on hand. This year, my children’s teacher is diabetic so I’m making her foot scrub and giving her a pair of fuzzy slipper socks that I bought on clearance for $0.50 in her $0.25 basket! Add a homemade ornament from the kids and a note from us thanking her for her work and we have a $0.75 gift for their teacher!
We usually make a donation to our favorite charities for each other and our parents, since we all really don’t feel like we need anything. That money comes out of a separate “giving” fund that we have.
Other years we’ve spent way more than this, but this is where we’re at right now!
The main thing is not to go into debt!
Actual numbers depend on your family size, extended family expectations, tradition, etc.
I will admit that we often go over our budget a little (but not in debt), but I have never regretted being generous to others. If we do go over, it comes out of another category, and since Christmas is at the end of the year, it’s easy to see which category we can “steal” from (we budget on a yearly basis).
In general, we probably spend about $100 or less per child and each other. I don’t really know, actually. I focus on more on what gifts they need/want and what I want them to have – and making it LOOK equitable for the kids! Many gifts I buy way ahead on clearance, so the $ amount for one kid might be quite different from another’s.
Extended family: we do about $50 for my in-law parents each, and $50 for one name-drawn in-law sibling. On my side, we don’t draw names. I have 9 siblings, most with families, and spend less than $50 TOTAL on them all. Lots of bargain shopping, or small items like ornaments and good quality chocolate! It’s always fun to see what everyone comes up with! About $25 or less for my each of my parents. This year it will be less, as part of our gift will be to get Chinese take-out for one meal when we are all together to ease the burden on my mother, who won’t get out of the kitchen otherwise.
Sometimes we do a cousin exchange for the kids, but never got around to it this year.
I’m all for group gifts for large families. The year we remodeled the kitchen, my husband and I did not buy each other anything.
Don’t forget to save some $ for after-Christmas wrapping paper clearance!
I’m all for spending more kids, and less on adults! That’s where the fun and the magic is! Plus, kids are easier to buy for, and as they tend to be much less picky than adults.
I love your idea of budgeting in the chinese food. Last year I had a big deli platter made up at my mom’s local grocery store. Everyone made sandwiches and ate them on paper plates (free with coupons of course). The deli platter kept mom and grandma out of the kitchen and gave both of them more time to spend with me, my sisters, and my nephews (all of us now live out of state, so the time is more precious then the meal). This year my sisters won’t make it home, but I still plan to budget for a meal so that grandma and mom can relax a little and enjoy the holiday.
We have a large family and lots of kids and their spouses and grandkids so I set aside $85 every month all year long. I shop all year whenever I see a nice item on sale or clearance. I keep a small notebook in my purse and every person gets listed at the beginning of the year and as I buy gifts I write them in the notebook. Having the money coming into the budget all year allows me to have the funds to do this.
We have spent about $150 total so far and just have some picture frames left to buy (will spend a toal of about $15 on those). This is to buy for 6 children total (4 of whom are ours), and 13 adults. This also includes 3 birthdays that come right at Christmas and filling boxes for some children. We buy things all year long on sale and use daily deals and swagbucks to help.
My husband and I spend about $120 on each of our two girls. We budget another $300 or so for family members – two sets of parents, four siblings and their spouses, and , and eleven nieces and nephews. I make ornaments to give to neighbors, co-workers, and grandparents. So all in all, we budget $500 for Christmas.
This year my husband and I did more than normal.
We spent $200 on extended family (which is around a dozen people) and it was mostly spent on gift cards.
We spent around $75 on each other.
DD is only 4 months so we aren’t getting her anything. We know the grandparents will probably go overboard anyways.
We don’t live near any of our relatives so about a dozen Christmas cards went out. I guess that’s around $6 postage. The cards I’ve had on hand for years.
HTH!
I agree with the other commenters… spend what feels right for you. Make a list and figure out who you wish to give gifts to, then come up with a reasonable amount to spend. It may take a year or two to work the kinks out of the system, but you will eventually know exactly what to budget. We give gifts to my parents, brother and sis-in-law, averaging about $50 each.We draw names in my husband’s family, $35 for each adult and then we give $25 to all the children (there are five). Other gifts on our list are in the $15 – $15 range. For our son, we only buy what seems reasonable. When he was a baby, it was very little as he really didn’t know. As he got older, we let him choose one big thing to receive and maybe had a few stocking gifts (books, etc.). Now that he is in college, his gifts are really necessities: a new winter coat, boots, long johns, scarf, and gloves because he has chosen to go to school in the mountains.
My husband and I give some things to each other, but these are usually “needs”, too… such as shoes or a nice coat etc. Occasionally we splurge and get a surprise – last year I received an iTouch that was bought during a special at Target where we received a gift card to cut the price.
For teachers, neighbors, and ministers, we donate to a local charity in their name. I make gifts when I can and search for bargains all year. We save all year to meet our Christmas budget and then use a credit card that gives us points for vacations, etc.
$350, which covers $50 for the myself, my husband, and each of our 3 kids, plus $50 for two on my family’s side (we draw names), plus $10 each to cover photos and shipping for grandparents and great-grandparents and $10 for my two small nieces. We fund our Christmas envelope in October, so I can watch for deals. We try to give our kids toys that encourage imaginative play and that they can share easily. I also made the “big gifts” for our kids and their cousins this year, so that made the money stretch even farther. We do a lot of baking and brought a big basket of goodies to my parents’ house last Christmas.
In the past we usually spent about $20 on each person. Our kids are really little and get lots of gifts so we haven’t really spent anything on them yet. We buy for each other, our siblings (and spouses), parents, 1 niece, and 2 grandparents.
This year, however, we moved to California. After a lot of thought, we decided to spend our Christmas gift money to get home to see our families. Travel is expensive, and the best gift we could give our families was to be there with them for Thanksgiving. I’ll probably try to do some sort of “free” gifts, but no shopping this year.
4 kids, 4 parents, 4 nieces, 2 work friends +Christmas cards we send out = $500ish. Also, my husband and I do not buy each other gifts.
We have $20 from husbands check put into a Christmas club account. So 52 weeks would be $1020. This year we had to dip into it at the 1/2 way mark for a new water heater. Then right before it paid out, I hit a deer, so there went some more for the deductible. We had $300 left after that so that is pretty much our budget this year. I told my husband I was happy with a fixed van and he said he was happy with hot showers so the rest will be spent on the kids. My siblings and I have a “don’t buy for us and we won’t buy for you” agreement.
It seems I’m a much bigger spender than others – we do about $200 per child :).
If you are a much bigger spender than I am a much, much, much bigger spender!
I only spend that “little” 😉 cuz my husband reins me in :). If it were solely up to me, that amount would be much, much higher!
You spend what works for your family!
I wish what worked for me worked for my hubby too ;).
Don’t feel bad. I was beginning to after reading all these posts. We are about the same!
Thanks, Kristen. I was beginning to feel bad after reading the other posts too, but thankfully that didn’t last very long :).
We spend $300 on our kids including stocking.. Once Santa is revealed than we will cut back some… Some on here make me sad. How do you give your child a handmade gift each year? This is Christmas. You can go to $5 or below and get them something cool..
Are they home schooled? I’m guessing when they’re not around a bunch of other kids, etc. , it doesn’t seem like any big deal if they just get one small, homemade gift. Again, just guessing.
WE did all homemade gifts last year. We were out of work so we had to be creative. My6 kids had a blast thinking up things that their siblings would enjoy. We actually didn’t buy them anything becasue we couldn’t for one and they get so much from grandparents. My kids thoroughly enjoyed Christmas and were thrilled with what their siblings made for them. I agree that you could get something cheap, but is that what it is really about?? Buying stuff??
Alicia, I feed my family of 8 for $3 a day. Handmade gifts are the way to go for us. I just don’t have the $5 to spend; our income has been cut 70%. Why would a handmade gift be something sad? I have made my daughters dresses. I have made dress-up clothes, pajamas, toys, jewelry, bookmarks and more. I do handmade gifts for birthdays, too. If you want to see some of the gifts I’ve given for birthdays this year, you can see photos here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/Birthdays.aspx
I’m working on tutorials right now for some of the gifts I’m making this year : a composition book cover (Christmas gift) and a velvet rose scarf (December birthday gift).
Since I have 6 children, it’s a lot of handmade gifts, but there is always something that they need or want that I can do. The real budgeting for me is budgeting my time!
I love getting handmade gifts! To me it means somebody was thinking of me the whole time they were making it and that’s very special to me. My daughter just turned 11 recently. One of her friends made her a little bag. My 12 year old son looked at it and said, “Wow. She could really use more pracitce sewing.” My daughter replied, “Yes, she probably could but she got pracitce while sewing this one. And, she made it just for me. That’s why it’s special!” To me having kids with that attitude means way more to me than being able to buy them gifts. That bag won’t hold up as well as some designer bag but my daughter’s friend will probably make her another one and get more pracitce then and my daughter will get the joy of having another new, special, personalized bag.
So I’ll be honest here…my husband and I make well into the six figures so I’m not overly concerned about our Christmas budget. That said, I was really surprised that you think homemade gifts are sad. I grew up below the poverty line. My mom was a wonderful seamstress so all of my dresses were home-made. She is also very “crafty” and has made beautiful, fun things for me throughout my life. The one I remember most was a huge dollhouse she had found at a yard sale. She meticulously decorated the rooms by hand. She made tiny rugs, found/made little photos for artwork, made little quilts for the beds and even made, glazed and fired a set of pottery dishes. I can’t even imagine how much it would cost these days but it was something that Pottery Barn would sell.
I would much prefer a beautifully crafted piece of art (and that’s what these were) than an el cheapo $5 gift from Wal-Mart.
In past years, we have spent between $400 and $500 each on our three children, ages 17, 12 and 4. This year, due to a move to another state, and a huge paycut, we are no longer able to spend that much. Fortunately, my parents have taken care of Christmas for us this year. I know it is an excessive amount to spend, but I feel like this is the one time of the year that I can splurge on my children and give them the things they really want. As they get older, the gifts they want become more expensive also.
I don’t think homemade gifts are the least bit sad. 🙂 In fact, it is a treasure to open something and know that someone spent TIME thinking of you and making it. That makes you a rich child!
I’m of the belief that it is far SADDER to grow up thinking that you should buy yourself something to make you feel better. Sadder YET is having parents who buy you everything under the sun, and then have financial stress for months afterward because of the choice. It is a gift to teach children that there are realities, and limits, and that we can have joy overflowing within our boundaries.
Prudent Homemaker, hats off to you!
I agree. There is nothing sad about homemade gifts. My favorites are the gifts my children make for me. But also wanted to clarify my above post. Even though we chose to spend quite a bit on Christmas for our children, it is not a financial burden for months. Everything we buy is paid for with available funds. We do not use credit cards to purchase Christmas gifts.
300 for gifts this year. That included all the gifts we gave for every event. I gave two baby shower gifts this year, gifts for my two nieces’ birthdays and two birthday party gifts that my daughter went to. My kids are 5 and 1 years old and they each get 3 gifts plus a book and a stocking of goodies. My husband and I don’t really exchange gifts but I do fill our stockings. His will get pj pants and a shirt he asked for and some beef jerky. For our parents, I made photo calendars and got them shipped for $4 apiece. These also go to a couple of close family friends. My kids no longer attend daycare since I quit my job but we are close with several of the teachers. I will drop off homemade gifts of sweets that I made last year that were specifically requested by them.
Because my husband loves to spend,spend,spend on Christmas gifts, we easily spend at least $2,000 every year on Christmas gifts. This ruins the holiday for me because I abhore commercialism and excess. (Yes, I have talked to him about it, but he just doesn’t see it the way I do.)
I spend many hours each year hand-knitting and creating special personal gifts for family members and close friends. This is my way of showing people how much I care and is the message I hope to pass along to our children.
I’m so glad to hear that I am not the only wife with a husband who loves to spend, and spend more as well. We spend about $1500-2000 as well. My husband loves to spoil the kids (3), and me. We also buy for 1 grandma, 3 parents, 1 brother, my husbands work, teacher, mail man, garbage men, babysitter ect. I like to help people feel appreciated at the holidays. We do save during the year as well.
We’re in the same boat. I think it’s because he would feel so guilty spending it in June, for instance, because I could say…”There’s no reason to buy that!!”. So now he just gets to say…”But it’s Christmas!” Whatever!
hmm my other half is similar and i understand your position. I so detest the commercialism and excess at Christmas. My hubby seems to think it’s about what he wants (we do not have kids)… he wants to do big gifts every year. It’s a struggle for me. He is pretty anti-budget in general so if there is any money he likes to spend it. I share my thoughts with him and try my best to step back and let the Lord work in him in these matters.
My husband is exactly the same! We have three boys and he spends huge amounts of money on their gifts. It makes me cringe every time I see him on the computer during Christmas time, because I know he is probably ordering something for them. We have talked about spending less, but he won’t budge.
I budget everything every month so I take $75 out each month and put it in savings and buy throughout the year….
1-Parents 3x$50
2-Siblings 3x$25
3-Grandparents 3X$25
4-Family Draw 3x$25
5-Good friend’s kids and my cousin’s children: Used gifts from my Target clearance stash so no OOP this season but typically $15 each
6-Me/Hubs–$0 this year to help save for new flooring upstairs where our cats ruined a section of carpet This is common that we don’t buy for each other….we rarely do bday, anniversary, valentines….just usually a card. We’d rather save the money for other things than buy more *stuff* for ourselves.
7-Teachers at preschool–usually I do an ornament or something handmade–this year I am giving Mudpie Christmas Tree candles left over from clearance last year that my mom bought me ($0 OOP!) to all of the auxillary teachers and I made purses for 2 main teachers. 2x$15 (purses)
8-Children 2X$Varies–We do 3 gifts from Santa and we do not give them additional gifts from ourselves. Their grandparents shower them with gifts so we don’t feel it is necessary to give the more stuff. This year each child is getting a bike/trike that I bought last January when the bikes at Target went half price. My older son is getting Legos, my younger son is getting a Fisher Price laptop type toy and they are getting a combined toy of a Step 2 Slide for indoor use. The total OOP for all including what I spent last year on the bikes is $183 for both boys.
9-Neighbors–this year $0, in the past I have given….this year I’m not.
So total OOP for gifts in 2011: $630ish. Add one box I had to ship (but included birthday presents in it as well) and it would be $650
If I add in the clearanced toys I bought throughout the year for 5 children, it would be more like $675
Not included is wrapping paper, tags, etc. I re-use most of my bags and I only buy paper when it is 50-75% off at Target after Christmas. I have most of my shopping done by Thanksgiving since we travel and a majority of our recipients are out of town so it cuts down on additional shipping costs if I just drop their gifts off when I see them.
I budgeted $700 this year, but hope to come in closer to $600. We have 4 kids (4 months, 2, 4, and 7). The older ones, I spent $50-100, about $25 on the baby, just so the other kids don’t feel bad for him! Then I budgeted $30 each for my husband’s parents and siblings, as well as our nieces and nephew (my side of the family doesn’t do adult gifts). I also budgeted $75 for stocking stuffwrs. I’ve never done that before, but they always kill my budget! Christmas spending is very different for different families and situations.
A lot. We save all year in a separate account. We put about $4500 away all year, BUT that buys any and all gifts and cards for the entire year – not just Christmas (Christmas is about 1/2). We buy for a lot of family members all year long and go to many birthday parties, baby showers, etc. We also do not buy things for our kids except for gift giving occasions (Christmas, birthday, Easter), and they get practical stuff too. That fund also buys our tree, and pays for our children’s birthday parties.
We budget $150 a month x 12, plus we always get about $300 in gift cards from our credit card points. (We always pay off our CC every month and Never pay interest, late charges or a fee) The budget for Christmas includes gifts, some decorations, Christmas tree, shipping, baking, hostess gifts, etc.
My family is definitely in the minority here. We spend a lot more, compared to other posts, on Christmas. We save on every day things all year to be able to splurge some on Christmas. We have 20+ people we buy for each year. We don’t budget an amount for our children, instead it is a list of items. One toy/fun item, one pair of pajamas, one outfit, and one larger item that they “need”. This year it is helmets for riding a go-cart that was given to us. Last year it was a big lots bookcase for their room. We also give them random things like socks, underwear, free items I have collected, books, etc from Santa.
The other members are all a set amount. I shop the deals and give them what I can get for that amount. Many times they get double or triple the amount due to sales. If I acquire gift cards they are give as gifts or used to buy the items I want to buy people. We have very large/close family and friend groups and love to buy for them. We never spend more than we can afford. Some people on our list are people we bless us all year with extra help/goodies and this is our way of saying thank you.
All total I estimate we spend $1500-$2000 out of pocket depending on “free” money we acquire.
We try to stick to $500-600. Broken down that is:
$30 for each of 4 parents
$20-25 for each of our 7 adult siblings
$15 for each of other extended (gma, aunt, neice, etc)
$30 for each of our two children
$40-50 for each other
We scaled it back in the last couple of years and it’s not likely to increase, or go much lower either. We don’t gift to any friends or receive from friends. It adds up to about 18 people which is a lot. I would rather exchange names with some siblings, and go to just cards for grandmas and aunts, but others in the family don’t want to so….I’ll bring it up next year perhaps. 🙂
During the year, birthdays are $20 for siblings, $30 for parents, $20 for Mother’s/Father/s Day, $40 for immediate family members’ birthdays
We budget $50 for each kid (2), $20 each for siblings and parents (10), and $200 each for each other. Our anniversary is the 29th, so we do a combined gift and sometimes it goes toward a trip away instead of actual gifts. I give the grandparents pictures and they seem very happy with that, since they have everything else anyways. I’ve tried to keep it as low key as possible, and try to have all my shopping done by Halloween! I find I get better deals because I have time to shop around and not have to settle because I waited too long.
We have increased our budget this year, as we have greater means, and will spend $1500. We have 3 children, each other, 2 sets of parents, 2 grandmothers, 2 aunts, 3 nieces and nephews, work friends, stockings, gift wrap, stamps, cards, one teacher and 8 daycare providers. It’s a lot, but giving generous gifts at this time of year is something we look forward to all year long.
We have a tight budget, so we did around $5 per person this year (extended family). Its amazing what you can find for cheap when you start early and look much! And $20 for our daughter.
Our situation is similar. Being newlyweds and both in college, our budget isn’t much. We budgeted $100 total for both sides (13 on my side, 13 on his). Crazy, I know, but we are doing homemade gifts for his side and we did “couple gifts” for my siblings and their spouses. Our gifts for each other are separate, and more than likely we will use Swagbucks (Amazon giftcards) to make those purchases.
Wow. I wish I could keep our Christmas simple. In fact I was talking with a friend today about how much I hate Christmas (yep said it). I wish it was just about Jesus’ birth, but it is sadly not.
We have 14 (my hubs, 3 kids, 4 grandparents, 1 “aunt”, 4 siblings/in-law) people to shop for. We spend about $1200. This includes christmas cards, photo books & this year we took professional family pictures for gifts as well. We cut down a tree and I only buys wrapping paper after christmas. I start shopping in october, because we have way too much going on the the rest of the year. We live in a small town and I only get to a big town 1-2 times a month, which narrows down what price I pay – usually full, unless I can find it online better.
I’ve asked before if we could draw names with family for just do our kids (since we are the only ones with kids right now), I got shot down. So I can’t wait until they all have kids and want to change this ;).
I’m pretty crafty with the women in the group, but the men we have to buy for. There is not a single thing I could make them.
To me the whole commercialization of Christmas has really made me feel bah humbug about it. I LOVE giving gifts, but not like this at Christmas.
$100 for each of us to spend on each other (which hardly gets used up) and no more than $150 together for everyone else = about $350 total. I shop by coupons only. If I don’t have a coupon for that store, I will not shop there. This year was great because I had World Market, JCP, Michael’s, Target coupons and much more. So I got to have the “feel” of running around town doing holiday shopping, without the anxiety of spending lots of money.
We budget between 2,000 to 4,000
Our order of priorities is as follows:
First gift goes to: http://www.desiringgod.org normally earmarked for theological material for Africa, Northern Europe & LATAM
Second Gift goes to:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/East-Africa-Ventures/177317932313972
To facilitate microfinance for women in Sudan
Third gift will go to:
http://reachouthonduras.org/
Alex and Laura have a magnificent heart for orphans
The gifts for every child we know under 10 will come from:
http://www.gfa.org/gift/
Goats, bunnies and bikes. The good news will be delivered with a representative trinket celebrating the joy of giving.
If you have a kiddo who has saved to buy a little animal for the poor during xmas you can let me know via email and I will try my best to match their gift God willing I can match a few. my email is [email protected]
Please don’t compare yourself to others. Do what feels right to you.
Great question! For two years, I saved ALL of the Christmas receipts from candy, to stamps, shipping, gifts, and wrapping paper, etc. Based on what I actually spent, this year we settled for a conservative budget based on the last two year’s numbers. In January, we decided to start saving in June, $50/month, $300 total.
This year we budgeted $500- $100 a piece for myself, husband and each child then $100 to split between everyone else (mainly just parents and grandparents). This is pretty high for us, but we don’t shop for ourselves throughout the year. We budget out $10 a week for gifts- includes bdays, showers, etc. Out budget changes each year though. $500 was the bonus we got this year so that’s what we went with. We usually only use some kind of extra money we receive (like bonuses, tax return, swagbucks earnings, etc). We don’t always spend up to our budget either. We have gotten tighter and budgeted better every year since we got married, so I expect the amount to continue to decline.
As close to free as possible! 🙂 I have bought throughout the year using coupons, swagbucks, and other earned gift cards and rewards. I really think gifts are overdone on Christmas (and so many kids are too darn spoiled as it is), so I really try to keep it simple.
Couldn’t agree more. My husband and I are both doctors. We had many many years of school, and only a few of what is an extremely good income by almost any standard. Both of us grew up with limited means- having less then, helped us be content through poverty. Our children certainly do not go without, but they have much much less than any child in our town. But they are a creative resourceful crew!!
I loved reading through each of these. I will make sure to save throughout the year next time so we’re not hit so hard in December.
$50 each for each parent (4 of them)
$40 on a gift for the two of us
$40 each for each sibling (2 total)
$30 each for family Secret Santa (we’re giving 3 gifts)
$50 for miscellaneous (teachers, pediatrician, stocking stuffer, etc.)
$0 for our one-year-old (he doesn’t know the difference :P)
Grand Total: $450
We use our credit card for gifts so we get $$ back.
We aren’t giving (or receiving presents) this year.
It’s all being given away.
So far, we’ve done about $500. (We’re a family of 6.)
We buy for 13 people total.
Our grand total will be less than $75.
We keep things very simple. I have bought for 6 from our list so far and spent $0.14. (Thanks for rewards gift cards & sales combined for Kohl’s, Pier 1, etc) Most of the gifts I have left to get I will be making.
Similar, I spent $107 for 12 people. A few gifts were hand-made, some were entirely ‘free’ (swagbucks GCs, small business saturday, et cetera); this allowed me to pay more for some gifts I just couldn’t get a deal on. It all evens out to be worth about the same, but I don’t SPEND a particular amount on each person.
We bugeted $300.00 this year, but we are working our way to be debt free, so we are “Living like no one else, so we can later live like no one else”-Dave Ramsey, eventually we will be able to give more.
We buy gifts for our daughter, both sets of parents, my husband’s sister, her husband, and each other-so 9 people. We budget $75 per person and often go over that on gifts for each other. We don’t buy birthday gifts or mother’s day/father’s day gifts for our parents or my husband’s sister and her husband and we spend around $40 for birthday gifts for our immediate family-3 people. So we probably end up spending $800 a year for bdays and Christmas.
we don’t have a rock solid budget for Christmas. we just look for deals all year round. i got a lot of things at black friday 2010, and have been keeping them in our storage area since then. other things the kids are getting are from years of shopping good deals at various stores.
We budgeted $1,200 for:
– 2 kids
– 3 sets of in-laws
– 2 sets of grandparents
– 1 niece and 1 nephew
– gift for our nanny
– 3 girlfriends
– each other
$0. I have 6 children. My husband and I do not buy for each other. I give home-canned goods to my grandmother and my parents.
Starting at the beginning of the year, I make two lists; one for birthdays and one for Christmas. As I think of things the children would like or that they need, I write these items down on the lists. They have to be things that I can make using items I have on hand. I usually come up with a couple of other items for which I don’t have materials; those are dependant upon my ability to get those things. If I have the ability to get something, then I will do it, but if not, it moves to the next year’s list or doesn’t happen.
This year my mom gave me some birthday money, which I saved for 6 months until there was a neighborhood garage sale. I was able to purchase a few supplies for making homemade gifts, including a leather apron ($1; used it to make a mountain man bag and a quiver for one child), a velvet shirt ($1, used it to turn into roses for a velvet rose scarf), a bag of corks ($2), using it to make bows and arrows, giant roll of waistband elastic ($2, using it to make pajama pants from an old flannel pillowcase and other fabric that I have; it will last a long time). I went to the garage sales that weekend specifically looking for some supplies for these gifts. I spent another .50 on a board book and a puzzle at one place. I bought a few wool sweaters for felting for gifts as well. ($3). The velvet and wool are technically birthday gifts for a December birthday.
Everything else is being made with items I have on hand already.
You are my idol!!!! If you are ever in Utah and want some free fabric scraps, let me know. I make slipcovers professionally, so I always have lots of scraps.
Wow! Sign me up for your “make it yourself” workshop. Oh, how I wish I knew how to sew. All of your homemade abilities are Wonderful!!!
My grandmother taught me some very basic sewing when I was a teenager, but all of my real sewing abilities have coe since getting married and having children. The more you practice (at anything!) the better you get!
When I first got married, I used to foolishly brag, “I know how to cook, but I can’t bake”–as if was something to be proud of! And then a few years later we had no income for 8 months, and guess what? No shopping for groceries for over a year, and I learned how to bake! Bread is so nice to have with soup from the pantry.
Just start! Have someone teach you if you can. Learn from books, from sewing blog tutorials, etc. I have learned a lot of sewing skills by reading, and then by doing it. I have learned by using my seam ripper often. In fact, last week I took a whole doll jacket apart after sewing it wrong–so I’m still learning!
You can learn new skills if you want to. Just decide what you want to learn first!
Oh, but you forgot to add the greatest gift: A creative mom who cares enough to craft a bountiful Christmas on a shoestring budget!
ahhh! Thanks!
We have a $0 budget as well! 🙂 but it will be a wonderful Christmas! We do very, very simple gifts for our 4 small children (thanks to many of your ideas and your website, Prudent Homemaker!)
It WILL be a wonderful Christmas, won’t it? Having a $0 budget doesn’t mean sadness.
Home canned gifts are great for some people – but I seem to be surrounded by people who do their own – and then it’s not so special! There are some people that I can do that for though.
It’s hard having kids’ birthdays in Dec, isn’t it? I have one in late Nov. and one on Dec 31st. Just requires more creativity, I guess.
Perhaps some homemade bread then? Or homemade sugar scrubs, or something else, like seasoned nuts, or homemade peppermint patties. I have several ideas on my site for homemade gifts that use items that you have that aren’t food gifts. You could download some free books for them to listen to, for example, or give them printed bookmarks or bookplates.
We are not very good at budgeting but we do try to plan on spending around $40 per grandchild and $50 per adult child. We have a huge Christmas shopping list. I think the numbers are low but my husband won’t budge. I have been trying for years to get him to allow me to up these amounts. Maybe I am the one who is ‘off’ not him so it would be nice to hear what others think.
When I think back to Christmas past, I can’t tell you much about the many toys/gifts I got from my grandparents. But I CAN tell you all about the fun camping times, trips to museums, learning how to can or “put up” peaches, watching/”helping” my Grandmother sew….I would suggest investing in time with your family as opposed to upping your budget amount. Maybe you already do those types of things. If so, keep it up!
Another thing to consider is where you are with retirement. My grandparents retired quite comfortably, because they lived drastically below their income level. As a grown daughter, I fear for my own parents, who are not following suit. I have asked my mother to scale back, because in truth, their retirement fund needs it more than me and my kids!
Ultimately, every family situation will be different. But open, honest communication with your spouse and adult children could be a great place to start. What are their expectations? Do they need/want the gifts, or would they rather do without? Or would they rather have that money go toward Experiences? Family trip to the aquarium? Ballet lessons for Suzy?
I love this reply. I also wish that my folks would spend less on the kids and more on experiences! They need to save for retirement and frankly, I don’t like the gifts she buys the kids very much. When I brought this up to her she replied that she gets so much joy from buying and giving that it is for her! I wish she’d cut back, but for now I have to smile and act grateful for the loads of ‘gifts’ (commercial licensed plastic junk) she doles out. We’d love a museum pass or a vacation that we all could take to spend time together rather than the toys.
In our family, I was finally able to convince my mother that the adult kids don’t need gifts at all. We can buy what we want. She feels freed up from shopping for my hard to buy for brothers and can now focus her efforts in the toy aisles! (I’m trying to convince her my kids don’t need more toys- but it isn’t going well)
Throughout the year I use a creditcard that offers a cashback bonus. Whatever the cashback bonus is by November is what I cash in and use as my budget.
This truly is a very personal decision, you need to base your budget on your financial ability as well as what other spending you do throughout the year. Budget what you can afford and what you deem appropriate for your situation.
Now that my son is almost 21, we don’t spend any money on him throughout the year even though he lives at home. For our 15 year old, we buy clothes in the spring & fall but otherwise don’t spend a lot of money on non-essentials.
At Christmas time I budget any where between $300 & $400 for each of my children. Given that we are taking a family vacation early next year we’re going on the lighter side this year. I also try to do pretty practical gifts. My daughter has been wanting an expensive hair straightener so that will be her big gift. She’s also getting a magazine, duffel bag, ornament, play ticket, etc. My son is getting some clothes & shoes, gas gift card, etc.
Our total Christmas budget is about $1,500 – $2,000 which seems very high compared to the rest of the commenters BUT we are in a different season of life. Our children are older, we are a two income family and we are financially able to give generously to our family which I enjoy doing. I don’t expect other family members to spend the same amount on me that I spend on them and I certainly don’t want to create any hardships for them.
There are many ways to give without creating financial hardships for yourself if you can get creative. One year my mother gave me a set number of housecleanings. If you are a terrific cook who can create inexpensive freezer meals, offer to cook them a set number of freezer meals giving them some options to choose from. What about a set number of Saturday night babysitting hours so a young couple can get some time away from the kids.
At the end of the day, the reasonable amount is what you can afford and want to give.
“At the end of the day, the reasonable amount is what you can afford and want to give.” Well put. I’ve never been bothered by inequities in purchase price of gifts. What has always mattered to me is the thought that goes into a gift. My daughter’s first Christmas my husband gave me a very nice watch (which I did need) and a Christmas ornament with a clay mold of my daughter’s hand. He was more excited to give me the $5 ornament. My mom used to spend much more on us at Christmas but now that my dad is a pastor and their income is nearly cut in half, she has to spend less. But we don’t feel any less loved. For me it’s always been about finding a gift I know someone will appreciate, regardless of price. The hard part is buying for people I don’t know well (like family members on my husband’s side). If we had more money I would definitely spend more on my husband. He never buys himself fun things because of how tight our budget is, so it is hard for me at Christmas not to want to splurge on him. Sometimes I find a way, but mostly I just accept that he will love whatever I give him, even if it isn’t expensive. I don’t think you should have feel the need to justify how much or how little you spend on Christmas for your family, that’s a matter of family culture. Though it is sad to spend the next 12 months paying several times over again for gifts that were purchased on credit. (I’m not criticizing, I know some families feel the need to do this, but ultimately it does end up costing more.)
I budget $80 a month for our entire gift budget so whenever I score great deals I do and put away. Target toy clearance, games coupons, etc. We have four kids and buy for 9 adults. If there is room in the budget we purchase one joint thing we have been wanting for ourselves. (Husband and I)
I meant that includes EVERY event we purchase gifts for. Not just Christmas is what goes into our Gift Budget.
This year we budgeted $1440 for Christmas(taking out $120 every month) That is for anything Christmas related. Christmas cards and stamps, decorations/lights, new outfit for christmas, work christmas parties, and then our families gifts. We have a huge family. I have 5 sisters and 2 brothers and my husband has 3 sisters and a brother plus they all have kids. It’s also for our extra giving like filling stockings for people at nursing homes, angel tree and any other giving we want to do. I like to have more than enough saved and I know we will have plenty left over to put back into our baby step 3 thanks to FPU.
Yes, it is hard to make a budget for your family at Christmas depending on the size and who is involved.
We budget around $1100 for Christmas.
We have four kids and budget $100 for each, however, I’m thinking we need to reevaluate this……with 7 sets of grandparents (including greats) plus numerous aunts and uncles, our family is blessed with many gift givers who love our children!
Then we budget $50 for each of our parents (I have a step-dad so there are 5 total)
$25 for each of our grandparents (6 total…. My husband is blessed to have BOTH sets of grandparents living…one who will be 90 at the end of the month! Both of my grandmothers are still kickin’ it too)
$20 for our nieces and nephews (5 total)
Sometimes we also buy for our kids’ cousins but it’s usually small, so around $10 for four kids.
Then $100 for both my husband and I.
I hate that we set aside so much for this holiday but it seems like it’s so hard to find anything nice for much less. I’m not the crafty, creative type so that makes it hard for DIY gifts.
But I always try to buy throughout the year when I see something on sale.
The hardest ones to buy for are definitely the parents and grandparents though, they have everything but yet I feel bad to take them off the list and not get them anything…….
I have found great freebies and cheapies on photo gifts that work great for parents and grand parents. I have been able to get Photo Mugs, Calendars, Pillows, Coasters to name a few. They seem to be the perfect gifts for the ones who have everything, but you still want to buy for. And they seem to love anything with pictures of their loved ones on them:)
Yes, I guess I should’ve mentioned that that’s about as creative as I get……photo books, which we tend to do every year since you can always find a great deal……just saw today on Snapfish, they are buy one get two free! I usually wait til they’re BOGO but this is even better, so I’ve started making one which they all always love and request. So this def helps in the gift giving for the grandfolks……
For the last 6 years I have been giving photo calendars featuring my kids (the only grandkids and nieces and nephew on both sides) to my grandmas, my sister and brother-in-law. That way they get a present that is thoughtful and they can use. It is hard to justify buying presents when you know they don’t need anything but this is a solution that works for us. I give calendars to both sets of grandparents but also give gifts.
Ditto! I was just making one for my mom and giving my dad a gift but when he heard that my mom was getting a personalized calendar he wanted on too. (They are divorced.) So that is one thing I never have to think about!
the snapfish calendar is probably the most looked forward to present. And with buy 1 get 2 free really cheap too. The best part is that you can put photos on the individual days, so everyone (including the animals) have a picture on their birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Plus we put last years pics on great days like halloween, christmas, first day of school, easter, beach trip week, etc. Money well spent
We budget $60 per month or $720 for Christmas. We spend about $100 each on our daughter and son-in-law and about $125 on our son who is still at home. The rest covers parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and a few other close friends. We try to get creative for each other, spending only $25-30 each on ourselves since we get money from the parents that we can use on the things we would like. A little of this fund also goes for the few decorations I might buy and special baking needs that I don’t normally keep on hand. I utilize as many store deals and coupons as possible to get the most bang for our buck!
This year we spent $350, that includes my son, husband and my extended family and his. 14 people in total. We also buy little gifts for people he works with, my son’s teachers and a few others. With that being said, I buy year round. I don’t wait until the Christmas season to purchase everything. For example, the gifts that we bought for teachers and co-workers are cute ornaments that I got for 50 cents each at Target last year! The best deal of the year was on Black Friday, I got a griddle, waffle maker and food processor for 34 CENTS before shipping at Kohls….
We put aside $100 each month into a Christmas account. This money is for gifts, the tree, Christmas cards, stamps, wrapping paper, etc. We also stopped the family gift exchange on my side of the family. On my husband’s side of the family we buy a gift for all the kids and draw two names for the adult gift exchange. ($75 each person). It usually doesn’t cover everything I would like to buy so I really have to set limits on how much I spend per person. I told the relatives I needed gift ideas for each child for $20 and under. Since I’m not going into debt for Christmas we make it work on what we can afford.
This is exactly what I do but I put aside much less. 🙂 It does work and keeps you focused. The only time I go over is if in December right before Christmas is if I have done well with grocery shopping and have some extra left over from may husbands pay period, I may pick up a few extra stocking stuffers or tape if I have ran out.
This year we spent $90 on pictures for all of our family, that covers 12 families! I am knitting scarves for my sis and her hubby this year, the other members have gotten their scarves over the years, so that’s about $10 for the yarn. For our three kiddos, we are spending $20 a kid so that’s $60. For my kiddo’s sunday school teachers I am giving jelly and a biscuit mix while should be under $30 for 8 teachers. And to each other my hubs and I are giving each other a date night each month for the next 12 months( my mom has donated free baby sitting to the cause) and those dates will come out of our monthly fun budget….so the gift of time!!! So that’s about $200 for everyone! Now our goal for giving this year was $500, but I think we will be closer to $1000……it’s just so much more fun to give to others when we have been blessed with so much!!! And we don’t NEED ANYTHING!!!
It’s so wonderful that you’ve been able to give so much, Alexandra!
We budget $100/child and a total budget of less than $400 overall. Last year we budgeted $150/child but we have decided to lower it this year.
I’m focusing more on giving RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS this year and blogging about it. It doesn’t take money to spread JOY TO THE WORLD just as my Jesus did.
Love & Blessings,
Renee
http://renee-joyjourney.com
I budget $500 for everybody — kids, husband, parents, nieces, service tips (like for hairdresser, nail technician, etc.), my best friend from high school. I usually hit it pretty close too by watching deals from September on .. I don’t know if that is high or low but I’m curious what others do so good question !
This year is our most frugal year and we spent about $200 on our immediate family presents because we bought a WII for all of us and our son is 4 so he got a few smaller toys. We spent about $100 on extended family and will probably spend another $100-200 on gift cards for a few more extended family members. Friends and teachers, etc I will probably spend about $30 total because my son and I are making ornaments this weekend for them. We usually spend between $400-$800 per year, but we’ve scaled back due to harder times financially and will be giving a lot of the free items I got this year to family members.
about $100 per kid max (5 kids- one is 2 so we will spend about $50 on him instead of the $100). $50 for my dad, $50 for my mom and her hubby, $50 for each of my siblings and their spouse ($50 per couple), and about $25 for my grandpa. My husband’s family doesn’t celebrate Christmas. Hubby and I generally don’t give each other gifts, as we’d rather give more to the kids then ourselves.
We have a separate savings account for Christmas. We automatically transfer $6 a week into our Christmas account so that by Christmas we have just over $300 to use for presents. We also save up target gift cards that we get free with a purchase all year and use those to buy presents at Target.
Great idea on the separate bank account!
We have a seperate travel/christmas account. Each month we put aside $50 for the holiday. Our budget is $615, but some items we get for cheaper than budgeted.
$100 for each of our two kids, but we also buy them clothes with that – since they wear school uniforms and don’t often get cute clothes.
$75 for my husand and I to spend on each other
$25-30 for each grandparent
$25 for my brother and his wife (theyhave no kids and buys for my children)
$45 for Salvation Army
$35 for teacher gifts
$30 total for the GGrandparents – usually snacky foods from World Market.
We budget about $75 per kid (3) and $75-$100 for my husband and I to give to each other. (We often don’t give each other gifts, or very little, on birthdays and other special days, so we budget a little more for this time.) Then we usually budget about $20-$25 per family member on extended family, which is about 6-7 people… So overall, around $500. We would probably do a bit less if it weren’t for our system of not paying that whole amount (sometimes very little) out-of-pocket, though. My husband travels for work a lot and racks up reward points on his hotel chain cards, so we cash those in around Christmastime. I also use the cash rewards from my credit card to help cover it. This year, my husband got $400 in gift cards (Walmart and Target) from his reward points, and I got $200 in cash rewards on my credit card, so essentially we are doing Christmas for free this year! Woo-hoo! 🙂
I tend to budget $25-$50 per person. I never buy anything full price, so I am able to get a lot for my money. I am usually able to save around 50% on each gift, so really each person gets about a $50-$100 worth of gifts. You can probably get away with spending a little more on adults and a little less on younger kids. I am purchasing for about 12 people (all adults) and total retail is around $500 with tax, and when all is said and done I will have spent only $150-$200. My family is full of adults and most of them want gift cards for Christmas, so I usually save up some Discover points to redeem for FREE gift cards. If your family doesn’t like gift cards, you can of course still redeem for places you intend to shop to help you spend less out of pocket. HTH.
We dont set a budget per say, but for our nephews/nieces we spend like $40-50 each. then for our kids we spend about $1000 for both. Then We spend $200 each for my husband and I. So between $1500-2000 for everyone.
Whew! Glad someone else is in the same budget ballpark we are. I was feeling really guilty reading these comments and wondering how people managed to spend $300 on Christmas when we spend $1800. Thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one out there. (Just an aside, we do save all year for that budget and pay for Christmas out of cash, not credit.)
Me too. We only buy for immediate family now (sister, nephews, BIL, my parents and his grandmother), but we still spend around $700. I do pull cash out and set it aside, so everything has been paid for in cash.
We spend around £500 on presents and £200 on food etc. . We spend £150 on one child and £50 on my youngest (I don’t spend the same amount as you can get more for your money the younger they are!). I have 10 nephews and nieces so I tend to spend around £15 per child. I also buy for my parents and parents-in-law, a few friends and teachers.
I don’t buy any toys during the year (apart from birthdays) so the Children get it all for christmas. I don’t buy clothes for my self during the year as my parents buy me alot for Christmas. We are extremely lucky as we have a huge family that buy us lots of amazing useful things. I’ve already had a new coat as one of my presents (I had it earlier so that I could wear it to a party).
We tend to spend Christmas with family so we don’t tend to spend that much for the whole season. This year we are bring the Christmas Eve Dinner, the Christmas cake and some wine. My mum is supplying the turkey, my dad the Christmas Pudding and Crackers.
I don’t send cards apart from to the neighbours and a few school friends so I donate the money I would have spent on cards and postage to charity (and send an email out instead).
I usually finish Christmas Shopping by September as I buy during the year whenever there is a good sale. I never buy using credit cards and we don’t get into debt for Christmas.
I’m never stressed over Christmas and tend to keep it low key. I do alot of stuff with the Children like making the Christmas Cake, going to a Carol Concert and making sweets. The decorations and tree are the same each year which we get out time and time again (I never buy new.)
We don’t buy much year round for our children so they save their more expensive wish list items for Christmas. It’s when I stock my teenage daughters up with the hair products that they like, shoes, clothes etc. My 13 year old has 12 books on her list, one for each month, things like that. We get them one big gift they have been wanting all year and the rest is stuff they need. I was feeling guilty about reading all these budgets too, but after thinking about it, we really spend very little on them year round. My husband loves a big Christmas so doing one that is with practical gifts gives meets my frugal side and his extravagant side!
I know – after reading the comments I feel guilty too. My husband adores Christmas and like yours loves buying presents – so I have to rein him in. My Children aren’t spoilt though and appreciate everything they get. Like you, I save the big items for Christmas and buy lots of practical gifts such as clothes and books.
In the past I have spent much less.
I was glad to hear that too! I only have one child, and I am only going to ever have one child. And she is 9. This means that Christmas spending on her has grown over the last few years…she has no interest in inexpensive toys any more. Now it is electronics and clothes…and not just any clothes…they must be things that 9 year olds think are fashionable! LOL Since she is my only child, I freely admit that she is spoiled at Christmas. I don’t buy her tons of things throughout the year, so spending $500 on her for Christmas is something I fully enjoy doing. My husband and I spend aobut $200-$300 on eachother, $25 on each niece and nephew (we have 8 of them), and $100 on each set of grandparents. My siblings and I made a pact to no longer buy eachother gifts several years ago once the number of nieces and nephews starting growing…and I’m sure we will add 1 or 2 more nieces and nephews over the next few years once my youngest sister is done having kids.
However, this budget certainly will not work for everyone. My husband and I have the means to afford this…plus I balance alot of this out by using the ‘freebies’ I have collected over the year from using coupons, shopping sales/clearance items, and getting the CVS deals.
We’re in the same ballpark as well. We budget around $800 for family members (siblings, parents, niece and nephew) and then we usually spend around $300-400 each on each other. This is our first year with a child of our own, so we probably won’t spend much on him this year, but I can see as he gets a bit older spending $300-400 on him as well.
My guess is that a lot of these people who only spend $300 have small children who are only aware that they are getting SOMETHING and don’t have a clue about how much it costs. Once they get to be teens, dollar store gifts don’t cut it. They want these expensive video games and electronic gadgets. Lots harder on the budget.
I just wanted to mention that we spend around $300-$400 for Christmas. Our children are ages 4 months-18 years old. We have 9. 🙂 This amount is for every gift I buy(extended family included), stocking stuffer treats, decorations, cards. We have always given each of our children 1 main gift and one stocking gift. If we want to give several smaller gifts to one child, they all go in the same box. My goal is to give each one a gift(something that I know they would like, not some random thing I got just because it was a good deal) that has a $30-$50 value but to get it for the least amount of money possible. I do this with swagbucks, sales, making things, etc. Our children are excited about Christmas and never feel shorted, even our older ones. We have taught them since they were little that it’s fun to get gifts and it’s fun to give gifts. While we give gifts out of love (not based on good behavior/bad behavior), the size of the gift does not equal our love for the child. We don’t need to knock ourselves out trying to prove our love for our children by how much we spend on them. I have often asked our elementary age children for a gift idea and they say, “I don’t know. I’m content Mom.”
I will mention that we don’t buy lots of stuff for our children throughout the year. I saw that some were mentioning that and I really don’t even know what they mean by it. We do give each one a few birthday gifts on their birthday. When they are old enough we help them have opportunities to earn money.This helps them to learn the value of money as well as giving them some spending money.
I just wanted to throw this perspective out there, not to hurt any feelings or make anyone feel judged, but to encourage those that want to have a wonderful but simple Christmas. Some choose to celebrate this way and some have no choice but to celebrate this way. (We have been in both positions and have even spent quite a bit less than $300-$400.) I think the attitudes of the parent/parents make a huge difference in how their children view Christmas.
Just some food for thought. I hope everyone has a wonderful (and debt free!) Christmas.
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I absolutely agree, you can get great items and not pay full price for them if you shop throughout the year. This year I used coupons, rewards from survey sites, staples “free” coupons codes, Borders going-out-of-business sale, good-will, Kohl’s 90% off clearance, 1saleaday.com, Target 80% off summer clearance and more to get $250 worth of gifts (27 items for 5 people) for only $28. This includes 5 dvds, $20 in giftcards, 9 books and more. So, it can be done.
I found your comment a little distateful. Not everyone who splurges on their children at Christmas is trying to “prove their love through spending.” We budget all year long on other things, so that we can celebrate this special time of year with a gift we would not purchase at any other time of year. Our Christmases are still “simple” and full of love and family time.
Jennifer,
You are right that not everyone has the attitude of trying to ‘prove their love by how much they spend”. I’m sorry if you were offended. It was not my intent to offend anyone, just to encourage those that choose not to splurge or can’t afford to splurge in the traditional sense of splurging=spending lots of money. Your Christmas sounds lovely!
Wow, lots of comments on this. I did want to reply that of that $1800 we spend, we buy for 17 adults and 9 children. Both sides of our family are local and both sides have HUGE Christmases, so (whether I like it or not) we buy for all the adults on both sides of the family and for all the kids. We spend $25 on each person outside of our immediate family ($15 for some of the younger nephews). My husband and I budget $500 total for our gifts to each other (about $250 each although it’s not always split evenly like that) and $200 for each of our 2 kids. And Diane, I do agree that as our kids have gotten older, the “toys” have gotten more expensive. My kids buy their own stuff during the year so I enjoy getting them what they want for Christmas.
Whilst we have a budget, of around $1500-$1600, for Christmas presents, I don’t necessarily follow it. And by that I mean this: if I find something I know someone will love, I get it and adjust the budget. I don’t go over, but money gets shifted around. We also try and buy experiences rather than items whenever we can. For instance, the musical Mary Poppins is coming to town (I live in Western Australia) in April and my mom happens to be visiting then. So I bought tickets for her, my MIL, my daughter and myself and we’ll all be going together. That’s all my Mom is getting, and my MIL. We agreed when kids came along that all the sisters and brothers won’t buy for each other anymore, just the kids. So the Uncle down here who isn’t married and has no kids gets his yearly calendar (I made pictoral calendars a tradition about 6 years ago) – which are purchased using groupons and the like – and that’s it.
My in-laws are not Christians, and gift-giving at Christmas is massive. So I keep things very small for our kids because I know they are going to get heaps from my in-laws. Whereas we’ve been able to instruct my mother, who happily complies, to buy one clothing, one book, one toy/art thing.
We also buy a gift from the World Vision catalog for everyone and include that in a personalized card for each person.
I think insinuating that the gifts people are giving (or trying to give) their kids/family is “buying” their love is just flat out wrong, and extremely judgmental. Just because people choose to spend a lot at Christmas or give “big” gifts doesn’t mean they aren’t teaching their children the same values that people who repurpose stuff or only give one gift are.
I don’t think anyone was trying to insinuate that having a big Christmas is “buying” love, but gift giving is one of the five love languages, and some people do choose to show their love that way. This is something that my husband and I are learning. We have a toddler, and my in-laws have already admitted that they have probably “gone over-board” on spending on him this Christmas. Whereas my husband and I are spending about $50 on him and he already has way too many toys. At first I was concerned about them buying him so many presents, but that is how they show their love, so I accept it. As long as our child isn’t spoiled during the rest of the year, I don’t think it’s a problem.
As to the whole “expensive electronics” gifts for children, I don’t agree that you have to get it for them just because they want it. Kids need to learn that some things don’t come free in life just because you live in America. I grew up in the electronics age, and we never had cable until high school (2002). Our first video game was an Atari that we got off the side of the road, because it was about 10 years old. Eventually, my brother earned enough money to buy a playstation 2 when he was a teenager, but we knew not to expect expensive gifts at Christmas, that wasn’t what the season was about in my family. We got tons of affordable and practical gifts. IMHO kids don’t need cell phones or I-pods or whatever else they “have” to have. They are going to be in for a big disappointment in their adult life if they always get everything they ask for. If you like to do a big Christmas, that’s not wrong, but to increase your spending just because your child “has” to have the latest electronic gadget might be a bad idea, especially if you can’t afford it. My husband and I have reached somewhat of a compromise, we spend more than I would like to spend and less than he would like to spend, and our child has absolutely everything he could possibly need. We also do reciprocate with my husband’s family and give them each a $20 or so present every year (for four adults). We don’t have the same budget they do, but we are showing that we understand their love language and showing love back to them in the same way. Our gift budget for the year is about $500, but that includes all other gift giving (birthdays, baby showers, weddings, etc.). We use extra from our food budget (from using coupons) during Christmas and we have a separate fund that we use for all charitable giving.
i was feeling bad at the amount i spend also! with a 14 year old girl and 12 year old boy(plus a 4 year old girl) it can get expensive. i actually was going to get off fairly cheap(less than $600 for all 3), then hubby found a great deal on a bow with accessories for the boy, so i had to get the girls something(a Kinect for the oldest, Dora fiesta kitchen for the youngest) to even it out. I did start shopping earlier in the year so it hasnt been all at once. I havent done a final total but im sure its around $900 for all 3 of them this year. we dont buy for anyone else
You don’t need to feel “bad” about what you spend at all! You do what’s right and best for your family. As long as you’re not driving yourself to the poor house or not paying the mortgage or going without food or something just to buy hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas presents, go for it. This notion that you should spend as little as possible and that someone makes you “better” than those who spend a lot is ridiculous; so don’t feel bad at all.
We budget $30 for each of our children; our parents have requested we no longer buy them presents. We spend about the same for them on their birthdays.
Our “gift” envelope gets money each week so the money is ready for each event when it arrives.
We budget $1000.
This includes gifts, shipping (most of our family is out-of-state), an increase in the grocery budget, cards and stamps, a tree, a smidge for buying decorations at the after-Christmas clearance sales, craft supplies, etc. In short, everything Christmas-related. The exception is charitable giving. We continue to do that out of the tithes category of our budget.
It might be exorbitant, we could certainly do with less (and did WAY less in the past when we had to), but it works for us. Also, we probably won’t spend it all and will end up with a head start for next year…always a bonus 🙂
I agree with your budget. I think it’s helpful to think of ALL the related expenses, rather than just gifts. We do include the charity and baking supplies in our christmas budget– things that might be “better” in food or tithing categories all year, but we conceptualize as “Christmas” this month. We also budget money for extra travel and fuel, portraits if we’re doing them, and any for my son’s christmas outfit if he needs something new. With all this in mind, we have budgeted between $500 and $800 over the past years. As our immediate family grows (we have 1 young son), and as our income grows, we expect we’ll increase this amount.
We do the exact same thing. Our budget this year is $1000, but that also includes the tree, Christmas cards, shipping costs, etc.
We very rarely buy “extras” throughout the year, so Christmas is when we splurge on one another. 🙂
I think so much of it depends on your own budget. I would guess we budget $75 per child. Whatever you decide, it is much less painful to put money aside each month throughout the year and then to shop with a list, versus just walking the aisles. I keep a running list throughout the year of things they need (winter hat) or want, so when Christmas rolls around I have ideas.
Hmmm…That is hard. It really depends on how many you need to buy for! I have one child. We usually spend about $75 to $100 on her but get her stuff all year so she gets quite a bit with that. (Even used stuff because at 3 she doesn’t know the difference!) We usually get both of our parents something, but again I shop all year. This year I got my Mom a free shutterfly book and a talking Hallmark book that I got at 80% off. I would say we usually spend about $400 for everything which includes Christmas parties at schools, teachers gifts, etc. I just have to be on the lookout constantly for good deals! ALL YEAR!
I budgeted $300. I bought for my fiance, my brother, my mom and stepdad. Then I bought for one set of grandparents. I also bought for my fiance’s sister, his parents, and my brother’s girlfriend. My fiance and I split the gifts for our parents and siblings. I had to mail two packages at the USPS and I think I went $3 or $4 overbudget. I did splurge on my fiance though and included in that budget is his birthday present as his birthday is Jan 5.
I was able to splurge on my fiance by regifting a couple of things I had received but never used that were perfect for someone on my list. I also saved a free tote and lotion I had received at BBW earlier in the year that was also the perfect thing for my grandmother. Additionally, for my brother, I was able to get him a giftcard that cost me nothing because of a customer service snafu that happened at the particular store.
You don’t have to spend a lot on Christmas to make it nice. I used $5 off $10 purchase at Hallmark coupon on two separate occasions, combined with my Hallmark Crown Rewards $$$ I had earned to get really nice wrapping paper, ribbon, tags, and super cute gift bags for next to nothing.
Don’t be afraid to get creative!
Overall, we shop for 10 kids (3 kids are ours) and 4 adults, plus about 20 people to whom we give small gifts (Sunday School teachers, etc.) Our budget is $250-$300, which we save for each month throughout the year.
We start buying/making really early. We make a list of people to buy for and write down possible ideas. I think of everything I can to make, barter, or trade for. Then we only purchase what’s left and I look for deals, free shipping, coupons, etc. Hubby and I don’t get each other gifts but instead each pick a child from an Angel Tree or the like and buy that child a gift.
One year I was able to get a kids easel in nearly perfect condition for the cost of helping at a garage sale (free). I used chalkboard paint and dry erase wallpaper to make it like new, and a magic eraser to get all the marker stains off. Using a Paint pen I wrote the little girl’s name on the easel. Cost: about $5 for a gift worth $50.
We allow $95 per child.
$30-$50 each for my parents (we don’t buy for hubby’s parents)
$25 for the one extended family gift we get from the “drawing of names.”
$5-$10 for any Christmas party exchange gifts.
$2 for my Sunday School students.
When there is enough money, my hubby and I give each other gifts costing around $50.
We have a budget of about $10/person and we only purchase for ourselves and immediate family members: siblings, parents, and our kids. We also enjoy choosing a larger gift for one another (my husband and I) every year. Sometimes we say specifically, and sometimes we just let the person surprise us. We average $50/ea. for ourselves – sometimes a little more or less, but its the one time each year we actually do something nice for each other so we’re okay w/ a splurge too.
$1000 for Christmas. 5 kids, 2 parents and a few miscellaneous relatives we give gifts to. As the kids get older, it gets much tougher to find them gifts that stick to the budget. When they were younger, it was much easier!
I totally agree. My husband and I said last night when our kids were little, you could spend $20 and get a HUGE gift. Now that they are teen & preteen, you can spend $200 on something that fits in the palm of your hand. Christmas has definitely gotten much more expensive as they’ve gotten older.
Completely agree with both comments! It is definitley more expensive when they get older. I can spend about $50 on my 5 year old and end up with many goodies for her, but just one gift for my 10 year old costs that much. Obviously we get him more than one gift so the budget for the two kids is not the same. Total budget for 2 kids, 3 parents, and 1 relative is $700.00.
We do 200 (total) for extended family. 20 for our child, he gets a lot of stuff from grandparents and really doesn’t need much from us. My husband and I don’t exchange big gifts we usually budget 10 dollars or so to buy each other stocking stuffers. Christmas budgets are personal and different for everyone. It depends on how many people you have to buy for and how much you can afford to budget. I think any amount you are comfortable with is ok as long as you aren’t going into debt to buy Christmas gifts
We budgeted 50.00 for Christmas, but only spent about $30 OOP. I used a lot of gift cards from swagbucks and panels I am a member of in order to buy most of the gifts. It takes some work and some planning, but the savings is well worth it. 🙂
I am very impressed with your Christmas budget! Way to go!! I am keeping mine fairly low this year, but you definitely have me beat. 🙂
We don’t budget specifically for Christmas, so I’m not sure if this helps….
For our annual gift budget, we budget $1200. This covers all gifts from birthdays, to showers (wedding and baby), anniversary, and Christmas. We are a family of 4. For parties or other things, those come out of their own budgets. So food items come out of the monthly food budget, etc. We spend what we have, if we don’t have, we don’t spend.