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Like...how much on mom, dad, brothers, sisters, kids...that sort of thing. I am making a list and trying to figure out how much I am going to spend. I used to give my brothers $50 each, but now that I have kids and we are one income, that seems like a lot but $25 doesn't seem like enough.
I think we are like most people this year and cutting back. It will also make it easier for next year.
Instead of spending money, why not trade things like babysitting, cooking a nice meal for the family, etc. Maybe your parents would like to have their living room painted and that might be something that you could do for them. Take a nice picture of the kids or their home and have it framed. I also give several $10 and 20 gift certificates to the grocery store. That really helps out. Or, gift card to a restaurant, garden center,or book store. You don't have to make it a large sum, but if they eat at Red Lobster, for example, gift a $25 or $50 card.
I still give presents to young children, but I let their parents get the big gifts. I try to get them something educational like a personalized story book or even pjs or an inexpensive outfit that might help out the family. Since kids grow so fast, you can shop at a discount place.
I have found just giving your time is greatly appreciated.
I only buy for my nieces (2), nephew (1), mom & her husband, my husband. Friends and I made a pact years ago to just exchange a Christmas ornament (that way you think of that person), occasionally of course you see something you just have to get for someone else but it's not extravagant. $50 gift card for the kids, a $100 gas card for mom (they are all hurting financially so the cards are windfalls for them), whatever fun stuff I find for hubby. All told: maybe $300
I would trade time and such, but we live in a different state so don't see them often enough.
I have to buy for
my kids (toddler twins, pretty easy. They have no idea about stuff...they get one gift from us and plenty from relatives, lol!)
my husband (we usually just buy something for the house and say it is our gift to each other. I think this year it will be garage doors b/c one of ours broke!)
my parents
my brothers: 3 of them
my grandparents (All the grandkids pitch in $10 for a gift card)
a special sunt and uncle (again, all the kids pitch in for a gift)
My husbands mom
my husbands dad and his second wife
my husbands 2 nieces.
I think I am in for about $500. I try and slash that, but that is my limit.
Christmas, especially the gifts, is for children. We don't exchange gifts with our parents, brother, sisters or any other adults.
We get gifts or money(seems to be a big hit) to the grandchildren ages 10 and 4. And we also give money to our daughter because at that age money is always welcome.
My husband and I don't buy each other gifts, ever. If we need something we buy it when we need it.
Several years back, my one sibling and I, and my spouse's surviving siblings and he, all arrived at the mutual agreement to make charitable donations in each others' honor for the holidays rather than exchanging actual gifts. It seems to make more sense than giving each other tschochkes that none of us will use or really want. We still give gifts to the little ones, but they're generally educational gifts rather than The Latest Hot Thing That Everyone Else Has. There are two (three, if we count our daughter's sig-other's daughter) in the under-10 set that I count as "little ones", and we generally spend about $50-60 on each of them.
Gift-giving within the immediate family has scaled back over the past several years as well, and will scale back more this year. We usually try to achieve parity in numbers as well as in value, so we set a target number in advance, i.e. "2 in the stocking, 3 under the tree" so that everyone knows ahead of time what to expect. Usually the stocking stuffers are small-value silly or fun items, no more than $5 each. Under-the-tree items are generally a little more expensive, but there's usually only one really high-dollar (by which I mean around $60-$75) item for each person.
There have been years when we've spent $2,000 or more in total and as much as $300 per person for immediate family for holiday gifts, but this year we're targeting a total of under $400 for everyone and everything. The way those quarterly reports on the 401(k) reports looked, we'd be d***ed fools to spend more than the bare-bones minimum. If they don't know yet that we love them, big-ticket gifts aren't going to convince them.
Just spending minimums. My family and I exchange small gifts but this year, I moved out of state to NC. The bf bought me a house so thats my present. Other than that, we didn't exchange gifts.
Proportionally, what we spend per person is based on what we make and how much is appropriate based on the recipient's situation. I used to spend a lot more on my mom, but now that she's remarried I cut back a great deal, out off respect, so that I wouldn't compete with my new stepdad who's in a different income level than I am. Also, we're getting older now and as our family is growing, the role of presents are changing and becoming less of a priority now than they were in the past.
It's different buying for a young, single 25-year old brother, or the same man who is now older by fifteen years and a dad and husband. The priority over Christmas presents change.
I know this doesn't answer your question but each person is different and you shouldn't base your spending off of what other people do. If you are unsure about how much you should be spending, don't assume. Talk it over with your family and work out a happy compromise.
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