Holidays
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Do you and DH set a limit? (for those who buy gifts)
I know this is kind of personal, but I was wondering what limit people set? DH and I are looking to set a limit this year, but we have no idea what amount to set. Thanks for sharing!
Re: Do you and DH set a limit? (for those who buy gifts)
We have an unspoken limit of $100 or so, and it seems to work out well. It's not uncommon for me to go over that however (maybe $50 extra). We don't buy for most of my family (their choice) so I have a few extra dollars and I usually spend it on him and my little sister.
For a while we didn't and I would just spend and spend.
Now I do 30-40 for my family and about 250 for him unless I can afford more or if I buy something big such as a game system.
Our Christmas budget this year is $2000... that is the Christmas bonus DH gets from work (lucky dog). That 2K has to buy everything... cards, decs, food, stamps, pictures, gifts:
The limit is $200 for each other, and $300 for each our our kids. That's $1000 total for our family of 4.
We also buy for the couples' and kids in our extended family. We have limits there as well:
My niece: $50
His niece: $50
His nephew: $50
His parents: $100
My parents: $100
My sis & her b/f: $50
My big ro & his wife: $50
My lil bro & his wife: $50
His sis: $50
His aunt: $50
His grandparents: $50
We also adopt-a-family through either the YWCA, Salvation Army, etc. Our limit is $100.
It really depends on your budget.
Ours is about $200 for Christmas, $100-ish for birthdays.
Our little Irish rose came to us on March 5, 2010
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Disclaimer: I am not an MD. Please don't PM me with pregnancy-related questions. Ask your doctor.
I usually start buying DH's gifts and then when I am done I tell him about how much I spent on him and then he does his shopping for me. This year I am looking at about $300 on his "big" gifts and then probably another $50 on his stocking stuffers.
As for family, we buy gifts for both sets of parents at $100.00 per couple, my grandmother is about $50 and the godparents on both sides run us somewhere around $40 ea. We have 3 godchildren and they get $25.00 bonds.
We don't set a limit for each other's gifts but we do set limits for the rest of our family based on how close we are to them and how our finances are looking.
We generally do about $25 a piece for the kids and $50 - $100 each for parents. Adults don't exchange gifts in our family so we don't have to worry about aunts, uncles, etc.
Yes for each other - this year is $100 - 120 each, because we want an expensive joint gift to each other. If there is no joint gift, we will spend around $300.
For family we are not specific, but we also know what we can afford and stick with that. But, I learned from my mom that gift buying is fun and I usually lean towards too much, not too little.
$25 for exchange gift for me for my family
$25 for exchange gift for M for my family
$20 for my Mom
$20 for M's Mom
$20 for M's Dad/Step-Mom
$20 for M's Grandma (Mom's side)
$20 for M's Grandma (Dad's side)
$15 for each of my 5 nephews and niece
100 Christmas cards at around $.70 apiece
Grand total approximately $310
We usually buy one big item for our home each year, but this year we decided the new oven/stove could wait, so we split up what that would've cost and each picked a big item we wanted but would never buy ourselves. (I got a low-end SLR camera and M got a PS3, grand total of $300 each)This most likely will not happen every year, but we really don't buy any big items throughout the year, so if we need a new fridge or tv or what not, we just wait and get it for Christmas.
I'd like to see us get our Christmas stuff down to only around $500 total for both our gifts to each other AND all our gifts to family and friends, but this year is obviously a bit higher than that. We don't even have kids yet! lol
some years we do. this year I don't think there is anything on his list for under $300.... He wants a 40"-46" flat screen TV, dirt bike, Wii, snowboard, $300 REI sled, etc..... who knows what he'll end up with. I'll probably spend $500 on him.
that doesn't include our son, our parents, my brother and family, his sister and my best friend. which will probably be another $700 or so....
We don't really have a set limit for each other, but for family we try to stick by the rules of:
$50/parent
$40/sibling
$25/child
$20/friend
This is what we do.
For our gifts to each other, it changes every year based on our situations and what we want. This year, it's low because DH is laid off. Last year, it was pretty high ($250+ each).
All others get anywhere from $20 to $50 gifts.
Ditto.
SO and I set a limit depending on the financial situation each year. One year, we each got a rather large bonus and I also received an insurance settlement, so we spent a lot on eachother. I think it was around $800.00. This year, we set a limit at $300.00. That is still high, but we don't really go all out for birthdays. We also have large families. We draw names for his family, which includes siblings and parents. We also draw names in my extended family. The budget looks like this so far:
SO/Me: $300.00
My Parents: $200.00 each
SO's family draw: $100.00
My family draw: $60.00
Nieces/Nephews: $50.00 each (x5!)
My brother: $75 - $100.00
My grandparents: $60.00 each (x4)
Coworkers: $25.00 (x2)
Boss: $30.00