We have a christmas club with $1250 in it which is supposed to cover everything but we always tend to go over on food for Christmas Eve & Day so I expect to be a little more than that.
I chose $2001-$2500. That does not include DH's outside decorations. He is the Clark Griswold of our street but it makes him so happy that I don't get involved with that spending unless I feel like he is getting out of control. We spend $100 per person on gifts for 10 people. We also go to 2 Christmas and host 2. We spend a lot on booze and food for all of those celebrations. For one of them we travel 4 hours each way and spend the night in a hotel. We don't typically give each other gifts but we do stockings for each other and our cat. We both really love Christmas.
I am hoping to push both families to do Secret Santa this year instead of presents for everyone (we did that last year with my family, so I'm sure we can do that again, but my husband's family will be a harder sell. There's NOTHING anyone needs, and already most of the suggestions we've gotten are "money towards" something big... so we'd all be better off just keeping the money in our own accounts. My husband and I don't give each other gifts.
So it should be $500-$1000 but hopefully much closer to $500. Excluding tips to our building staff.
Gifts for immediate family members: 4 people at $50-100 each, so $400ish Gifts for MH's extended family, whom we always see: about $500 (9 kids, 9 adults, we aim for $25ish each - hoping we can do a Secret Santa for the adults again) Gifts for my extended family, whom we sometimes visit: about $150 Gifts for MH's other extended family whom we don't always visit: usually $50ish for a bottle of wine and a hostess gift Christmas party: about $400 for food, alcohol, and supplies (paper plates, etc.) Gifts for each other: I usually spend around $200 on MH, and he typically spends about the same on me
We have a fake tree that's only three years old, and we bought ornaments and stuff the first year plus my mom usually gives us more each year (she's a teacher and regifts the ones she gets from students). Sometimes MH will buy more lights or home decorations. Pets get a few treats in their stockings. We're the suckers who always have to travel for Christmas, so we spend money on gas and tolls to drive to several locations.
Ugh. I thought it was $1000-1500 until I actually figured it all out
Post by dragonfly08 on Oct 21, 2014 14:54:15 GMT -5
My family does gifts for kids only, with a $25 pp budget. So that's $250.
DHs family does group gifts. On average, our share is $40-$50 pp. Another $250-$300.
I buy my girls 8 smallish Hanukkah gifts each, typically adding up to about $50 per girl. DH gets them each a Christmas gift, usually in the same price range.
We get something small for each of my parents, maybe $150 total. Often less since I often make their gifts.
We don't usually do gifts for each other. If we do, it's something for the house that we'd eventually do anyway but the "gift" is really that we bump it up on the priority list.
So that puts me in the $501 - $1000 range unless our "house project gift" gets excessive, and it covers both Hanukkah and Christmas.
We are under $500 for everything. We bought a tree several years ago that we love and we have all the decorations from previous years. It's really only gifts and wrapping paper. I will buy gifts but I don't know if I'm going to bother putting up a tree. This holiday season is going to be very hard on all of us since my mom died 2 days before Christmas last year.
Post by bostonmichelle on Oct 21, 2014 15:07:43 GMT -5
It depends if we are hosting a meal or not.
$850 gifts $250 decorations, we have a fake tree but I'm trying to build my decoration collection $200 for food, we usually do main dishes and my parents/in-laws bring sides and dessert
Post by WinterWine on Oct 21, 2014 15:29:33 GMT -5
We try to keep it simple, though it still adds up. I'm a Christmas fanatic, but I try to make it much more about giving back and memories, rather than physical gifts. We don't have any kids in either side of our family yet, and all adults have well enough paying jobs that if they want something, they generally just buy it. So rather than giving unnecessary items, I started doing donations to the person's favorite charity a few years ago. My family is a big fan, and H's family has had mixed feelings. H and I do not give gifts to eachother.
-$600 in charity donations (12 people at $50 each) -$40 for toy's for my BFF's 2 small kids -$250 in Toys for Tots donations -$20 for family Xmas party ornament exchange -$200 for food and booze (we host xmas dinner) -$300 for Nutcracker tix for my family & Grandma -$100 to make vanilla extract as gifts (helps those in the fam that want something physical rather than just a donation in their honor) -$100 for garland to go around our garage (I already have most decor)
Estimated around $1,600 (eek! that's more than I thought). And I probably realistically spend more b/c I do a ton of baking.
I put $250 but it's possible it could go a little over that if there are things I'm not aware of yet. At this point, I basically will just be buying gifts for my BF, a donation for my parents/grandma, and some gifts for my nephew, who will be 11 months old so I probably won't spend a ton of money on him at this point. My family has really cut down on gift giving and I don't exchange with friends, so it ends up being pretty inexpensive. I don't need any more decorations and don't plan to do cards, so I'm not sure what else there would be?
I do usually do something with charity around that time of year (along the lines of gifts for a child in need) but IDK if I'll do that this year. Depends on what changes with my job situation between now and then.
I don't know, maybe between $800-$900? DH and I exchange and try to keep it around $100-$150 each there (though that comes from our individual fun money accounts anyhow, so I don't really count it), then about $50 for each of two siblings, $100 for each of our parents, and we usually end up spending about $350 on charity gifts. So, a few hundred on extra food, booze and baking would bring that right around $800ish.
This made me sick checking the box, I put down between $4-5K. We are doing a family trip to San Diego for Christmas - so I am including airfare, hotel, and activities in our Christmas budget. Junior finds out about the trip on Christmas Eve if we can go that long without telling him. If I take that out it is a much smaller number.
4 kids, each other, two sets of parents, four grandparents, four nieces, four nephews, 9 siblings/ILs, four employees, toys for tots, secret Santa for a needy family & charity food baskets. Hoping to stay under $1500. Right now I have about $1600 saved, giving myself a little buffer, and I have already purchased six gifts.
DH and I are planning a ski vacation in January as our Christmas gift to each other, so our budget is larger this year. We're also flying our family to FL for thanksgiving. The holidays are expensive this year.
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I save $40 week in a Christmas fund of sorts. The big gift for my son, dil & 2 grandchildren is $250 cash each and I also get them all actual gifts to open (usually another $75-100 each). What can I say, if mom/nana can't spoil her kids who can
The rest is split between my parents, one brother who isn't married and 7 nieces/nephews/great-nieces. I host Christmas eve dinner for 25 every other year so between this money saved and the extra pay in December I usually have enough to buy all that and treat myself to a facial/massage/pedicure as well
Post by laurensmomma on Oct 21, 2014 16:35:49 GMT -5
We have very small Christmases. We only have a two year old, and she doesn't need much, so I try to spend $100 or less on her.
For my side of the family, I do a photo calendar for my parents and grandma (about $25 total), and spend about $40 or so on each of my two nephews, so $80 total.
On my husband's side, we only buy gifts for the kids. Other than my daughter, we have one niece and one nephew, and again, spend about $40 on each, so $80 total. We take a weekend trip and rent a large house, which is our "gift" to each other. That generally runs about $250.
For my DH and I, we generally try to find a groupon for a weekend getaway as our gift to each other, and can usually get away with like $150.
I only buy decorations after the holidays, so they are super cheap.
So all together, I would estimate I spend about $700.
We are under $500 for everything. We bought a tree several years ago that we love and we have all the decorations from previous years. It's really only gifts and wrapping paper. I will buy gifts but I don't know if I'm going to bother putting up a tree. This holiday season is going to be very hard on all of us since my mom died 2 days before Christmas last year.
Hugs to you. My mom died 5 days before Xmas two years ago this December. So hard.
This made me sick checking the box, I put down between $4-5K. We are doing a family trip to San Diego for Christmas - so I am including airfare, hotel, and activities in our Christmas budget. Junior finds out about the trip on Christmas Eve if we can go that long without telling him. If I take that out it is a much smaller number.
Oh, yeah, if I counted travel I'd have to multiply by 3-4. I'm not going to do that.
We're still not sure where we physically will be for Christmas.
Gifts-wise, it's not going to be too bad. Maybe $200. We have four nieces/nephews to buy for. That's it. My family doesn't really exchange gifts (we have a setup where we can add stocking stuffer type gifts to each others stockings, but it's not mandatory, and the knitted slippers I make are all we usually add...).
DH and I won't be bothering to exchange gifts, because we'll be mid-move, and it's just too complicated.
The big unknown - travel. We could be here past Christmas, in which case there might be some small gifts/whatever else to buy. We might depart before Christmas, in which case our travel costs go up to a huge level, because we will suddenly be buying last minute holiday travel plane tickets and everything else that comes with planning and implementing last minute travel.
Oh gosh, if you factor in everything, it is pretty ridiculous. We are spending $1400 on plane tickets to travel to spend Christmas with H's family. We will probably spend roughly $1000 on gifts for our three kids and each other, $500 on our five parents, $200 on the five siblings we exchange gifts with, $200 on six nieces and nephews, $50 for my family's boozy Santa alcohol exchange, $400 on gifts/bonuses for the nanny, teachers, speech therapist, etc., and $50 on stuff to make homemade something to give to random neighbors.
That is $3800, and doesn't include food or decorations (although I am not planning to host any holiday parties or events this year). So let's round it up and say around $4000.
We try to stay under $500. It helps that we draw names for my immediate family and rarely do gifts with my extended family. We only do nieces gifts for H's immediate family and none in his extended family. We spend $100 (or so) on each other. This year H wants a $200 gift so we'll see how that shakes out.
Oh, this year we're buying our first tree- yay! So that'll be an added expense. (Previously we lived in a tiny apt and were always gone on Christmas so we just bypassed the tree.)
I always set the Christmas budget at $1200 and every year we go over it even though I carefully plan each penny. I can stick to the gift budget, it's hosting Christmas that always puts us over the top.
It all adds up! We host a big party every year- food & booze alone is probably $400. Then a couple hundred for Christmas cards & stamps, $100 for fresh tree & wreath and we haven't even started talking gifts. And it's DD's first Christmas, so she will need a stocking & a few other sentimental things
I voted $2,000-$2,500, but honestly I won't limit it too much and will just pay the slush with December bonus. You can officially kick me off MM now.