How much will you spend this Christmas or Bah Humbug !

[frayne]

Total this year will be about the same as last, $800.

The breakdown;

$150 on each grand child (2)
$400 on son and DIL
$100 on MIL
DW and don't I buy anything for each other but I am thinking about getting her a Shark steam cleaning thingy she has been hinting about.
Also since her back has been acting up from carrying my golf clubs this past season, a pull or push cart may also be in her future, if she is a good girl.

What is your X-mas budget, any exotic gifts, etc. ?

 

[Moemg]

I will come in around $2,000 .My grandson ,SO's four grandchildren . My daughter & SIL ,my Mom & my Sister & of course SO . I 'm doing most of my shopping online except for a trip to Toys R us .Nothing exotic this year . Last year my SO gave me a stocking that he had glitter painted with my nick name & filled it with candy & jewelry . Great gift !

 

[Alan]

Total will be ~$2,150

DW&I - $500 on combined gifts
DS, DD & SIL - $1,500 total
3 nieces/nephews that are still under 18, $50 each, total of $150

 

[FIREd]

The total comes out to about $1,500. Nothing exotic.

 

[JmfromTx]

$0.00 Unless I count what it takes to bring a side dish to dinner on Christmas day.

 

[Nova]

First, there's $1,000 we'll spend in fuel to drive to visit with kids, grandkids, MIL. Probably another $1,000 on top of that. Maybe a little less than last year, but we're not there yet.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Budgeted $3k. Spent about $2.5k so far. Only DW left to finish so should be under budget.

 

[braumeister]

DW gets at least $300 worth of stuff, because she still enjoys it. I find things throughout the year and squirrel them away, dividing them between her birthday and Christmas.
I get nothing because I'm a Bah, Humbug kind of guy, although sometimes she surprises me with some high quality beer.
A couple of thousand divided among annual gifts to worthy causes and generous tips to newspaper carrier, trash collectors, etc.

We would much rather devote discretionary funds to vacations than to gifts.

 

[prototype]

I don't have a big family, so I should I be able to keep it at or a little below $1K.

 

[LauAnn]

$60.00 - We have a $10.00 maximum limit that we spend on each other -- i.e. on parents, siblings, and in-laws. We buy gifts mainly so we have something to do (i.e. open presents) when we all get together on Christmas day. Therefore, we try to set a rule that gift-cards are not permitted.

I do have a neice who is still under 18 years old, so for her I break the rules and give her $30 or $40.

 

[ohyes]

DH and I had the $10.00 rule for years and years at Christmas. Now that the kids are grown, we spend more like $30.00 on each other.

We will spend about $1000 on three kids, FIL and his long-time gf, SIL, two nephews and great niece. My parents do not celebrate Christmas (religious reasons--they celebrate NO birthdays)...that saves money.

My DH came from a family that celebrated with gifts in a major way and i came from a family that did not celebrate Christmas at all. For the first twenty-five years or so, it caused friction every year. He would want to spend lots of money and I was always Scrooging. Since he is retired and income has been cut waaaay back, he agrees with the smaller budget. My job is giving a Christmas bonus (3rd time in 32 years of teaching); from that is coming the $1000 mentioned above.

 

[Ally]

I think we spend about $1200 to $1500. It seems to be going down rather than up.

 

[Nords]

Spending money? Next to nothing.

I plan to spend hours writing those holiday "year-in-review" letters, but only to people who send one to us first.

 

[warrentalbot]

Like last holiday season we will not be spending anything for the holiday. We are traveling full time so our gifts to each other remain this amazing adventure. We agreed with our families some time ago we would not exchange gifts which works out wonderfully for us all.

 

[youbet]

Well.... Let's see.... In rough and tough numbers....

Son - $1k cash in plain brown envelope
DIL - $1k cash in plain brown envelope
3 grandkids - $600 of stuff spread among them
MIL - $200
Misc (barber, mailman, etc.) $100
Each Other - Zero

Looks like about $2.9k, let's call it $3k. Gifts "under the tree" are focused on the grandkids. No gift exchange with siblings or other relatives other than above, just mutual love and loyalty. We already know we're there for each other.

Much of this is money we'd spend on the recipients with or without the holiday. Son and DIL have a special needs child which requires time and money. Therefore son and DIL pretty much live to work and take care of the kids. We give them a chunk-o-cash they can spend as they wish for clothes, maybe a modest night out (we gladly babysit) or whatever over the next few months. MIL lives, or trys to live, on $12k SS per year. Her gifts are just things we'd buy for her anyway. The grandkids? We just like to buy them "stuff."

 

[obgyn65]

About $1,000 on my new girlfriend.

 

[scrabbler1]

Given that I was born Jewish but am now an atheist and have never celebrated Christmas nor do I exchange gifts with anyone, my budget happily is zero.

 

[martyb]

Around $1500, all inclusive. I hope. Up to $800 so far, but still have more shopping to do, plus going to in-laws for a weekend Christmas get-together, which will require 2 nights in a hotel, etc. Ho Ho Ho....

 

[Nodak]

I have no spouse or kids so I spent $90 on a Sirius/XM home radio for myself, it was 50% off with free shipping.

 

[Walt34]

We've spent $500 for part of a nice camera kit for DW's nephew & his wife (others contributed too) but that will be the biggest chunk. We gave it to them at Thanksgiving (completely unexpected) so they could be up to speed with it by Christmas. The expression on her face when she opened the boxes and realized what it was was worth every nickel. This is the couple who are working their butts off, have two kids ages 2 and 6, and couldn't afford a point 'n shoot camera. In the long run they'll be fine but this is their "paying the dues" stage of life.

Perhaps another $100-$200 for smaller items.

We'll probably spend another $200 on food for the gatherings.

 

[Khan]

As of last week sent ~$5k to some organizations, ~$500 to individuals ~$150 in chocolate to a few folks (not family).

 

[packrat44]

DW and don't I buy anything for each other but I am thinking about getting her a Shark steam cleaning thingy she has been hinting about.

Be careful. One year (shortly after we got a pot to piss in) I gave DW a vacuum as a Christmas present and she was not happy. However, a few years later she said all she wanted for Christmas were 4 new studded tires mounted on wheels. Women - hard to figure them out.

 

[Birchwood]

We don't spend on gifts between me & DW anymore. She has most thing and I have just about what I need and usually will buy during the year if we need it. There are some obligatory gifts.
$400 for people in the office.
$300 check to my dad.
$200 check to another old relatives.
For my daughter who is married and doing well, we'll just order a large
HOney bake ham which she like to eat for x-mass.

 

[devans0]

Several years ago, my DW gave me a vacuum/scrubber Green machine for Christmas. I later gave her a lawn mower and snow blower of her very own. Mine was the better gift, I had the handles engraved "With ALL of my love". It is the little touches that make the gift special.

We have spent around fifteen hundred, so far. Ipad2 and snow blower for daughter and son in law. Over the top, but it feels nice to give and we can afford it. Tomorrow, I am looking at funding a Roth for a new grand daughter.

 

[Dawg52]

I'm in the Humbug camp. Most gifts are in the neighborhood of $25-40.