Hope this is not to personnal

gidget1978

gidget1978

Cathlete
Hi gals,

A co-worker and I were having a conversation when I got into work about how much we spend on our kids for chirstmas.So I just got to thinking, what is the norm now?

I for one spend to much money.When I wrapped her gifts the other day (and I only have one child) I added up $580 and it feels as I don't have that much for her.And she is getting to a age where she doesn't play with much and she isn't into clothes yet.
My co-worker as 2 kids and she said she normally spends $400 on each kid but last year her DH flipped out so this year she cut back and spent $300.
I am not sure what christmas as turned in to but everyone knows its not suppose to be about the gifts and 1/2 of the stuff we buy, we buy for the shake of buying it,just to have in under the tree.
So while we were talking we were both saying that we spend to much and neither of us were content with what we bought.I have nothing that she is going to be totally excited about b/c I don't know what to get her.
So, how much do everyone else normally spend? Do you set a limit? And when they ask for a gift that is almost the limit amount do you buy it and warn them that they aren't getting alot this year?

Like I said, I hope this is not to personnal.I was just wondering is christmas the same everywhere?
Lori:)
 
DH and I have been setting limits since day one. We always have limits for what we will spend on eachother and the rest of the family and Joey will no doubt be included in that. This year we went EXCEPTIONALLY small on Joey. It's his first Christmas and the first baby in DH's family in quite some time. His family is going to go CRAZY with Christmas gifts! We don't even plan on taking them all home in one trip as there will probably be TOO much to fit in our car and I'm NOT kidding!:eek: I am not happy about this but I have come to realize that I gotta deal. :-(

When he gets older and is into more things our limit will rise more and more I am sure but I am hoping to keep it reasonable...whatever THAT is! It really depends on our financial situation. That's what we base our spending on anyway. This year is tighter than previous years so we are cutting back on EVERYONE.

ETA: BTW, we spent a whopping $20.00 on DS this year! LOL We bought him an Elmo doll for Christmas day and some other soft toy that moves and plays music for him to "open" on Christmas Eve. :)
 
Lori,

How hold is your dd? I'm having the same problem this year as far as not knowing what to get our dd7. She's kind of in the in between stage of not really playing with toys too much, but too young for some of the other stuff. Does that make sense? I did talk to her and told her her things are getting more expensive. So, on Christmas morning to not be upset if it seems like the boys (6 & 2) have gotten more. I wanted to prepare her, but I also didn't want to spoil the whole "Santa" thing. So, I hope I accomplished both.

I plead the fifth on what I "think" I have spent! :eek: ;-)

HTH! :)

Dallas
 
We don't spend any more than $50-100 per kid, but I know that Dan spends hundreds on me. He says that I am going to be here after the kids leave the house, so he needs to make his bed now. ;-)

We don't spend that much on the kids because they get so much during the year that they are already spoiled. And we don't have the money for it. It would be nice to get them everything they wanted, but it is probably a good thing that we can't because then they would expect to get everything they wanted.:p We just get them the one thing that they really want and then we get them a few little gifts. The older ones already pretty much know that they can't/won't get everything that they want, but they will get something awesome! The reason why the amount varies so much per kid is because what Layne will want will be only 25$ while something that Mariah wants will be $75. They really don't know the price of the gifts, they just know how many they got so as long as they have the same amount and we spend less than $250 for the kids then everyone is happy, including the accountant. ;-)

Missy
 
Sophie is really good about not asking for much. She had about 6 things on her list this year, and I have to split that up between quite a number of people. None of the things she asked for were major (dolls, books, etc.).

I think last year I may have spent around $250 on her, including stocking stuffers. She was really happy with everything she got. This year, of course, her doggie was her combined birthday/Christmas present, so she knows that she won't get a lot from me, but she still (I think) believes in Santa, so she'll get a few small things from him.

I think it's horrendous the amount of money people spend on their kids. That's just my opinion, but it's not supposed to be about the "loot". When I was growing up, I got a few toys, maybe some clothes and my stocking (which I always liked best anyway:p).
 
That's smart thinkin' Missy. They are kids and don't know the difference as far as the $$$ goes. So long as they are getting to open presents they will probably be happy no matter what! I would love to be able to keep things under control like that while Joey is growing up. We shall see what happens! :)
 
You don't even want to know.
I spent over $2000. on my grandson, with the bedroom suite.
Bought my daughter a new car,18,000.(5 years of payments) $700. on my hubby.
Neices and nephews get $30.00 in a card. I quit buying.( getting too old.)
Evryone is wondering why i am not into Christmas this year.It just costs me a fortune every year.
I would be happy with 300 or 400 each.
It is not Christmas, it is how much can i get this year.
Seems like it is all about money, not getting together and family anymore.
Ok, i vented.
Ba humbug.
Anne
 
well gee i haven't sat down and crunched the numbers yet. this year we got her mostly art stuff and one big art kit to go with all the little stuff. the keyboard we got was only $20. but i am going to get somewhere in the $200-250 range. some stuff was stuff she was going to need sooner or later like new snow boots,(which she got early yesterday, we told her santa was so proud that she learned to make her bed by herself that she deserved new snow boots), some shoes, clothes. movies i got on the deepdiscountdvd sale so that was about $60 or so.

i am guessing hubby spent the same amount on me as well(well didn't spend he shopped at the college so they will be taking $25 out of every pay check until god knows when LOL). we only got him 4 movies and two small hickory farm beef sticks for his stocking. at least its stuff he likes. i really wish we could afford one of those dvd recorders for him but that isn't going to happen. with all the extra we spent for xmas(easly cleared $150 on his little brother) and the car needing repair it looks like dad may have been shafted a bit this year.

we try to spend reasonably and getting stuff the kids need on top of a few fun things. i really try not to go overboard but it always seems i am stuck paying up $300 for viola and that takes a chunk out of the tax return to pay off things LOL. damn deep discount and their bill me later option

kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
DD is 9.All she as asked for his a gameboy DS which was $189 before tax and then I bought 2 games to go with it which was $ 80.The three things came to $300 pretty much.
Other then that I have her things that she needs/liked.Little tops $20, a robe, jeans,snow suit...you get the pic.But the only thing she really wanted was her gameboy but then the other day she switched that to a new computer which isn't happening.We have a computer but it doesn't have MSN messenger which she wants and I am not so sure that I want her on there.Its fine when she is talking to her friends but Lord knows who is going to pop in.
Lori:)
 
i spend about 200 on my son, but another nurse i work with....she spends 1000 on EACH kid...........yowza!
 
We spent about 100 for a kitchen for Aiden this Christmas. That's it from us. He'll get a ton of stuff from relatives so we really try to limit ourselves. Plus, we have to be careful with spending in general. This seems like a good limit in general for us. We just can't justify spending more on a gift, especially when he gets things from other relatives as well. I mean, our limit for family members is usually 50 max. It really adds up buying for a lot of people, ya know ;)


"you miss 100% of the shots you never take"


Debbie
 
I don't have children but I feel for those of you who do. There must be a lot of pressure to shop and go overboard. I think Missy, Shelley, and Kassia have the right idea.

I have a niece and 6 nephews and everyone goes WAAAAAY overboard with them. The "kids" on my side of the family are adults now, yet they still expect a gift from me. I've already discussed with my DH that this will be the last year I give them something. I don't remember getting gifts from my aunts and uncles. When did this tradition start?

We still have little kids on DH's side and I dread the email wish list I always get about a week before Christmas. There are so many adults buying for the same kids that what inevitably happens is I end up having to return/exchange gifts because at least one other person bought the same thing I did. I wised up last year and gave an envelope with the receipts to my SIL's so they could deal with the exchanges.

DH and I are old farts now and we don't buy Christmas gifts for each other anymore. I would rather have an antique something than a piece of jewelry and my DH would never rob me of the joy of shopping for the antiques myself. DH has his own things he's into and buys that stuff on his own. We're both very content with this arrangement. What means the most to me at Christmas time is just getting to spend a lovely evening at home by the fire with DH, some nice music, a great meal, and...

ETA we stopped exchanging gifts with our siblings and it's a relief to not have that to worry about anymore. I suggested it last year and everyone was thrilled with the idea. With the money saved I was able to buy something for MOI because I was a good girl! LOL!

Michele
 
This is a very interesting thread. I have three children and I try not to spend more than 400 on all. I have a lot of family near by, so their whole Christmas is not coming from me. I try to get each one something to wear, something to read, and something to play with, and stocking stuffers. My husband and I give each other the gift of not giving. I try to make things for others, or spend less than $5 per.
Heather
 
I spend around $500-600 on each. My oldest son is getting a car stereo including speakers, a new suit of clothes, some DVDs, and some video games. I have no idea what I'm getting my youngest son yet as he gives me a list every year. He is really into cars and it is always things for his car. He sits down, makes out a list with prices, and once it hits $500, he gives me the list. Plus he'll be getting clothes, movies, and video games also. I spend around $50 each on my niece, nephew, sister, brother-in-law, and mother. I'm spending around $100 on my grandmother this year as we're all pitching in to buy her a new t.v. I spent around $500 on my husband last year. I think he spent around $200 on me.

I haven't always spent this much on Christmas as we couldn't afford it, up until about 5 years ago. Now that I can afford it, I want to spend that much. I love buying and giving gifts.
 
I'm just like you, Michele. We stopped all the holiday gift giving in my family a few years ago. Now, my nieces and nephew just get birthday gifts from me, and that's it for the year, unless they have a special occasion like graduating high school or something. I know their parents spend an awful lot on Christmas gifts, but they live in an unusually wealthy area and can well afford it.

For the average family, I think if you get a kid an Ipod, that's enough. If they want a big ticket item, they can't expect to get a lot of small stuff in addition. It's got to stop somewhere.
 
Very interesting thread indeed!

This is the first year since DH and I have been together that we don't feel guilty buying each other and DD what we want to for Christmas...We typically spend about $100 plus stocking stuffers, but this year DH is getting a neon Dodge (not a Dodge Neon!!) sign for his shop...He's been looking at it for 3 years now, and he deserves it...

We're getting DD (age 9) a personal DVD player and heaven knows what else at this point...So far we've spent $129.99 plus tax...She's got DVD's, and she's getting more from DH's side of the family for Christmas...I agree that this is an in-between age, and she's getting difficult to buy for!

The only one on my side of the family that we buy for is my mom, and this year we flew her up for Thanksgiving...We usually spend about $100, but that went well over the limit! We ARE going to still do a "normal" Christmas for her, also...She can't be halfway across the country with nothing to open!

DH's side of the family is a totally different story...He's got 2 brothers, with a SO or wife and 2 nieces...It's $50 per person (not per family) and $100 for each of his parents...That's a $500 3 hours...They go CRAZY over there! I the adults would just draw names (everybody still buys for the kids) at Thanksgiving, and even "up" our limit...But NOPE! They won't even think about it...Oh well...

Hope the holidays find you well!
 
One things for sure, we are all in different boats, aren't we?
Well,addition to my DD and DH,I still buy for my brothers and sister, plus their kids,and DH's family.This year was a little different for us b/c DH was without a job for a while so this was the first year I was hoping someone would mention drawing names or something.
Christmas gifts are mostly for kids (although, I love getting them}( ) but I would much rather spend $30 on each neice and nephew, buy them something nice and leave their parents out of it.
Oh and I also buy something for my friends, which by the way..all have their own kids now.
Lori:)
 
I spent $100 on each of the dogs! God help me if i ever get kids. There will be no hope:p Hats of to all you moms!


jes:)
 
This is an interesting thread!
I don't calculate so much on cost, but number of gifts. My 2 little girls each get one big gift (this year it is an American girl doll) and the rest is games or books and PJs and gloves and umbrellas - stuff they need. They also get some candy. Usually they end up with about 8 gifts each. But mostly it is stuff they need. Usually they look pretty pathetic by Christmas - the PJs are too small, gloves don't match...etc. So it is fun to see them wear it. I would guess that 400 covers both kids.

We gave up family gift giving as well. My DH and I each pick something we want more than we need and that is about it. My DH loves candy so I wrap up some candy for him and everyone is happy.

When we were younger and very broke we lived in an older house. We used to buy each other new windows for holidays!


Melissa

Keep your head in line. Your butt will follow.

http://www.picturetrail.com/pellmel
 
>I spent $100 on each of the dogs! God help me if i ever get
>kids. There will be no hope:p Hats of to all you moms!
>
>
>jes:)



:7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7 :7

Jes, I know exactly what you mean! I used to spend a fortune on my doggies, God rest their dear souls. My kitty is a cheap date. He's so happy with a feather attached to a string, a paper bag, or a box--it provides endless hours of entertainment!

Michele
 
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