So... for those who participate, what do you spend? Do you go over budget?

12/15/2012 7:26:24 PM

Budget completely depends on who I'm buying for.

12/15/2012 7:28:07 PM

I should have been more specific - do you set a total dollar amount to not exceed for ALL christmas presents each year?

12/15/2012 7:29:00 PM

0

12/15/2012 7:29:07 PM

my budget is normally $1k... $1250 spent 2011, and ~$1500 this year

12/15/2012 7:40:56 PM

The past couple years my goal was to try to not spend more than $1000 on all presents combined. I think I kept it under this year by a little. I start shopping in September or October rather than doing it all at the last minute. It's less of a hit to my wallet and less stressful overall. I should try to cut it back though because that's really out of my range considering my small salary.

[Edited on December 15, 2012 at 7:43 PM. Reason : ]

12/15/2012 7:42:38 PM

I have the same intentions.... but blow the budget by usually spending $200-$300 the two weeks before christmas splurging on shit. Often i try to get stuff on sale to save money, but then say what the heck and spend the full intended amount on the person

[Edited on December 15, 2012 at 7:45 PM. Reason : -]

12/15/2012 7:44:34 PM

Spent 3k this year

12/15/2012 7:55:03 PM

haw yeah, making me feel better already

lots of small stuff or a few big items?

12/15/2012 7:56:28 PM

under 100

12/15/2012 7:57:55 PM

^^ i have to get presents for 13 people (my immediate family and my wife's immediate family)

Not included in my number, I got my wife some uggs boots, lady gaga concert tix, theater tix, and some other random shit

12/15/2012 8:21:28 PM

I don't tend to set an overall budget but also don't have a lot of people to shop for. If I had to buy a present for every relative I have I'd be completely broke.

12/15/2012 8:37:26 PM

I buy for 8 people myself

12/15/2012 8:43:29 PM

I buy for 2 people every year, mom and dad, and try to keep their's around $500 combined. I'm pretty good at finding sales so I can make that $$ go a long way.

Friends, I'd say I buy 3 gifts and try to keep those $30 or less and given that I'm single this Christmas I'm out of buying for a sig-o but if I am in a relationship I keep that around $100.

So overall, I suppose $700 or less

[Edited on December 15, 2012 at 8:50 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2012 8:49:54 PM

200-250 for girlfriend,

50 x 5 for brothers and sisters

then another 100 bucks for the parents...

and another 100 for the nieces and nephews

so about 800.

12/15/2012 8:59:42 PM

Y'all are generous

12/15/2012 9:14:25 PM

I had a hard time keeping within my planned budget and not spending more. My list has about 6 people and it's totaling about $130. I keep seeing more stuff I want to buy them but tell myself no because I'm poor.

12/15/2012 9:22:07 PM

According to my credit card bill, I spent around $540 on 5 family members and another $60 total on 5 friends who I will not see for extended periods of time over the holidays.

Like many of you, I shop early, but just before Christmas, I see more and more things I want to give. This year, I'm resisting the urge to buy more and just sticking with what I already have. The gift giving season usually reinvigorates my materialistic spirit, and I'll continue shopping regularly for myself through the middle of January. Then I'll get tired of buying stuff and give it up until next November.

[Edited on December 15, 2012 at 10:06 PM. Reason : I spend quite a bit on one person each year, but otherwise, I think I'm below average for spending.]

12/15/2012 9:59:18 PM

It was absolute torture as Buckballs were running their final specials.

12/16/2012 9:20:28 AM

Got myself something nice, everyone else is getting some candles I got super cheap at target. No sense in me trying to buy nice things for people that make more than me and probably won't appreciate it.

12/16/2012 9:25:21 AM

Being poor is such a bitch. I least I can use my woodworking skillz to make some of my gifts

12/16/2012 10:30:29 AM

buying for 9 people

budgeted $1000

knocked out all of my shopping for $700

slickdeals.net is my best friend

12/16/2012 10:35:57 AM

I'll end up spending about $600. We had to cut wayyyyyy back since Chris doesn't have a job right now.

12/16/2012 10:46:46 AM

we draw names as far as the extended family goes (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...) and set the budget at $35 per person...

I spend $35 on my grandma. $50 on mom and $50 on dad.

As for my wife, i don't set a specific budget...just generally what she is asking for

12/16/2012 11:25:34 AM

Quote :

"slickdeals.net is my best friend"

What's your shopping strategy? If I just go to their homepage and look at the daily list I'm not particularly impressed.

12/16/2012 12:33:37 PM

Spent 300 on dad, 100 on mom, and 70 on the girl.

12/16/2012 12:36:16 PM

For my friends I made them some stuff that worked out to about $6/person. So about $40 spent there. If they don't end up using the stuff I don't care because it was cheap to make.

12/16/2012 12:43:58 PM

^^how long have you been dating?

12/16/2012 11:41:09 PM

ha, prob $75 for mom.

prob $500-600 for daughter

[Edited on December 16, 2012 at 11:52 PM. Reason : my dad and brother and i don't really do the gifts thing. dad gives us a few hundred $.]

12/16/2012 11:49:06 PM

Buying Christmas gifts is so much easier when your wife does all of it.

12/16/2012 11:53:18 PM

What are you getting for your daughter? How old is she?

I want to get my 15 month old niece (who has been running/walking for about 5 mos) some sort of little "bike" thing (that she pushes with her feet) but I don't know if that makes sense yet

12/17/2012 12:05:18 AM

I spent 0 dollars on slappy1

12/17/2012 12:07:18 AM

^^ she's 6

I'm getting her a package of 4 horseback riding lessons, and (weather permitting) taking her skiing while we're up in NC for Christmas (NC skiing sucks, but it'll be fine for a little kid's first time). I'm also getting her a child-scale guitar and either a kid's mic or karaoke machine. Oh, and a kickstand for her bike, a Barbie where you can dye and re-dye her hair, and maybe a kid's pottery wheel.

[Edited on December 17, 2012 at 12:15 AM. Reason : and yeah, those pedal-less bikes seem like they'd be fine for a kid that can walk and run, i'd think]

12/17/2012 12:14:24 AM

About 220 for the parents. Maybe 250 total for everyone else.

[Edited on December 17, 2012 at 12:19 AM. Reason : That's not really my budget it's just what I ended up spending.]

12/17/2012 12:18:48 AM

Let's sum it up:
$300 for wife
$200 for parents & in-laws
$240 for brothers, brother/sister in-laws, 1st nieces/nephews
$200 for friends, grandparents
$200 for charities, work folks, pets, other

=$1140. I still end to go a couple hundred over-budget. This is the wife and I combined, so if I add in the $300 budgeted for "me", then I'm looking at around $1700 for Christmas.

12/17/2012 12:40:03 AM

Quote :

"I spent 0 dollars on slappy1"

wow, awesome.

12/17/2012 12:55:03 AM

I bought a pair of Christian Louboutins for the GF, so that's about $800.

12/17/2012 1:26:51 AM

My wife and I spent about $500 on 13 people and $100 for each other so $700 total. Some of you are ballers.

We tried to make everybody something and then also got them a $25 gift card to somewhere they liked. My favorite gift is probably the canvas art I made for my Dad with pictures I got from his old slides that I got digitalized.

12/17/2012 8:47:19 AM

Quote :

"200-250 for girlfriend, 50 x 5 for brothers and sisters then another 100 bucks for the parents... and another 100 for the nieces and nephews so about 800. "

That's about par for the course for me. I usually budget $50 per person on immediate relatives. I set the same budget for the SO, but usually go over as I just keep buying shit. Cousins get a little less...normally $25 gift certificates to their favorite stores.

Additions in recent years have been the future in-laws (her parents and her sister).

So I guess it ends up being around $1k. Bleh.

12/17/2012 8:58:28 AM

Way too much.

12/17/2012 9:28:06 AM

my wife gets $150 to spend on me, I get $150 to spend on her and we budget $200 for our son. So far we've stayed right on budget this year.

12/17/2012 9:39:28 AM

before travel expenses, which will be about $1500, i'm in for another $1500-2000 in presents.

pretty typical.

12/17/2012 9:43:51 AM

i went a little overboard on the GF last year. think i'm going to keep it around $200-$250 this year, not including festival tickets i'm getting us both.

my parents are hard to shop for, so if I spend $50 each on them then I must have found something they really wanted. Niece and nephew are still young enough I can get away with a $20 gift. My other family and relatives, we've never really exchanged gifts. Same with my brother, i dunno it's strange, I didn't realize it until several years ago but buying gifts is somewhat small in my family. I'm OK with that.

12/17/2012 9:44:53 AM