by:
foxymama 14OP
~ 8 years ago
Nov 6, '15 11:17am
I heard on the radio this morning that finacial experts recommend you not spend more than 1% of your yearly income on Christmas gifts. Â I don't even come close to spending that amount.Do you spend more than 1%? Â 4951
We just buy for my daughter and my neices and nephews( only 8). Â My siblings kids are still in grade school and college and most just want money which is an easy gift. 4951
It depends on the age of the kids and size of the family. Â Some years were more expensive when they both got bikes, then they got cheaper, then they got laptops one year (which we would have had to buy anyway). Â I don't like hard percentages as rules, people have different priorities. Â The key is to make sure you can afford it. Â There are people spending more than 1% of their income on Starbucks, it's a matter of priorities.I usually have travel expenses around that time as well, so cost can add up.If you go into debt for x mas, or if it significantly affects your savings, now that's a problem. 4951
I usually just stand out on the roadway with a sign asking for money for my family and that pretty much takes care of everything. People are so generous before the holidays 4951
Probably close to it but hubby comes from a big family. Once my siblings turned 18 I quite buying for them tho. And last year my dad and stepmom sent out an email to not buy them anything as they were having a rough year and couldn't afford. I wish they'd stop buying for the big kids and focus on their grandchildren instead. They don't give them anything for their bdays either. 4951
I buy here and there all year long for our family. If I see a good deal on something I know they want, then I buy it. None of us are into accumulating anymore, so I tend to try to do smaller, personal, fun things. We really enjoy that more anyway. One year one of my sisters did our family tree and made books for us each with copies of old photos, letters and our family stories. It was a real treasure.When the kids were little we went by the "one big thing" philosophy. We never believed in making a list and expecting to get everything on it kind of thing. It was never about how much we could or could not afford. It is a values thing with us. We never believed in a huge gift fest and like Fallon said, we tried to keep the focus on doing special things together and making memories. We always had a wonderful Christmas without ti being all about the "stuff". 4951
Wife filling 4 boxes with $25 each for our boys 12 & 15, they dont even know what they want so they get 100 each.We do the Dave Ramsey system so we put money aside all year and pay cash for all gifts. If it was up to me, We would give EVERYONE $25 AMEX gift card and forget about it. not drive around and try to find something for everyone.Wife decided we needed a new tree last night so $300 later we are out of hobby lobby, but we got a stand that the tree turns on for like $36. We had one and its too tall for the house, anyone want to buy the old one 8ft, very robust pre-lit. 4951
I can honestly say i don't know how much we spend but I know it isn't more than we can afford. This year, I want to make the grandparents presents and then buy one gift each. I buy throughout the year for our daughter. 4951
Both hubby and I have large families, we used to draw names, but then it just seemed like we were at our wits end trying to figure out what to buy someone you rarely saw and who could afford to go out and buy themselves anything they wanted, when they wanted it. So we were exchanging gift cards. We all agreed to stop. We buy for my parents, something consumable, each other and our kids. Last year we gave the 3 older kids cash, it's what they needed and they were all traveling here for Xmas, youngest got an Xbox One and a few small things. The hardest part is to reign hubby in, he's a shopper, that one. 4951
I guess the problem we have is we make considerably less than everyone in the family but are expected to spend roughly the same. That is not happening this year. 4951
Christmas eve will be big this year at my grandparents house. About 60 of us and we all decided to buy gift for everyone this year like we did growing up. The last few years, we had drew names. Probably won't do any gifts for Michaels side. I'm spending about $500 on Travis' skydiving and $80 for the coffeepot oldest wants..I told middle we could average those 2 gifts and she can have the cash. Michael and me don't really do gifts for each other. The granddaughter will get whatever will fit in the vehicles. 4951