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How much do you spend on Christmas presents?

(110 Posts)
minimo Fri 10-Nov-17 13:53:13

My OH has just asked me what our budget is? First time he's ever shown any interest in any Christmas planning by the way! I was dumbfounded I'll admit. I have absolutely no idea. I just keep buying till everyone has a gift. I'm not particularly extravagant - we don't have the money to be - but it still adds up. If I think how much I've spent so far I'd guess it's approaching £200 shock and I'm probably not even halfway yet. There seem to be a large number of people to think of. Think I'll go hide my head in the sand again... blush

annsixty Sat 11-Nov-17 09:09:55

I have no siblings and my H has 1 who long ago cut himself off from the family.
I do not buy for any friends, we decided that as families grew we would stop.
So it is Cx2, Gcx6, "sortof" Gcx4 and 1 ex DìL.
H and I don't exchange but I do buy myself one.
This probably comes to around £600.
I give my single parent D some cash to help out but she has a better earning capacity starting soon so that may end.
We spend not much more on food and drink than a normal weekend as we do not entertain at all now.
I give two of my favourite charities the WFA, and after a very cash strapped childhood for both H and myself, it gives me enormous pleasure to be able to do this.

Marianne1953 Sat 11-Nov-17 09:06:41

I don’t spend much on presents. I only buy for my children and grandchildren and nieces & nephews up to 18. So I now have only one niece to buy for . It probably amounts to about £200. My husband & I don’t buy gifts for each other.
I do spend quite a bit on food as quality and where it comes from is important to me , as so having s good meal with family.

kooklafan Sat 11-Nov-17 08:52:44

I don't do nieces and nephews now they are grown up. There's son, DIL and GKs between £20-£30 a head and sisters £20 a head. This year I'm focussing on son, DIL and GKs and one sister as she has put herself out during the year to keep in touch. I'm sick of buying for people who can't be bothered keep in touch through the year.

lionpops Sat 11-Nov-17 08:33:53

With 29 grand/great GC and five children we gave presents up a few years ago. Gave them large cheques and told them that was it. It’s worked brilliantly. We save our money and now through the year help those family members who visit and take an interest in us and we treat accordingly. We live away from them so for example on a visit to a wildlife park with a GC if we see they like it and would want to spend more time there buy them a season ticket. We were able to allocate some money to help pay for other GCs singing/dance lessons when parents were struggling. I might also add when you take the Xmas/Birthday gifts off the menu it soon sorts out the caring from the don’t give a damn.

Luckylegs9 Sat 11-Nov-17 08:20:50

All my life I have gone over the top with Christmas and birthday presents, now I realise I shouldn't have. Everyone had a pillowcase full, it became a nightmare as adults got older and their incomes overtook mine, now I am retired the budget has reduced. I spend about £75 on everyone c, and gc, £15-£20 on just 4 friends £25 sister. But it's still a lot and I would like to reduce it but feel mean.

ninathenana Sat 11-Nov-17 07:23:24

I'm feeling mean !
Adult children + 1 partner and H £30-50 each
GC we don't see so will put money in an account £50x2
We agreed years ago to only buy for children in the family which is now 2 x great nephews who we never see so they get £20 voucher each.
Friends and I don't buy for each other.
So presents come to about £250.

Nelliemoser Sat 11-Nov-17 00:12:38

I think this gift giving gets out of hand, my family are in the situation of having most of what they need and go out and buy what they have not got.
The little grandsons are a different matter but My daughter keeps saying the little ones have quite enough toys for Birthdays and Christmas.
I am going to resort to giving my DD a stash of money for outings and treats on birthdays and holidays etc. etc.

sundownadventureland.co.uk/ which the little ones adore.
That and trains to the seaside etc. (in the summer that is. ) Bridlington in November is not the best thing.

paddyann Fri 10-Nov-17 23:29:40

Far too much ,I start buying straight after Christmas and put things away for my present cupboard ,as I have around 25 to buy for its easier to do it this way.I dont count it up but I know I spend about £100 on each of the kids and maybe £120 on a couple if its a joint gift like a case of wine .I too have decided to cut back after this year and put cash aside in seperate envelopes throughout the year for everyone .I've got 5 birthdays between now and Christmas too .

grannyactivist Fri 10-Nov-17 21:38:41

I've never totted up the amount, but I give gifts to:
1 husband
4 adult children
3 son/daughter(s) in law
7 grandchildren
7 Godchildren
2 parents in law
1 mother
4-6 friends
2 colleagues
Plus token gifts (£5ish) to several members of our extended family.

I keep an eye out during the year for offers and spread the cost over several months. I also tend to buy a cache of birthday gifts in the January sales because all the people I buy gifts for at Christmas usually get a birthday gift as well. I am very good at spotting offers and am prepared to spend a lot of time tracking down good deals.
I also have a son, daughter in law, nephew, grandson and father in law who all have birthdays in December/early January too.

Willow500 Fri 10-Nov-17 21:18:16

I daren't add it up but this year we've also paid for my son and family to come over from NZ so it's a lot.

Maggiemaybe Fri 10-Nov-17 20:05:00

Oh dear, I've never worked out how much all the food and booze costs. Perhaps I need a new tab on my spreadsheet, or perhaps I'd feel better not knowing.

I've just wrapped up a little gift to post to my niece in Canada. The main criteria was that it was very light, but I must say I'm quite pleased to have managed to get together a little package of coloured nail buffers, pretty floral nail files and a couple of L'Oreal nail varnishes for £4. Bargain! I just hope they don't have Poundland in Canada.

Coolgran65 Fri 10-Nov-17 20:01:27

We have 4 offspring, their wives, 6 dgc. That's 14 at about £50 each, = £700
Plus 4 of the dgc all have birthdays within a couple of weeks of Christmas, another 4 x £50 = £200
Plus 3 siblings, plus 4 friends, plus 4 other friends' children = about £200
That us up to £1050. That's just off the top of my head, there's probably a couple I've missed.
Then the Christmas meal, extras.

I do try to buy as I see through the year and today pulled out my 'box' from below the bed to see what I had. e.g. a winter coat from M & S for 1 yr old which was reduced from £40 to £3.99. A p-leather silver biker's jacket for 10 year old dgd from TK Maxx reduced to £16.

The dgc used to get about £100 gift but as they became more, now 6, I've tried to cut down nearer £50.

Gift to each other.
I have tried to suggest to dh about a family adult Secret Santa but he continues to want to do 'proper gifts'.
I think he's not wanting to look cheap !!

KatyK Fri 10-Nov-17 19:54:02

We spend too much. I'm trying to cut down this year (again). We only have about 8 people to buy for but we go our for a family meal sometime over the Christmas period, so that has to be paid for plus taxis. Then the family come here Boxing night and we provide food and drink. The other bits and bobs add up - such as friends saying 'we must meet up for a drink or lunch around Christmas'. Then there are cards, wrapping, postage stamps.

Jalima1108 Fri 10-Nov-17 19:46:47

teifi I have given up - the postage is extortionate.

You can order stuff or vouchers from Australian websites (a particular jeweller I have used is brilliant (I think they are called Gilletts, and will wrap and deliver promptly) otherwise, money - the postage can cost as much as a gift.

MissAdventure Fri 10-Nov-17 19:36:03

Depends on how my finances are. If they're not very healthy then I would spend no more than 50 each on my two grandsons, and 50 on my daughter. If I was better off, I would spend around 100 pounds each. On principle I wouldn't spend much more, even if I could afford it.

Serkeen Fri 10-Nov-17 19:20:03

Around £700 and there are 10 people to buy for

I spend around £100 on food

Marelli Fri 10-Nov-17 18:56:27

Same as last year, I’m asking friends and family, who would normally give us presents, to spend that money on food for the local Foodbank, and that I would do the same - buy for the Foodbank instead of buying presents. In our area, as in so many other places, things are dire, with much child poverty and fuel poverty.
We have a 7-year-old Gt. grandson and we will probably be buying him football stuff, or whatever his mum thinks he might like. He’s the only wee one in the family now.
DH and I are going to Lindisfarne for Christmas ?, so that’ll do us fine!

teifi Fri 10-Nov-17 18:48:37

We've agreed this year to small token Christmas presents (up to £10 or so) for the adults in the family. Will give money (£100) towards bicycle for younger GS, and the same in actual notes to older GS (12yrs) who is saving for techy stuff, plus one or two wrapped fun things. DH & I buy the 'festive' meat/veg box (which was ordered today) - another £120 or so. I haven't yet worked out how to post/send a gift to DS2 & partner who are in Australia this year - anyone any tips?

lemongrove Fri 10-Nov-17 17:36:11

With a small family, and our friends all agreeing to the no presents rule, just a card, we don’t, thankfully, spend very much.
However, as another poster says, Christmas food and drinks and panto tickets etc all adds up.
The main thing is that all get a present that they actually want and like, you don’t have to have a big budget for that,

Charleygirl Fri 10-Nov-17 17:13:54

OMG I must be Scrooge's wife. I got fed up looking for presents for friends who have everything from January onwards and never seemingly getting it right so we agreed not to exchange gifts.

I do not have any family alive in this country or Scotland.

I send one cheque! Simples.

pollyperkins Fri 10-Nov-17 16:43:07

But it does depend on the size of your family, Mine is quite big. I do try not to overspend, but usually fail.

pollyperkins Fri 10-Nov-17 16:41:39

Ive never worked it out. Used to spend £30 on children and partners and also grandchildren. That's about £390. Then about £15 on our brothers & sisters and partners plus great nephews and nieces, That's about another £200. So about £600 altogether not counting anything I might buy for DH .

Nowadays we do secret santa for all the adults in the family which has cut it down a lot.

Mind you, to that add panto tickets, all the cards, food, Christmas tree, crackers etc etc and the cost is huge! Makes me feel guilty when I think of all the poverty in the world.

BBbevan Fri 10-Nov-17 15:49:06

We give a main present to the adults. The 2 DGDs get a pillow case of 1 main present plus bits and bobs. Then we have a small afternoon present. Also we give our DD and DSs families a gift of money. All in all about £2500 . That is not including food etc.

M0nica Fri 10-Nov-17 15:41:41

My total budget for everything, presents, stockings, food etc is around £750. DH pays for tree and booze (we are not heavy drinkers) and DC supply cheese, nibbles and anything that takes their fancy that they think we should have.

I thought that was quite extravagant, even given that we have a more than comfortable income, but hearing what some are spending and comparing our spend with our income, I now look like a miserly curmudgeon.

Maggiemaybe Fri 10-Nov-17 15:39:20

To be honest, I'd be hearing those words if he even got wind of the £600. grin