How much do you spend on Christmas?

[Alicia64]

Hi Everyone,

 

Dh and I seem to disagree on how much to spend for the holidays.

 

My parents did a super nice job in making us feel like we had spectacular Christmases (in retrospect they didn't spend much. Once they gave us a puppy -- costs in the long run, but cheap up front. Another time they gave us a TV that went into the guest room. But we still thought of it as ours. It wasn't really. And then they included lots of little, fun stuff: candy, nail polish, Barbies.)

 

Plus my mom wrapped anything: socks, undies, clothes. You know, stuff we needed anyway. I feel kind of weird doing that. Mainly because they need that kind of stuff now and I don't want them to wait till the end of Dec.

 

Anyway, dh was raised with very lacking Christmases. One year he got nothing.

 

Don't get me wrong. He wants the boys to have great Christmases, but he clearly doesn't have the urge to make them huge.

 

So far, we've spent about $75 on each child and it'll likely ratchet up to $100.

 

What does the hive think of this amount? Anything else you do to make the gifts go further?

 

Please, no feedback on "learning to give to others." We're doing plenty of that sort of thing. I'm strictly talking about under the tree gifts.

 

Also, how do you handle Santa? Does Santa give one big gift? Or?

What if the kids ask for something that you can't get/afford?

 

Thanks!

 

Alley

[Cammie]

I always had spectacular Christmases - so my parent's set the bar really high! DH is not Christian so he doesn't really get the whole Christmas morning thing. I haven't tracked how much we spent in the past (but will this year).

 

A few things we do...stockings are hugely important - so I tend to fill with lots and lots of little fun things. The costs are usually pretty low so we can put lots of surprises in there. The gifts from Santa are left, unwrapped, on each chair - one chair for each child. These tend to be the toys and more fun type of gifts. Then all the rest of the gifts are wrapped under the tree. When kids want something that we can't or won't be getting for them, we tell them that we will also be talking with Santa and letting him know what our feelings on the subject are! For example, if the kids wanted a video game, I would tell them that I will be telling Santa that we don't like having those in the house! We try to keep the Santa list to just an handful of requests that I know I can fulfill.

[Daisy]

What does the hive think of this amount? Anything else you do to make the gifts go further?

 

Also, how do you handle Santa? Does Santa give one big gift? Or?

What if the kids ask for something that you can't get/afford?

 

I think whatever you decide for your family is fine. I think it's more important that your hubby & you are in agreement.

 

I'll preface my family's tradition with the disclaimer that my children receive no gifts from my side of the family and they receive a $15 g.c. from my husband's parents.

 

This year we are spending about $100 each. That will include the "big" gift (Imaginext space station & sewing basket with accessories), books, stocking stuffers, and probably games/puzzles to share. Hubby & I are not exchanging gifts this year.

 

We've always told the children the true story of St. Nicholas. No Santa gifts. My daughter never asks for anything big. As a matter of fact she can't even think of anything she wants. My son would circle every lego set in the catalog but I simply tell him (before he even sees the catalog) that is entirely too much money for us to spend on toys. He is fine with it.

[justamouse]

Well, it really goes on your budget and how much you can afford.

 

All I'll say is that I'm constantly yelling at Dh to stop. He goes SO overboard each year. Really, our kids are not deprived in any way. And then their birthdays are all within those two months. The presents don't stop until February at our house.

 

But, your Dh may have emotional issues to Christmas, too. So, tread lightly.

Edited November 9, 2009 by justamouse

[Liz CA]

We've had both, lavish Christmases and leaner ones and we discovered that being together and spending long winter evenings playing games and eating cookies is what we remember most. The year, we played rummy and I went out with dh holding cards worth over 100 points still is a favorite memory of ds. Nobody knows anymore what we gave or got for Christmas.

 

This year, the gifts will be less costly out of necessity but definitely not less meaningful or less fun!

 

[petepie2]

We budget $100 total for each child. We gave Santa the boot last year, but if we still did Santa, it would be one present bought out of that budget. And in the past, the gift from Santa was never the "big" one. I haven't really had to address the issue of not being able to afford a particular gift that they really want. Our kids are still little, so they haven't asked for many expensive things. However, I have had conversations in general with DD5 about how some things cost a lot of money that we just don't have to spend, but how we are blessed with many nice things for which we should be thankful.

[TN Mama]

Our Christmas sounds much like Cammie's. Stockings were always my favorite growing up, so I try to have lots of fun with those. Fun little things and always an orange! Special candies, book lights, fun pens.

 

We wrap 3 presents under the tree for each of our girls and Santa leaves his gifts unwrapped. The girls will tell you that Santa won't bring anything that parents wouldn't allow. Books, music & pjs are repeats every year.

[Sue G in PA]

I think it depends on your budget. We only use cash and so with 7 children...our under the tree gifts are minimal. Usually one gift per child and little stocking stuffers. It usually adds up to about $60 for the older 2 and under $50 for the younger 5, with the baby having a small gift or 2 adding up to about $40. This year, I'm really trying NOT to go overboard. My kids have so much and don't appreciate any of it or take care of any of it. I warned the older ones that we'd have a "Little House on the Prairie" Christmas if they didn't start taking care of their toys and being grateful. You should have seen their eyes! "But Mom...all they got was a handmade doll and a candy cane!" LOL! My reply? AND THEY WERE THRILLED TO GET THAT! Anyway...I digress. Spend w/in the budget you set. All families are different.

[Thea]

I budget $1000 for Xmas presents for the dc. I have three.

 

They usually receive one 'big' gift and then a few small ones. Every year they get new pj's, a calendar and an ornament. They also usually each get a movie.

[Cera]

I honestly think the dollar amount spent is inconsequential. You can make the leanest Christmas memorable with activities and a few carefully thought out presents that are well wrapped. The most extravagant Christmas can be a dud if you don't pay attention to what the kids truly want and take the time to enjoy the season with them.

 

We don't really do Santa. The kids each get a stocking filled with little things plus a couple of books underneath from him but that's it. There are no threats to behave or discussions of Santa as real though I have never told them point blank he is fake.

 

They get 1 large present from us, some books they would get anyway, a few necessities(clothes, new sports equipment or uniform, sheets), an ornament and then a few toys that they have asked for. They also get pj's and a movie or book on Christmas Eve.

 

I keep a notebook in my purse and whenever they ask for something throughout the year I ask if it is special enough to go on "the list." It cuts out the begging and gives me ideas of what they ask for over and over when it is time to shop for gifts. Some years the things they really want add up to $50 or so, other years it is quite a bit more. This is one of those quite a bit more years but each of their big gifts will be $100+ (the big gift is one with wow value not size, the older wants a DS, the younger a mushroom house this year).

 

Whatever you do don't spend more than you can afford. You want to enjoy Christmas and thinking about the debt while they open their gifts will not be enjoyable.

[KidsHappen]

It seems that Christmas has become overwhelming for me. My plan for this year are that we will be going to my dd's for Christmas this year. It will be her first year hosting.

 

We will continue the White Elephant tradition. I will do small gifts for each kids for their stockings. The family will all through in for the family gift of family pictures and I am going to ask that each individual present for each person be something hademade or at the very least something used but clearly perfect for that person.

 

I am going to ask my dd for all of the baby's clothes that he has outgrown and then use them to make a blanket for her, probably crochet a nice chenellie on for my dd. I don't know about the rest yet.

 

But we will definitely be trying to downsize and simplify this year.

[Prairie~Phlox]

We don't spend a lot, maybe $40.00 each. My kids just don't need a lot and I try and get things on sale. For instance, I coupon and yesterday at Walgreens I was able to use some register rewards and got Webkinz double pack normally $9.99 and I got 2, papers, 2 bags of Flour, make up, 2 packs Webkinz, buns & paid $8.50 and got back $10.00 in RR, now I did use up quite a few of my RR to get it down to that, but also used a $5/25 coupn. I got Kohl's "gift" in the mail of $10.00, my neighbor gave me hers too and I will go in and try and get a pair of pajamas for one of them depending upon how much they are.

 

We usually do pajamas, a toy and books. I stuff stockings too, with useful stuff, not junk.

[Renee in NC]

We will spend $25 or less per child. They will also receive gifts from extended family. If we could afford more, we might go up to $50 or buy one big gift for them all to share in addition to the $25 each.

[TammyinTN]

We try to spend around the same amount on the children, but our children are 22,20 and 11. We usually spend around 300 per child. They all get one big gift and two smaller gifts and a stocking with fun stuff in it.

[Jumping In Puddles]

My 5yo and 6yo don't need a lot of gifts to make them happy and as a matter of fact, if they get too many gifts, they get overwhelmed and stop opening more gifts. :001_huh:

 

I try to give them what I know they will love or use. I tend to want to buy them too much, so I have to constantly keep myself in check.

 

My dd wants dresses, dress up dresses, sewing stuff, American Girl stuff, so for her, I will get her one thing from each category plus a game.

 

My ds wants rock stuff (rocks, rock hammer, rock guides/books), first aid supplies, and "that's it". But I know he would love a marble run, a game and bakugan stuff (as all his friends play with them!).

 

They will get little stuff in their stocking, like chocolate and a maybe a little book.

 

Oooh yeah, they LOVE matching PJ's (they like to pretend they are twins) so I'll pick up jammies for them. (See, I always think of something else they would love! :lol: someone please save me from myself, lol)

Edited November 9, 2009 by Jumping In Puddles

[lynn]

To be honest I don't look at a certain dollar it all depends on what the kids wanted. One year my oldest wanted something that cost under $50 and my second oldest wanted something that was $150 and both were happy and content with what they received. There was even one year I spent less than $25 each not because we had to, but that that item, I forget what it was, was all they wanted. We just don't go with the concept lets spend $100 each and buy things just buy them to get up to $100. However, when my 2 oldest were younger, I did keep the gifts equal and sometimes I had to wrap something little so each had the same amount of gifts to open.

[DawnM]

It varies for us. Some years we spend more and some years we spend less.

 

We don't do Santa....well, we say something is from Santa on the gift, but we don't *believe*. I have always been very upfront about that with the kids.

 

Not saying the above to say everyone should do that, just that I don't have to worry about what will come from the man. :)

 

We usually do about $100 per child, but some years it has been less. This year they want a Wii. I think we have decided that we will buy the Wii and maybe some extras but they have to use their own money for games.

 

Dawn

[JFSinIL]

When the four kids were tiny I could get away with wrapping garage sale or otherwise second hand (but still in great condition once cleaned) plastic toys (Little Tykes, etc.) but with teens....aargh! This year odds are TWO will be getting digital cameras (around $100 each - not, they can't share as one of the kids is going off to college next fall) plus dvds, cds, oddments. The one who already has a camera wants a camcorder and movie maker software (the software could be shared amongst all the teens as a group present). Still thinking about the camcorder - a decent one runs some money!!! SillyAutismBoy is getting too many DVDs* (he can't read so DVDs are what he does) AND - as a present for the rest of us as much as him - his own TV and dvd/video machines for his bedroom! The other kids have been complaining how much SAB dominates the only tv in the house - we are all tired of listening to him chortle and replay the same scenes over and over and over and over - plus he will NOT tolerate anyone else in the room with him during his tv time. We are tired of being restricted to the dining room or our bedrooms afternoons and most evenings. A lot of money, but will make life so much more pleasant for the rest of us. Hubby and I will exchange only token gag gifts.

 

* some I bought on sale months ago from Amazon. Lets see - so far he is getting"

Complete Thumbs Collection

Nutty Professor 2-pack (Eddie Murphy - he already has Lewis version)

more Laurel and Hardy shorts

season 4 of Simpsons

 

plus probably a couple more new films - Battle of Smithsonian, Monsters vs. Aliens. Harry Potter and UP we get the day they come out - no way I can hold those until Christmas!

 

Oh - almost forgot - I use our Chase Amazon card for EVERYTHING (food, gas etc.) that I would have to get anyway each month - and pay it off IN FULL monthly. I use the gift certificates I earn from Amazon to get most of our books and DVDs..I-Pods, cameras - last couple years it was $600 per year in free stuff. I read that this year you can earn up to $1,000 in free stuff off the card. Since most of our family road trip this summer to see colleges went on the card, I bet I get the full amount this year.

Edited November 9, 2009 by JFSinIL

[farmgirlinwv]

Dd's tastes now that she's 12 are getting expensive. She's gettin a wii system. I've already bought 6 games. She also wants an MP3 w/ video. She wants a Sirrus radio mp3 thing. I don't know about that. Plus we were planning on getting her a flat screen tv for her room. Less expensive things she'll get from family. She's used to getting alot. She's an only child and was an only grandchild til this year. Sometimes I'm afraid we're spoiling her because we wouldn't buy so much if we had more to buy for. However, we're purchasing the wii partly to help w/ her eye-hand coordination/vision issues. All that stuff could easily be over $500 and that just seems like too much. One year she got 2 AG dolls and I thought that was too much for her big gifts. I just have such fond memories of Christmas and I want hers to be special too. Dh thinks I spend too much, but then he'll go along w/ me. I don't know. We do give by picking out things in Samaritans Purse catalog and Angel Tree, but she really doesn't have any concept of not getting what she wants for Christmas. I don't know if that's good or bad.

[abbeyej]

It sounds like you already *know* that you can create the sense of "spectacular Christmas" for your boys without spending huge sums or overwhelming them with the quantity of gifts. Perhaps you can begin looking for other ideas and traditions for your family that will build memories and excitement without actually *spending* a lot more? (I really don't think there's anything wrong with spending very little or spending a lot, if a family can afford it, so long as the gifts are genuinely appreciated and are not the main focus of the holiday. The *amount* just seems like a non-issue to me...)

 

Things we try to do... Some simple decorations that come out each year. When the kids were very small, we didn't have Christmas ornaments (the money, or a place to keep many), so we had a lovely copper star cookie cutter. Every year we made cinnamon applesauce ornaments with our cookie cutter and a straw for punching holes in them, then we hung them on little red ribbons. The cost was a few dollars a year (a jar of applesauce, some school glue, a bulk container of cinnamon and a roll of cheap red ribbon), but the kids delighted in the slightly messy *process* of making the ornaments each year, the smell of cinnamon filling the house, seeing their work displayed on the tree... Your boys are old enough to make garlands by stringing popcorn and/or cranberries while you watch seasonal movies together or listen to Christmas music... It's not the end product that's most important, but the process of doing it together and building memories...

 

*Smells* really are a huge memory builder. How many times do you catch a whiff of something and you're instantly transported to some other time and place? Christmas is full of wonderful smells. Capitalize on that, so that later on your kids will associate the smell of evergreen (if you don't do a live tree, just burn some inexpensive pine-scented candles), cinnamon and spice, baking, oranges, cranberries... Bake cookies together. Make pomander balls (buy the cheapest oranges around and whole cloves in bulk; puncture the oranges all over -- randomly or in a pattern -- with a toothpick, then insert the cloves all over; they'll continue to dry and smell better and better over time). Fill your house with "Christmas smells".

 

Music too... Introduce your boys to *your* favorite Christmas music. Sing along! Make it a joyful time!

 

Fill a basket with Christmas books (purchased over the years, from the library, whatever) and read a picture book each day during December. We have a basket that gets pulled out each year. As I find new things, I try to add them, but it's just a book or two each year... Some that we smile to see each year: The Lion in the Box, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Light at Tern Rock, The Night of Las Posadas, Too Many Tamales, Twenty and Ten, The Story of Holly and Ivy, and many more... We also read Geraldine McCaughrean's version of The Jesse Tree over the course of Advent leading up to Christmas. (It's specifically retelling the stories of the Old Testament leading up to the New Testament stories of Jesus' birth, and I don't know your religious orientation, so...)

 

Bake small things and deliver them to people in your lives. Even if it's just three cookies per person in a little cello bag (the dollar stores usually carry them this time of year), it gives your boys the fun of baking (the mess! the taste! the Mommy-time!) and the experience of *giving*. If you're not really into baking, you can just "assemble" small gifts. One year we put together "mini s'mores kits" to give out: a cello bag with a tiny ziploc each of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, an individual bag of teddy grahams, a tea light, a two tiny plastic cocktail forks along with a label explaining what these were...

 

We also celebrate St Nicholas Day rather than doing much with Santa Claus. On SND (or sometimes a weekend night nearby, if the dates just won't work that year), we invite friends over for dinner and have a feast (lots of wonderful recipes at the http://stnicholascenter.org/ website) and during the day we read some stories of the "real" St Nicholas (obviously they're mostly legend) and discuss giving of gifts anonymously and doing good works without thought for reward and St Nicholas' desire to tell children about the birth of Jesus... During the meal, we make sure our guests know the story of the three young girls and the bags of gold coins, and somehow, magically, before dinner is over, small bags of chocolate coins appear in everyone's shoes (where they were lined up by the door)... (Sometimes there's another small gift -- handmade knit or crocheted hats or slippers or some other small, and possibly homemade gift...)

 

Think about the sights and sounds and smells and experiences that made your Christmases seem special when you were a child. Do you love twinkling lights? Hot chocolate? Apple pie? The Carol of the Bells? Watching "Miracle on 34th Street"? ... What events (especially free or inexpensive ones) does your town sponsor around Christmas time? Are there local ballet schools performing excerpts of The Nutcracker at the mall? Are there readings from A Christmas Carol at the local library? Are there inexpensive student matinee performances of any traditional Christmas productions going on?

 

Beside all that, the gifts themselves are pretty minor. :)

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

My parents did a super nice job in making us feel like we had spectacular Christmases

 

Anyway, dh was raised with very lacking Christmases. One year he got nothing.

 

Don't get me wrong. He wants the boys to have great Christmases, but he clearly doesn't have the urge to make them huge.

 

So far, we've spent about $75 on each child and it'll likely ratchet up to $100.

 

What does the hive think of this amount? Anything else you do to make the gifts go further?

 

We also had spectacular Christmases. In retrospect, I think they were quite excessive. I'm ashamed to admit that they (along with excessive birthdays, Easter, etc.) made me greedy and spoiled as a child. I cannot speak for everyone's experience about this but it was true of mine.

 

This quote struck me...

 

My 5yo and 6yo don't need a lot of gifts to make them happy and as a matter of fact, if they get too many gifts, they get overwhelmed and stop opening more gifts.

 

There is a very good explanation of this type of Christmas in The Complete Tightwad Gazette. When you have to pull your kids away from the gift they opened, were thrilled with and now want to play with for an hour...when you're saying, "Come on, little Johnny. Put that down and open this one now," I believe it sends a message to the child to not bother appreciating each gift. I was the kid who was ripping through each gift, assessing how well I liked it and asking what else? :blush: However, I bet that once upon a time (when I was a toddler, preschooler?), I was a child who opened something, oohed and aahed and wanted to play with it. I imagine I was cajoled to open another and another. I was trained to not appreciate my things. I don't really blame my mom. She was doing her best to provide us with a magical experience every year (and yes, for every holiday) and she truly didn't connect the dots to see the greedy little monsters she was creating in my sister and me. Frankly, the feeling that you are entitled to getting everything you want is a very difficult thing to overcome as an adult. I've had reasonable success by applying a lot of thought to the subject and self-control (except for books...don't ask me about books!).

 

I just wanted to offer another perspective. You may have come out of your spectacular Christmases unscathed and, if so, that's great. I do think your dh is not being unreasonable, as you acknowledge that he does agree that Christmas should be great but disagrees about how big they should be, which leads me to the how much do you spend question...

 

I spend what I can comfortably afford but it's a bit irrelevant. I'm sure you've heard that formula for how many gifts to buy a child. Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read... or something like that. I have a similar way of doing things, meaning that I have categories of toys in my mind. The cost of an individual toy or the amount I spend on the kids isn't as important to me as making sure that I don't buy an excess of toys. So, maybe I'll spend a larger sum on a castle and some figures of excellent quality rather than buying many small toys. My mom's tendency was to buy more, more, more so Christmas would be bigger but I don't believe that made it better.

 

Basically, I'm making a concerted effort to "train" the kids' expectations.

 

Also, how do you handle Santa? Does Santa give one big gift? Or?

What if the kids ask for something that you can't get/afford?

 

Santa usually brings one big gift for all three kids to share and one medium gift and a classic book for each child. They also receive one medium gift from DH and me and get 3-4 smaller things and candy in their stockings.

 

But, your Dh may have emotional issues to Christmas, too. So, tread lightly.

 

:iagree:

Edited November 9, 2009 by Alte Veste Academy

[Guest Alte Veste Academy]

Perhaps you can begin looking for other ideas and traditions for your family that will build memories and excitement without actually *spending* a lot more?

 

I really enjoyed your post! Thanks for taking the time to type all that out!

[amy g.]

I tend to be excessive, and spend thousands of dollars. Fortunately, I have a big family, so no one gets TOO spoiled.

 

My kids do care the most for non material traditions-the advent readings, and carols and midnight mass. We have also had years when they stopped opening presents, and finished on Christmas night.

 

I think of spoiled as two different things. There is how much stuff they have, and then there is how they behave. My heart is for my children to give my children everything they could ever wish for. Fortunately, my husband feels the same way.

 

Strangely, instead of becoming materialistic, they have chosen to mimic Dh and myself by always wanting to sacrifice for others. I'm not sure why it worked out that way, but I just credit God's good grace.

 

For example, I got some unexpected money, and bought my son an Android phone out of the blue. I fully expected to pay his monthly bills, but he would not hear of it, so I gave him extra chores to earn the money. After the first month, he complained that he was overpaid, and I needed to add additional work.

 

Even Miss Bossy who SHOULD be the most selfish child in existence, considering how we all give in to her every whim, has decided that being big and grown up means giving to others.

 

This weekend, she gave her sister a special Beyer horse. She also wants to talk about how when the new baby is born, she is going to share her room and her toys and keep the baby safe, and make sure no one EVER makes the baby sleep alone.

 

I don't know why spoiled/selfish behavior does not always follow a childhood of material plenty, but I'm sure am grateful that it hasn't yet in my family.

[Melinda in VT]

When you have to pull your kids away from the gift they opened, were thrilled with and now want to play with for an hour...when you're saying, "Come on, little Johnny. Put that down and open this one now," I believe it sends a message to the child to not bother appreciating each gift. I was the kid who was ripping through each gift, assessing how well I liked it and asking what else? :blush: However, I bet that once upon a time (when I was a toddler, preschooler?), I was a child who opened something, oohed and aahed and wanted to play with it.

 

Possibly, but I think a lot of it is just personality. I have twins. One frequently has gifts to unwrap the next day. The other unwraps them all and then goes back and plays with them.

 

It's the same with Easter egg hunts. He has had to learn that if he wants candy he needs to collect the plastic eggs and then open them, but for Christmas presents, we make a point of not rushing him.

 

In fact, I've toyed with the idea of dragging out the present opening for all the kids. We are not with our families at Christmas, so it's not a matter of them being there to see the kids open the presents. Maybe one day we open all the presents from DH's family. Another day all the presents from mine, etc.

 

Can't get DH to go for it yet.

[Plucky]

This year's budget is $600. That includes professional pictures taken and given to family members, and gifts and stocking stuffers for 4 kids and 2 adults.

[cdrumm4448]

Our budget is $150 per child. They have been begging for the Wii, and I have been earning $5.00 Amazon gift cards through surveys and search sites. I am already done shopping for them as I buy clearance items all year long that they will like and I finished with a Hearthsong order of a few things they picked from their catalog.

 

I know several people that spend $600+ per child, then are paying for it on credit cards the rest of the year. Since I just threw away 8 garbage bags of kid junk from the basement, they have plenty.

 

So, our question this year is do we get the free Wii and give it to them on top of the other presents, or wait until my daughter's birthday in May and give it to them then. This leave my son with a November birthday with nothing to open since we would take the money we would normally spend on their present and it put it in the bank.

[MariannNOVA]

We also had spectacular Christmases. In retrospect, I think they were quite excessive. I'm ashamed to admit that they (along with excessive birthdays, Easter, etc.) made me greedy and spoiled as a child. I cannot speak for everyone's experience about this but it was true of mine.

 

 

 

This sounds like my Christmases growing up. DH and I have had lavish and lean Christmases.

I love the idea of 'making traditions and memories.'

 

To answer your question: we tend to spend between $200-300 per child, and another $2000. on grandchildren, older daughters, their husbands, grandparents, nieces, gifts for choir directors, etc. Finally, probably $500. on entertaining (dinner for guests, hostess gifts, etc.) DH also spends about $500. on his staff -- usually in the form of a breakfast at the office or a luncheon.

Edited November 9, 2009 by MariannNOVA

[momofkhm]

That's about what we usually spend. I thought you were talking all of Christmas - parents, ILs, siblings, godchildren, friends.

 

Our kids we usually stick to under $100. This year they aren't getting anything - but a family cruise in January!

[Rosy]

We've done $50/kid for the last few years, actually last year might have been more like $75. Stockings get candy, satsumas, socks, undies and a movie and a couple things from the $ section at Target. My kids have never been disappointed. :) The in-laws let me shop for them as well (they send a check, I spend it, the kids open their presents in front of Grandma & Grandpa--everyone wins!), so that helps me plan and coordinate gifts.

[rafiki]

.

[Kari C in SC]

I haven't read the others, but this is what we do... I don't have an exact $$$ amount per kid. I have idea of what I would like and then I see what I can do with the $$$ we have. This can be different every year and is almost always different depending on my kids ages at the time. For instance, this year - my oldest is an adult and moved out. He has more money that he knows what to do with - so I bought him a special item that was about $40 and some stocking stuffers. Now, my dd is 11. She is getting older and interested in some bigger things than before. She hasn't asked exactly, but I know her WOW gift would be an ipod. So, we are getting that for her. I have also clearanced shopped all year around and total will come out to about $200 on her. Then there is my youngest. If I bought the boy a dollar store gun he would be thrilled. He really could care less what he gets. He likes only a few types of toys and he already has them. I still want him to have that excited moment on Christmas morning. I have picked him up some GI Joe guys, guns, etc on consignment shops. I found him a GI Joe Jeep at the flea market. I got him some new nerf bullets and some Magic Sand. None of this cost much as it was either on sale or clearance. At most - I will have spent $100 on him and I am thinking it is more like $75. So, the budget for each of my kids is very different. If I assigned them each a dollar amount - it just wouldn't feel right to me. I get what I think they would like, but really I don't think I have ever spent more than $200 on a single child for Christmas.

 

I do what your mom did - I wrap EVERYTHING! I mean EVERYTHING! One year when my dd was about 4, I got her a loving care doll house with all the furniture and stuff from a consignment shop. I wrapped every tiny doll, lamp, bed, etc. She had so much fun unwrapping stuff. This year I used coupons and bought her a whole bunch of nail products. I plan to wrap each one and then put them in the nice carrying box I got her and then wrap the box. I have pez refills for their stockings and I will wrap them.

 

When the kids are little - we just tell them it all from Santa except for maybe one gift. I love the excitement in their eyes when they come out and see what Santa brought.

 

My dh didn't have a great childhood. He didn't have what I had. I didn't have rich parents or a ton of gifts, but I had the excitement of Christmas. My mom did things very similar to what I do. One year she got me a life sized baby doll and then my dad and her went to the thrift store to buy clothes for the doll. She even remembered to get her a winter coat. I adored that Christmas. I dressed my "baby" in her Christmas dress and put on her winter coat to take her to my aunts. They got me a diaper bag (the 70's style flip top "suitcase" kind") and a real umbrella stroller. It was not a TON of stuff, but it was perfect and well thought out. I try to do the same with my kids. Now, I am all excited about Christmas!

 

ETA: I wanted to point out that whatever we spend is always paid for when we buy it. I have never gone into debt to buy my kids Christmas gifts. If we didn't have the money to spend, we would scale it back and make due. The key for me is spreading it out all year. Then I am only left with a small portion to pay for in December. That makes it doable for us.

Edited November 9, 2009 by Kari C in SC