Holiday shopping budget - no $$$, but comparison to what else you spend/earn.

[JoyfulMama]

Every year we (well, I) go round and round about how much we should/can/do spend, not just on our kids, but in total... and this morning while washing dishes I realized that this year I feel like I am doing well, and my budget is about equal to one week's paycheck, and less than our rent.

 

Last year it was much less, but then again dh was out of work for 3 months.

 

So, how about you?

 

Here's the rules - no dollar amounts (that's like comparing apples to oranges). Relate what you spend/your budget to something else, either what you earn, or another expense (or both, like I did).

[Nakia]

Ours is about equal to one month's mortgage payment. Keep in mind our mortgage is wayyyyyyyyy less than the average mortgage. I just looked it up, and our mortgage is less than half the average mortgage.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Nakia

[MeaganS]

Because we are currently living off student loans, we've decided that our Christmas budget is however much we can make in Swagbucks Amazon.com gift cards in one year. This year, our Christmas budget is a little more than our electric bill!

[SailorMom]

We usually spend 3/10 of a percent ( .03%) of our income on Christmas. This year we will probably spend about 1/2% of our income. We tend to be pretty frugal - as does the extended family. Thankfully - everyone except the kids likes to try to get something fun for little money.

[LuvToRead]

We spend about 1.5% of our total income on Christmas gifts. For comparison, we spend about 10 to 15% on groceries and basic household items. These numbers to vary greatly, so it's changes from year to year. This year, it will probably be less, because we've had some major expenses this month.

[Renee in NC]

Roughly half of our electric bill, or about 0.8% of our annual income. That seems like a lot to me (percentage wise), but it means everyone gets something.

[rafiki]

.

[Carrie12345]

We usually budget about 2% of our gross household income. That includes everything from the tree to baking expenses and the gifts to boarding the dogs (which we do about every other year, to make it easier to visit family).

 

This year, we are cutting back, though we haven't set the official budget yet. Dh's company is being restructured, and while he will likely keep his job, it's scary enough to make us a bit more conservative!

 

Our mortgage (with taxes, insurance, etc.) is about 19% of our income.

Food runs around 12%.

Homeschooling runs between 2 and 3%.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Carrie1234

[Mom22ns]

I've always thought we spent a lot on Christmas, but our spending is less than 1% of annual income. I think the reason this feels like a lot is that we only buy presents for children, our two, two nieces and one nephew. Our extended families long ago agreed on no gifts for adults and dh and I never exchange gifts for any reason. I think our per child spending for our own kids is pretty high in dollars, even if not in relative dollars.

[Nakia]

I just figured out the percentage of our income we spend on Christmas and it's about 2% of our annual income, including gifts, food, and decorations.

 

Our mortgage is about 17% of our annual income.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I think it's 1/26 of our income, but it may be a little more than that, but still close.

[Mom0012]

It would be interesting to see in relation to income, what percentage people here put toward:

food - include groceries and eating out

mortgage/rent - including taxes, homeowners insurance, and PMI

education - including activities

special occasions/holidays combined - Easter, Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.

 

We put

13% toward food, all of which are groceries for our family of five since we do not eat out

4% toward education/activities - swimming, karate, and school materials for three kids

2% toward special occasions/holidays (half of which is for Christmas)

24% is our mortgage with taxes and insurance, we have no PMI

 

 

I like this method. We put:

 

8% towards food and household goods for a family of 4

5% towards ballet, swimming, cub scouts (almost all of my curriculum purchases come from Amazon gift cards I get as rewards through my cc or from money I have from reselling the prior year's curriculum)

18% towards our mortage, taxes & insurance

and usually about 1% towards Christmas, though this year it will be much less

 

Lisa

[Wendi]

About 10% of a month's take-home pay.

 

Wendi

[Renee in NC]

It would be interesting to see in relation to income, what percentage people here put toward:

food - include groceries and eating out

mortgage/rent - including taxes, homeowners insurance, and PMI

education - including activities

special occasions/holidays combined - Easter, Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries, etc.

 

We put

13% toward food, all of which are groceries for our family of five since we do not eat out

4% toward education/activities - swimming, karate, and school materials for three kids

2% toward special occasions/holidays (half of which is for Christmas)

24% is our mortgage with taxes and insurance, we have no PMI

 

 

Percentages based on Gross Income:

 

Food - nothing. We get food stamps.

Activities - nothing. They don't have any.

Holidays overall - 1.4%

Rent - 38%

Health Insurance - 15.7%

Electric/phone - 21.2%

 

:D

[MamaAkins]

I would estimate that we spend about 1.5-2% of our income on Christmas presents, decorations and other holiday-related expenses. In comparison, it is about equivalent to the amount that we spend on food each month.

[Melissa B]

We spend around 2.5% of our annual income on Christmas if you include gifts, cards, tree, etc.

 

OR a little over 1 month's rent

Edited October 26, 2010 by Melissa B

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Well....here it goes!

 

I don't know what we spend...I'm not even sure what our monthly income will be since we live completely on faith and what comes in. It's impossible to say what percentage of our income goes to what. I just know that God provides!:001_smile:

 

But, we spend what comes in in gifts for our family to be used specifically for Christmas. Some years it's a good amount, some years it isn't. It all depends and I usually don't know until our first deposit in December. So...there it is!

 

That's our life in a nutshell!:D

[Sherry in OH]

We spend about one month's mortgage payment on Christmas. This includes gifts, cards/photographs, outings, and extra grocery, utilities, gas, and other entertainment-related expenses.

[fairfarmhand]

probably about the equivalent of our grocery bill for the month.

[LibraryLover]

I just miss the days of little blocks and puzzles, and the occasional Playmobil ship, which was much, much cheaper than computers and concert tickets.

Edited October 26, 2010 by LibraryLover

[lynn]

I don't really have a "budget" but I imagine I will spend as much as spend on food each month for a family of 6.

[bluemongoose]

We spent a little less than 1% this year. Usually it is less, but we bought DD a Nintendo DS this year.

 

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that this includes Birthday presents for DH and all my kids as they all have winter holiday birthdays! The way I keep the cost so low is I shop all year round at clearances and keep the gifts in my closet.

Edited October 26, 2010 by bluemongoose

[Daisy]

We spend less than 1% of our NET yearly income on Christmas.

 

As it compares to other expenses...

 

One month of groceries

2-3 months of electricity (depending on the season)

3 months of car insurance

1 year of tabs for our car and motorcycle

less than half of what we are forced to pay in union dues every year.

Edited October 26, 2010 by Daisy
Oops, I made a HUGE error.

[Ginevra]

For gifts, we spend about 1.5 weeks paycheck. Fortunately, we have a system on my dh's side of the family; there are 18 neices/nephews but we buy for two.

 

I'm pretty frugal on the whole, but not necessarily when it comes to Christmas gifts. I want the kids to get gifts that are special, something I would not have bought otherwise. My mother was (and still is) frugal with gift-giving to where it seems stingy. She gives used things, things that are not desirable or wanted, or sometimes things that are not special. As kids, it was common to find wrapped-up packs of loose-leaf paper or pencils under the tree. :tongue_smilie: I'm sorry, but that is just too lame.

[skueppers]

We usually spend .6 to .7% of our gross income on Christmas gifts.

 

Our mortgage, property taxes, and homeowner's insurance are about 24% of our gross income.

 

Edited to add: we spend about 10% of our gross income on food.

Edited October 26, 2010 by skueppers

[Meriwether]

We spend less than 1% of our NET yearly income on Christmas.

 

As it compares to other expenses...

 

One month of groceries

2-3 months of electricity (depending on the season)

3 months of car insurance

1 year of tabs for our car and motorcycle

less than half of what we are forced to pay in union dues every month.

 

ouch

[Meriwether]

I spent between 1 and 2% on Christmas gifts. This year I may spend over 3% because I want to get Dh a very expensive gift.

 

I shop for:

 

Dh

4 kids (although Baby Girl won't get much)

6 adults and 5 kids on my side

7 adults and 4 kids on Dh's side

2 neighbors (very nice people who shovel our snow and take care of our dog while we travel)

6 people who work in Dh's office

2 gmas and 1 aunt since we are visiting them this year

6 coop teachers/instructors

various friends

 

Gifts for those in italics will probably be 10 dollars or less each, but it all adds up.

[Daisy]

ouch

 

That was a HUGE error. I meant less than half of what we pay in union dues every YEAR. Yikes, paying that much of our paycheck every month to union dues would kills us.

 

Sorry.

[WeeBeaks]

A tad under 1% of our income on average, including tree, food, etc.

[Meriwether]

That was a HUGE error. I meant less than half of what we pay in union dues every YEAR. Yikes, paying that much of our paycheck every month to union dues would kills us.

 

Sorry.

 

Whew. I'm glad you aren't paying as much as I thought. It would grind me to pay over 1% a year anyhow. When I taught in KS, it was optional, and I always opted out.

[Renee in NC]

That was a HUGE error. I meant less than half of what we pay in union dues every YEAR. Yikes, paying that much of our paycheck every month to union dues would kills us.

 

Sorry.

 

Good! I was trying to figure out why you would pay $800 or so in union dues every month!!!!:001_huh:

[cjzimmer1]

Family members buy my kids a ton of stuff and with 5 kids and lots of hands me down, I never know where to go with things. So we don't buy kids much and what they get tends to be more practical (matching jammies, books, etc). But here's our numbers.

 

21.7% on house/taxes/insurance

13.5% on food/household supplies

0.03% on education/activities

0.01% on gifts (for the entire year for all occasions for all people)