My wife and I limit our gift budgets for each other to about $50. We budget more for our kids and grandchild. The holidays are high pressure enough without going overboard on spending for stuff.
I do have a set budget for Christmas shopping. It varies from year to year, depending on how many people I am buying for. Over the last several years, I have definitely reduced the amount of money I spend on gifts overall though. I buy stocking stuffers throughout the year, and when each of my granddaughters was born, I resisted the urge to go crazy with gifts, because I didn't want to set the bar so high that I wouldn't be able to sustain it when my other children start their families, so we buy each of them a savings bond, a Christmas ornament and I make up a stocking for each of them with small toys, candy and goodies.
My holiday budget is based on whatever I have earned throughout the year taking online surveys and using swagbucks.com. In early November, I cash in all my points on these sites and buy gift cards to Amazon and other shopping sites. This year, I think we are only spending about $30 out of pocket on all of our gifts!
Consumer Reports did a study of batteries a couple of years ago, in terms of cost and performance. The battery that did the best was Kirkland (costco). Beat out Eveready and Duracell.
I don't have a holiday budget, but that's because my family and I opted out of the frenzied gift shopping tradition a long time ago. Now the day is just for having good conversation and good food, and we're all much more relaxed!
I don't really have a set budget, but I'm lucky that I have family and friends who prefer each others company over presents. Usually the only expenses I have are for foods and drinks and maybe something small for the host. So I get by with less than $100 for the season.
Yes, sort of... I set aside $1000 from my tax refund each year & save it for Christmas gifts. I spend the most on my sons & boyfriend, with minimal gifts for adult family members and $10-15 for nieces & nephews. We don't exchange gifts with our friends. WE do buy a fresh tree, and host a family get together every year. If I spend anything over, it is all paid for in January as I don't carry credit card balances.
The better way to go with batteries is rechargeable. A bit more expensive upfront, but then you never have to buy any again (well, at least for a long time, or unless you get more devices that need batteries).
You save money and do less harm to the environment (batteries shouldn't be thrown away with your normal trash)
I have a "ballpark" budget that we will try to stick to. Things are pretty tight this year so we will have to be very creative on making what we have stretch as far as possible.
this is our first christmas as a married couple, we are keeping it pretty simple and want it to be special so we have allowed a $100 budget for each other and will keep it small for family.
We sort of have a budget - as in we have a goal to spend for each gift. Some end up a little bit more, but some end up less so it usually evens out to what we budgeted for.
We have a very strict budget of $10 max per person this year. It is either that or nothing! We are in the final year's stretch of getting completely out of debt, so the budget is an absolute! I have been surprised at the fun gifts we have been able to buy everyone so far on such a limited budget. Shopping was easy and fun, and is certainly stress and guilt free!
We lost income, thus currently have no money to spare for christmas, and very little shopping done...If we had money I would have a budget of $800, and because I don't have money we have a budget, just not the one I had in mind.
I save $5 per week throughout the year to pay for family members' gifts at x-mas time. If I didn't budget for gifts, it would be too easy to go overboard quickly with the spending. The $5/week system has worked out great for me for several years now. I will continue to do this to help pay for gifts during the holidays.
Yes I have a holiday budget..its $500 and the kids get priority. I have 2 boys of my own and each gets a budget of $100...my girlfriend has two kids and they get a budget of $50 each...my brother has one boy he gets a budget of $50, my sister has 1 girl and she gets a budget of $50...leaves me with $100 left to buy my girlfriend a gift and any extra funds from the budget will be used to craft/bake/cook/build or anything that I can physically make and contribute to days festivities...I figure I should at least a little left over to bake a bread or cookies ;-)
I liked you on FB!
I set an amount per person that I'm buying for and try to stay around the total.
My wife and I limit our gift budgets for each other to about $50. We budget more for our kids and grandchild. The holidays are high pressure enough without going overboard on spending for stuff.
I do have a set budget for Christmas shopping. It varies from year to year, depending on how many people I am buying for. Over the last several years, I have definitely reduced the amount of money I spend on gifts overall though. I buy stocking stuffers throughout the year, and when each of my granddaughters was born, I resisted the urge to go crazy with gifts, because I didn't want to set the bar so high that I wouldn't be able to sustain it when my other children start their families, so we buy each of them a savings bond, a Christmas ornament and I make up a stocking for each of them with small toys, candy and goodies.
I shop off season...have been very lucky
I try 2 budget....but sometimes I have 2 ignore because of last minute wishesppp
My holiday budget is based on whatever I have earned throughout the year taking online surveys and using swagbucks.com. In early November, I cash in all my points on these sites and buy gift cards to Amazon and other shopping sites. This year, I think we are only spending about $30 out of pocket on all of our gifts!
Well, I added up what I had intended to spend and discovered I couldn't afford it. Does that count?
I already like you on fb~!
Consumer Reports did a study of batteries a couple of years ago, in terms of cost and performance. The battery that did the best was Kirkland (costco). Beat out Eveready and Duracell.
I like WB on FB.
I don't have a holiday budget, but that's because my family and I opted out of the frenzied gift shopping tradition a long time ago. Now the day is just for having good conversation and good food, and we're all much more relaxed!
I don't really have a set budget, but I'm lucky that I have family and friends who prefer each others company over presents. Usually the only expenses I have are for foods and drinks and maybe something small for the host. So I get by with less than $100 for the season.
Yes, sort of... I set aside $1000 from my tax refund each year & save it for Christmas gifts. I spend the most on my sons & boyfriend, with minimal gifts for adult family members and $10-15 for nieces & nephews. We don't exchange gifts with our friends. WE do buy a fresh tree, and host a family get together every year. If I spend anything over, it is all paid for in January as I don't carry credit card balances.
The better way to go with batteries is rechargeable. A bit more expensive upfront, but then you never have to buy any again (well, at least for a long time, or unless you get more devices that need batteries).
You save money and do less harm to the environment (batteries shouldn't be thrown away with your normal trash)
This was very helpful! Planning a trip now and I want to save lots of money!
I have a "ballpark" budget that we will try to stick to. Things are pretty tight this year so we will have to be very creative on making what we have stretch as far as possible.
this is our first christmas as a married couple, we are keeping it pretty simple and want it to be special so we have allowed a $100 budget for each other and will keep it small for family.
I already liked you on Facebook
We sort of have a budget - as in we have a goal to spend for each gift. Some end up a little bit more, but some end up less so it usually evens out to what we budgeted for.
We have a very strict budget of $10 max per person this year. It is either that or nothing! We are in the final year's stretch of getting completely out of debt, so the budget is an absolute! I have been surprised at the fun gifts we have been able to buy everyone so far on such a limited budget. Shopping was easy and fun, and is certainly stress and guilt free!
For spices go to the hispanic section of supermarkets. Better yet go to small ethnic grocery stores.
We lost income, thus currently have no money to spare for christmas, and very little shopping done...If we had money I would have a budget of $800, and because I don't have money we have a budget, just not the one I had in mind.
I save $5 per week throughout the year to pay for family members' gifts at x-mas time. If I didn't budget for gifts, it would be too easy to go overboard quickly with the spending. The $5/week system has worked out great for me for several years now. I will continue to do this to help pay for gifts during the holidays.
Yes I have a holiday budget..its $500 and the kids get priority. I have 2 boys of my own and each gets a budget of $100...my girlfriend has two kids and they get a budget of $50 each...my brother has one boy he gets a budget of $50, my sister has 1 girl and she gets a budget of $50...leaves me with $100 left to buy my girlfriend a gift and any extra funds from the budget will be used to craft/bake/cook/build or anything that I can physically make and contribute to days festivities...I figure I should at least a little left over to bake a bread or cookies ;-)