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CTC Readers' Poll:
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"Approximately
how much do you plan to spend for Christmas gifts this year? Also,
please tell us approximately how many people/gifts this figure
represents in terms of two categories of people: |
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"My
list is very extensive. There were 9 siblings in my dad's
family. We get family gifts for each of those couples
and their married children. We also purchase gifts for each
of the children. It's very chaotic on Christmas Eve when
everyone is opening all the gifts. I try to limit my
spending to $10.00 per kid but that's getting harder to do.
I used the discounts offered from JCPennys and Kohl's
this year and that helped. I've used two separate
$10.00 Kohl's Holiday Cash cards. I also went to Sears
on a day they were offering an extra 10% off all prices.
My spending will be:
I
attached my spreadsheet that I use to keep up with it.
What a mess!
We
will also spend around $150 on gifts to the Prison Angel
Tree." ~ Cassie
"My holiday
budget is $40 - $150. That is for 8 people. Six
relatives and 2 friends. We have a small family,
grandma, grandpa and kids, and we've made agreements with
all our friends that we don't exchange gifts. If I
don't get my kids the matching dresses, it will be $40.
That is for supplies to make everyone's gifts.
Sheila
"$0 dollars. We really make an effort to celebrate the Christian Christmas. We love the music, the decorations, the food, the Advent calendar, the Reason for the season. Most people we have come in contact really do believe Christmas = presents. We want our children (ages 3 and 7) to know the joy of the Christmas season without equating it without cashing in on presents. Some Christians actually have told us that we don't celebrate Christmas because we don't give gifts. We are a family of significant means so we know our children are far from deprived. But this lesson is probably the best gift we could ever give them." ~ Michael
"My husband and
I normally spend $900 for 25 relatives/close friends and
$50 for 20 acquaintances/neighbors. This year there are going
to be musical instruments from Santa for our two boys, so our
price tag is bumping up by $650 to $1,550 for 25
relatives/close friends and $50 for 20
acquaintances/neighbors. Ho-ho-ho!" ~ Paula
"I
usually try to limit my Christmas spending to $20 per
person and I send cash to my son's family of 6 in another
state since I only see them once a year and don't know
what to buy them. I try to keep to that amount for my
daughter's family of 4 near me unless I'm making quilts or
something special for them. The only package I mail is to
my 84 year old mother in another state and I often spend
up to $50 on hers. My husband and I spend about $50
on each other so that's a total of $350 for 13 people.
We just moved here recently and haven't gotten in the
habit of buying Christmas gifts for new friends and I'm
going to suggest that we do something nice for each other
if the subject ever comes up instead of spending money.
We stopped buying gifts for old friends when we moved so
far away. We all agreed postage is too much."
~ Cathey
"I'll be
spending about $100 for 15 people, all relatives. Over half
are kids. Some things are purchased new, some from thrift
stores new, some home made, some old and quirky, and some
reassembled from existing things. In addition, postage will
probably be another $75." ~ Anonymous
"We budgeted
$300 for immediate family (my husband, self and 3 kids). We
budgeted $300 for extended family (15 members)." ~
Julie
"My husband and I plan to spend roughly $1000 on gifts for family members/friends. (Thankfully, we have a Christmas Club account through our local credit union, so we’ve been budgeting/saving this money all through the year!) "We plan to spend $400 total this Christmas on 27 people (18 family and 9 friends, our family of 3 included). That's about $15/person, but I like to allow for the possibility of finding just the right thing for $20 and then spending a little less on another gift." ~ Holly
"I am planning
on spending $465 on gifts for family and close friends, and
approximately $60 to cover love gifts to pastors/youth
leaders at church. I don't exchange with acquaintances, and
my kids are old enough not to give teacher gifts. I am also
supplementing my kids' gift budgets with $20 each (total of
$40) for them to use for gifts they give; the rest they will
either make or purchase with their allowances." ~
Carolyn
"I plan to spend
$500 on 19 close family members." ~ Pam
"I will spend about $350 on holiday gifts for 15 family members and 4 friends. I try to shop all year long, so I can find good deals and make it fun instead of stressful. More importantly, I like to find bargains that are well-suited to each recipient. We often use gift cards to purchase gifts for others, which decreases our out-of-pocket expenses. There are several programs that allow you to purchase gift cards at a cost lower than the actual value." ~ Carrie "We spend approximately $300 for Christmas gifts, all for family. I make baked goods (cookies, bread, etc.) for about five friends." ~ Tina
"I am
spending $102.
For family we
draw a name each for adults. For the twenty
dollar limit I bought my son two dress shirts (garage
sale-25 cents each), sport movie (from discount
bin-4.00), desk set including garbage can, letter
holder, note holder, pen holder (9.98),
free-from-garage-sale Rolodex in new condition and
Post-it notes, and a pack of ink pens from dollar
store (1.00). It is fun to see how many gifts we can
get for $20!
I will spend
$40 on our four grandkids: $5.00 each for new jammies
and lots of books from the second-hand book store.
I bought two
calendars from our granddaughter's school for 12.00
(supports the school and they are beautiful
calendars.). These go to my parents and brother. I
also bought board games in like new condition from
yard sales as well as lots of books for my parents
this summer for a total of $10. I wrapped them
and delivered them in Sept. when we visited.
So for family
I spend $82.00.
For my work
party we take 2 gifts of $10 each for gift exchange
game. These would be the acquaintances.
For our
family the drawing of names has made a fun, very low
pressure way to exchange gifts with adults and since
we are all bargain- hunters we can get really
creative. I am the grandma who buys books. The kids
have lots of toys, and they love to be read to so I
think we will keep this tradition going.
God bless and
have a fun and special holiday." ~ Anonymous
"For the last couple of years, I have tried to keep Christmas gift-giving costs to around $20 per person (not counting my spouse and two children). There were two years in a row that my husband was unemployed through the winter, so money was extremely tight and $20 per person was a stretch for us. Since then, I have continued to have $20 per person as my spending goal. It is easy to keep to that limit for gifts for friends, not so easy for gifts for my in-laws who have high incomes and buy whatever they want whenever they want, so I have to get creative and start looking for gift ideas about August. If I find a great gift for my brother for $15 (e.g. a book), then I figure I have an extra $5 to go toward someone else's gift if necessary. I've spent about $50 each on my two children this Christmas, but am making inexpensive friendship scrapbooks for my two close friends, which will cost me very little as I use up supplies I already own. Only a few years ago, I was spending $50-60 each on my parents, brother, grandparents, and in-laws. When we spread the word to family members that our gift-budget was small, they weren't any less grateful for a $20 gift, and I like to believe that they feel a little less financial burden as well, knowing that they don't have to shop for pricey gifts either." ~ Jennifer, North Bend, WA "I usually spend $100 - $200 on my spouse, the same for my daughter, and $25 plus postage for a family gift to sisters and the same to grandparents." ~ Betty
Editor's Note: Thanks to all these readers who took time to write! |
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