Family: Just my mom, and I set a strict budget of $300. I keep a spreadsheet to track everything in advance and find out how to get the best deal.
At work: About $20-30 for my boss, since I can afford it, and she’s usually given me great stuff. Maybe another $20-30 for office treats. Also about $20 for our maintenance person. And then another $15 for our development person who often brings me something small. (I really feel like I keep tabs on work gifts.)
My friends and I don’t really have a big gift-giving culture around Christmas. We do little gifts throughout the year, but no formal Christmas presents. I’m the poorest among my friends, so I appreciate that we don’t do gifts.
I live with my husband’s grandparents. We get them a tree each year, which usually costs around $50, plus another $10-15 for a wrapped present (usually a food item since they don’t want ‘stuff’).
On Christmas Day, we exchange gifts with my husband’s siblings. We budget for $20-50 per sibling and the same for the spouses. Since there are three siblings and two spouses, that totals about $100-250.
I typically spend $10-20 on my parents. We generally visit them after the holiday, but who knows about this year.
I have three nephews and two nieces, and I set aside $20 for each. They are still young and seem fine with less expensive gifts.
My work adopts a family for Christmas, and I try to give around $20. Sometimes I buy something off their list, but it can be hard to find the right items, so I often just donate the cash.
I have a handful of friends for whom I buy gifts, usually around $20 each, totaling about $100.
Finally, my husband and I exchange gifts. We don’t usually set a limit, but it’s not over $500 each. Usually, it’s less than that, but this year he hints my gift is more expensive. I still haven’t decided what to get him, but I suppose it will be around $100-200 total.
I buy gifts for my parents ($50 each or $100 for both), my boyfriend ($50-75), two sisters ($30 each), and then a group gift for my other sister, her husband, and their kids ($75). I also plan to spend $50 on my boyfriend’s parents, as well as $30 for my boyfriend’s sister.
Last year for my immediate family, we did a Secret Santa exchange so I only bought for my mom. I’m hoping for the same again this year. I feel clueless about what they want since we don’t talk much and no one in my family is straightforward about their wishes, which makes it feel wasteful buying things that might not be used.
I really enjoy Christmas, but none of my immediate family has much money, so we try to reduce unnecessary purchases for the environment too (plus we travel by train, and it’s tough to carry many gifts).
I usually do four Secret Santas:
My mom’s family - Secret Santa with a budget of £20.
My dad’s family - Secret Santa among us ‘kids’ (I’m the oldest at 24, and the youngest is 9), also £20. I typically bring my dad a small gift.
For friends - I buy gifts for each around £15, but this year we’re doing Secret Santa.
Craft group friends. I began teaching friends to crochet earlier this year, and it turned into a craft group. We’ve agreed to do a Secret Santa where we make gifts (I will only need a few balls of yarn).
I enjoy making things, so I plan to create a small Christmas decoration for everyone and mail it with their card (using leftover yarn, so postage is the main cost).
Usually, the biggest part of my budget goes toward travel to visit friends and family by train, but a lot of that is canceled now.
I set a budget of $1,000 for my partner, parents, grandparent, business partner, roommate, dog, and a few friends. I just finished holiday shopping, and it cost $678. I’m happy to be under budget by a good amount. I keep a list of all items and costs in my notes, first for ideas and budgeting, then for accountability to ensure everything arrived (especially since I tried to shop local and from direct retailers, not just on my Amazon account).
I ordered a few custom gifts from Etsy and can’t wait for those to arrive!