How much do you spend on Christmas presents?

£50 each for my 3 children . £30 for 2 mums and 2 siblings. £25 each for 3 children on law. £25 each for 7 grandchildren. About £75 for the much beloved. Food drinks tree wrappings cards etc , around £300 I expect. Daren't add it all up.

We have 4 adult children. 2 who live local and 2 abroad. We have 2 grandsons and 1 son with a wife to consider. I also have 2 brothers and 2 SiL we also have my hubby mom and 3 young nieces to buy for.

I have cut down in the past few years what I spend on the youngsters. They get around £100 each all together. We spend around £1000 including Christmas extras including food, family meet ups etc.

It used to be more than that when the children were young

Kim19, your post struck a chord with me. We’ve set a monetary limit for the four DGS (the same for each) for birthdays and Christmas, and ask their parents what they would like. Sometimes it’s been a particular toy or toys, sometimes they’ve bought premium bonds or a day out or a treat later in the year. This saves them from getting swamped with more “stuff” and is particularly good for DGS1, who has a Christmas birthday. And like you, after 4 years I’ve learnt not to turn up with a treat in my pocket. It might have been just a few candy sticks or a Freddo, but sometimes it just wasn’t the right time for it, and of course they never wanted to put it away for later. To soften the blow, I now just give them a 20p coin for their money boxes.

Years ago we cut out all the adult siblings and friends and just gave to their kids. Now lots of the kids are off the list as they are grown up. Some friends wanted to start again giving to us but we said no as we were all giving each other stuff like prosecco & chocolates. We come from a huge family, so I save up goodies all year round eg smellies, candles, books for the kids etc. Our 2 sons still live at home and probably get about £100 each spent on them. Hubby and I usually swap small gifts eg he gets whisky & Jelly Babies then we go away for a wee treat on the New Year. I never add up how much I spend but everyone knows I like a good bargain! It's important to have fun without ending up skint!

Blimey, never added up before, but it comes to about £400 thats 4 teenage Grandchildren, my Son and Daughter, their partners and one partners Son, then DH, then 2 dogs, on top of that is the food, not a lot of booze, it looks mean when I compare to others, it will end up more than £500 I think,

I mentioned this thread to my H and he was appalled at how much I spend. He's really no idea! But when I broke it down for him he agreed that it does cost that much. He said -' What about my present?" I didn't count that!!! I think I shall reduce the amount I spend on close family, though it seems a bit mean.

Maggie Maybe - I like the idea of 20p for money boxes (for the tinies.) Might try that in future.

I feel rather ashamed to admit how little I spend, especially after reading this thread. I totted up that I buy 13 presents in all, 5 ladies, 5 men, 1 teenage boy, 1 girl and one secret Santa which must not exceed £4.
I'm a bit strapped for cash so I try to limit myself to £5 for each present so they only really amount to stocking fillers BUT I remind myself that the two youngest get absolutely loads of stuff and those of us of a certain age already have most of the things we need. I chose each gift with care and to absolve myself of any guilt this year I've made little patchwork coasters with their initials on which I hope they'll like. A few of the 'giftees' I only meet once a year so it seems silly to spend oodles on them as I'm unfamiliar with their tastes. So a happy Christmas to you all.

Thanks Maggie maybe. We do have a little ritual here of ' 'doing banks' when I visit. Neither of them have a clue as to value of money but the onus is on the older one to remind me and the younger one is now catching up on the game and joins in. I don't often forget but it has been known.....

Don't be ashamed lovebc1955 - you have to cut your coat according to the cloth as the saying goes and a small gift given with love is priceless.

lbc, nothing to be ashamed of. I rather admire your resilience and ability to stick to such a rigid budget. Shame you have that necessity but great achievement in my opinion.

Wow, I'm just amazed at how much some of you spend. I'll probably spend about £20-30 on my daughter and that's it! Don't have any siblings or grandchildren or any friends close enough to buy for.

This year I've suggested buying for children only gifts for cousins - not adults. Buy for daughter son and spouses but get carried away with 5 grandchildren! Probably £100 each. This is apart from trip to Australia to buy there and stay! I've told them all there will no inheritance left - we're enjoying it now!

Friends decided a few years ago that we'd prefer to do something instead of swapping more "stuff" - so we have a nice day out in January - different place each year - & have a great time.
I buy presents for 12 adults & 8 children - all family members - I did suggest a few years ago to dispense with the adult presents but it went down like the proverbial lead balloon - so I'm going through the annual mental stress of "what on earth do I buy for xxx?" And any ideas on what is light, unbreakable and small enough to send abroad would be gratefully received - I've sent enough socks, scarves & gloves to last their lifetimes
The money is not an issue because I put aside £50 each month and I stick to this budget to pay for the presents.

This year I have set a total limit of £500 for gifts. This has to cover 2DD's, 1 SIL,1 SO, 2 GDD'S, 2 GDS & 2 GGC + DH and my lovely hairdresser.
No posted Christmas cards as that money set aside for local food bank.
Will probably allow £150 - £200 for food and drink.
I don't usually start on Christmas until mid November after DH's birthday.

As always I take charge of Christmas. DDs and I agree that we have a limit of £20 for each person that is: DH, 2 GDs and 2DD/SiLs (a joint DD/SiL present for £20). So, not much. We all have enough already. DH would get carried away if I didn't put my foot down and insist that DDs and I had agreed a sum. I bought all my presents recently at a craft fair, all made locally.

A gift of time is often the best you can give someone. So vouchers to take someone out are nice - particularly the very old and immobile.

I have a large family plus 20+ GGC and GG. Years ago it was decided present giving would stop after age 16 for GC and nephews and nieces. I still bought small presents for DC as well although they decided not to buy presents for each other anymore. We retired abroad taking my DM. Come Christmas not one of my DC sent a present. I did not expect a present but did feel strongly about them not sending anything to their DGM who had done a lot for them all over the years. So no presents now except DGC and DGGC under 16. As we only see them once or twice a year I put £20 in each of their bank accounts (same for birthdays). Plus I do the same for my late DBs two DGD. So around £240. We just have a quiet day doing what we like on Christmas day. I have bought DH a couple of presents and he has asked what would I like. Erm.... nothing really. I have all I want.

No shame in buying smaller presents. I'm not keen though on only buying for children. I don't like giving the message that they ae somehow more important than adults. To me all my family are important irrespective of age.

Lbc, well done for being sensible. You have worked out what you can afford to spend and you are buying your gifts with thought and love. It is surprising what lovely things you can pick up for half price throughout the year and that always helps.
I spend £50 on each of my two daughters and £50 each on my two grandchildren, £30 on my mother and £25 on each sil. There's about £25 between my auntie and uncle plus £10 for a friend who doesn't have any family. £5 each for 5 dogs and £5 between the two chickens. Total spend approximately £350 but I do put into a savings scheme all year or I would have to cut down

We are both only children so we only have each other the two children and partners and the three grandchildren to buy for. I aim for between £20 and £50 each and keep a note of spending so I don't spend twice as much for one as I do for the others. I also have 3 old friends I meet up with before Christmas and we spend about £10 on each other. DH has no idea how much I spend, but he'd be perfectly happy if Christmas never happened at all!

When my dear OH and I wear both earning Christmas rarely came in under a £grand. We gave the two children £100 each and spent £30 on my sister and her DH and the same on her three children. We spent £80 odd on the mothers who had no one else to buy for them and then the holidays, Christmas week and New Year’s celebrations and other smaller presents topped up the sum. Also my DH’s birthday is on the 27th so we had to make a fuss of that. The OH and I have not bought each other anything for years as when the children were young we couldn’t afford it and we got out of the habit.

I have retired, one child has moved out and a week or so ago the DH was made redundant so we have gone from being solvent to living on my pension. When I told the children we had to cut the spend they were really nice about it but my sister has had a hissy fit, refused to do a Secret Santa
and now we have to spend a fortune on her when she and her DH have very well paid jobs. It’s all a bit cheek sucking.

I don’t much care as Christmas to me is all about goodwill and being with my lovely family.

I did a rough calculation based on last year's Christmas spreadsheet and it came to about £520 on presents for others. DH and I don't buy presents for each other but we do fill each other's stocking which can rack up a bit. No idea about food but as we went to DD2's last year it probably wasn't much more than usual. However it's my turn this year, so we will need to dig a bit deeper, but we will have the leftovers- I really missed the cold turkey and bubble and squeak last year!

Oh, I love my bubble and squeak on Boxing Day, HillyN!

Usually spend about £100 on each of my grandchildren and two daughters and about £50 on my two sons in law.