Christmas spending

I would normally clean the oven so I consider it a gift to me.

Surely that is more of a joint gift? Or does your dh not use the oven?

I am just arranging an oven clean as my birthday present from my DH. Approximately £100.

We have bought presents for each other in the past but neither of us are
Particularly needy so this suits us.

Just DH and I, we have joint finances so buying for each other seems pointless, we don't need anything and both are quite minimalists.

This year I spent a total of £150, for a week of lovely Christmas food and favourite drinks.

Everyone is different!

We set a £100 budget for each other, DP went well and truly over 😒

Thing is, for us we don't wait til Christmas for buying things. Both got new phones, new tv (and tumble dryer) in Nov/dec. Could have waited til Xmas and called it a gift, but got it when we wanted them.

My FIL would love this! Think you’ve sorted his birthday present for me. Thanks!

@Tiltedandwilted I'm also in the south (London) in my family and social circle gifts to partners/family/friends are all token gifts.
Jewellery would be an anniversary gift and anything else we would just buy ourselves throughout the year as and when we wished.

@BabyFour2023 a box of chocs and a bottle of gin. We just do token gifts to each other which is usual in my family and social circle.

DH's £25 pound present www.nitehawkproducts.co.uk/99175-nitehawk-magnetic-self-resetting-shooting-target.html

Christmas is about fun, feasting and family, not consummerism.

I buy any jewellery if I want, he buys his watches.

£30 limit for partners, £50 for teens, £15 for other rellies round here, but needs must.

What kinds of things have you bought each other for £50?

DH likes to buy me jewellery and I’ve bought him aftershaves and a watch in the past, none of which you could get for £50.

Typically about £600-£1000 a year on each other, this year we spent on the upper end as we had tech gifts to buy.

Live in the south.

@Tiltedandwilted how much do you and your husband spend on each other? Do you live up north? I wonder if this is a regional difference.
DH and I just buy each other some nice chocolates and something nice to drink.

I only ever want books. I couldn’t get through £800 of books in a year.

we spent around £70-£80 on each other and maybe £150-£200 each on the children. This year one wanted converse and one wanted AirPods. Both delighted. Socks, smellies and other clothes made up the rest.

i can’t imagine ever spending that sum of money on Christmas, just for the sake of getting more stuff. Much rather spend it on a summer holiday.

Most people will date, marry and surround themselves with people ‘like them’

so often this issue doesn’t crop up irl, I’d not date someone who thought it was acceptable to only spend £100 on mt Christmas gift, I’d also not date or marry someone who could only afford that too.

The only time I’ve ever had awkward present politics is when I decide to stop buying for someone who doesn’t buy for us and then they decide that year to actually buy a gift!

We've been together 15 years. We agreed a budget the first year we were dating and it's pretty much remained the same since (50 quid)

It think should not be a target but rather a thoughtful gift. BIL spends thousands on expensive gifts each year for DSis but absolutely no thought goes into anything just goes into a posh shop and buys latest expensive bag recommended by a sales assistant when actually she would prefer something else.

We don't have set limits on money but we only buy for the 4 of us anyway, 2 adults, 2 (now adult) DCs. We don't get presents from anyone else.

If there is nothing specific anyone wants we just get token items around 20 quid.

This year DH Wanted a new outdoor jacket which was £300 so me and the boys chipped in together for it as he didn't want anything else. I wanted a new bag so sent link for the specific one to DH, it was under £50. The boys bought me a few nail varnishes and some generic wireless headphones. The boys both had trainers for their sports.

However, whatever else I do or don't buy I always buy sweater, socks, smellies and a silly thing for the boys and have done since they were small.

It's simple for us we couldn't afford to spend that much on each other!

We save for Xmas and that's that.

If we had much more spending power I guess we would spend more.
I don't need a huge amount spent on me , little gifts that are thoughtful mean much more however if I was married to someone earning a huge amount I would be upset with a very small gift. Call me shallow but I would be.

*posh chocolates, not pish 😂

Of course it's possible to buy a lovely gift for £25 but if you're used to spending/getting £100s it'll take some adjustment
This year I got pish chocolates and coffee and DP got a thing for his hobby (yes, cycling)
Other years we get each other books, CDs

We don’t have that much disposable income and don’t believe in getting into debt for Christmas. We currently are more towards the £100 mark but our oldest child is only 6 so I imagine that will change in the future. At the moment with prioritise our spending on days out and holidays.

We spent about £50 each for adult stocking gifts but we are having a winter holiday.

For DH and I it seems to have evolved over the years. Before kids we would spend around £200 on each other - one year he actually bought me an iPad so blew the budget completely. But since kids (now 5 and 8) we limit it to £50-100 depending. We budget about £300 for each of the kids.

I don't go mad on present buying at all because we are both from big families and we all get lots.

As a PP said we both have same attitude to money and sometimes if there's nothing either of us want we don't get anything for each other. But we discuss it first.

However, I totally go bonkers and over cater on food and drink. I have enough food left now to feed an army (and enough booze left to vet them all pissed 3 times over)