What's your budget per person?

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Just wondering what's reasonable to spend on ILs who are richer than us and often buy us more expensive gifts that we can't match financially.

Do you set a budget per person depending? So, for parents a certain amount, (adult) siblings a certain amount, etc? Or do you spend more on certain people because you anticipate that they will spend more on you?

I don't want to be tight, but equally we can't afford to spend loads.

DS about €50
DH and I are pooling €20 each to finally get our wedding photos printed and albumed up (it has been five years!).
€10 each on nieces/nephews/godchildren.

Everyone else gets something made. So far spent about €10 on my dad, his partner, my mum and sister.

I do Secret Santa with my Sils and two friends.

Dfil gets something made, I think €3 this year [shck] but he will love it and use it everyday and it is handmade.

DS is also getting a ton of stuff made for his room, and a doctor's coat to go wirh the second hand doctor's kit someone gave us last week.

For DS' stocking, we just put in presents that are small enough to fit, nothing special, no plastic tat either.

We sound dead boring

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I don't strictly have a budget but generally I spend up to £50 combined for my parents, and up to £20 for siblings/their partners. DH buys for his parents and siblings, he spends about £70 on each as that's what he's used to. DH and DC get up to £150 each, but usually include some boring bits that I'd buy them anyway. I don't buy gifts for any friends.

I tend to pick up things throughout the year, when I've seen something they like, especially if it's in a sale or outlet. So the value of the gifts is often a lot higher.

I just figure out what folk want and get them it. I've never had anybody's be something really extortionate but if It's something very small and cheap I'll get them something else as well because I feel bad!

My Sis and Bro in law always ask for wine though. I hate that. What do I do?Buy them one expensive bottle?Loads of cheap ones? 3 mediocre ones? I see wine as something you can get yourself anytime. I'd like to buy them something to keep. Then again they've got everything they need I guess.

£200 on DC and then £50 for stocking
£200plus on DH
£150 on dsis
£150 on dbro
£50 on auntie
£50 on auntie2
£50 each on 2 best friends.
My parents passed away and in laws live abroad sand no expectation of a present. So that's it. About £1000 in total. No tat at all, I buy one present if £50, 2 max.

DC are very young so makes buying presents an awful lot cheaper!

DC £150+
DP- £10-15 each
Dnieces/nephew- £20 for under 18's. bottle and chocs for over 18's
Several uncles/aunts-box of biscuits/chocs £3 odd each
1 Friend £10
3 Friends dc- £5 each
dsis (no dc and buys for dc in family)- £10
DH- £50ish

On DS, we spend about £400.

For family members, around £5 each for adults and about £15 per child. We always budget £100 for all of them together and won't go over.

This thread has made me feel so much better about my annual spendthrift attack - I am a Scrooge by comparison to some of you . I love buying presents (it's basically a hobby) and I budget for it.

PIL £25 each - they really don't want us to spend anything but will accept presents up to this value. Less is better.
DH £30 present £120 stocking
DC £40 present £120 stocking each x 2
DB £40-50 each x 2
Nephews/Nieces/Godchildren £25 x 11
Teachers & school staff £5 x 4
Local Folk who need a gift like biscuits £5 x 4
Aunts & uncles £20 x 5
Cousin £20
DH's siblings and partners do a name-out-of-the-hat and each of us buys a £50 pressie for another one. So for both of us £50 x2

Looks a lot written down! It is a lot. Hence why I really try to get the right thing for everyone and spend a lot of time on it. My DC don't tend to get expensive gifts but the stocking is generous.

I am terrible at birthdays and generally forget - this is my present blitz!

Right, I thought I was spending too much money, but oh my, some of you are REALLY over doing Christmas. Really.

Including lunch for 6 people, with wine, my budget for all family presents is 200.

Including postage and all the little presents for teachers and for friends, about 250!

It's always more than you think it will be, but so far I'm almost done. I pick up small things along the way from about October. Mostly redistribute free gifts and special deals. I have a big box for storage of these gifts and pop little bits and bobs in over the year.

We don't go very crazy on presents, or consumption. We're quite frugal, actually anyway.

Two years ago I had strep throat coming up to xmas, and couldnt organise or shop much- DH spent about 600 (on tat as far as I could make out) so I sort it out well in advance now, just in case!

I don't think anyone is REALLY overdoing Christmas, these all sound pretty similar, and if people have the money to afford the gifts, where is the problem?

If you don't have a lot, look for bargains and shop now. We've bought quite a few things and some presents cost £5 but would have been £20 if they weren't in the sale. So people get a nicer gift than you'd normally be able to afford with that money.

£100 per child. At present they prefer money which I know is dull but their choice so I don't actually buy presents at Christmas. My siblings and I agreed not to bother a few years ago too. I buy their younger children something on Amazon so that is the full extent of Christmas buying.
I think the rule we agreed in the extended family not to buy for anyone over 18 (except my own children get the money from me) has worked well also because we earn different amounts and I have a lot of children.

However in some families Christmas is not about church and carols and things that cost nothing. It is all about spending a lot of money - sadly that seems to be the case the poorer the family which is really the wrong way round.

Ooh, some of you must have a fab time shopping with your budgets

I have a much smaller budget this year than usual, and its a bit shit.
I had a look through, and so far, no one else is any where near. So probably be the first to post here with a much smaller scale budget. May help others realise they aren't the only ones with a tiny amount.

My total budget is £50, which has to cover everything. Did panic a bit, however I started a post on this, and MN came through & I have a fab thread full of great ideas.

Only just managed to get back online and back to this thread, and wow it turns out we're some of the tightest poorest on the thread!

We are the poor relations of DH's family, MIL often gives DH £500 plus gifts, his DBro and DSis will spend anything around £100 on DH/us collectively, and they all generously put a few pounds into DS's account (only grandchild/nephew) plus buy him toys. My DM and DF (divorced) will give us a big present each - this year my dad put £250 towards desperately needed appliances recently and my mum is putting £100 towards a hotel stay for us. My darling grandmother often gives us £200 plus some little gifts for DS.

We have tried to buy thoughtful gifts at higher expense in previous years, particularly for DH's family (mine don't expect anything as they know we're skint but DH is a bit embarrassed we're not flush like his lot) but have ended up screwed financially! So this year I set a budget a bit like this:

(all plus homemade biscuits from DS - silly I know but nice for him to make something from him)
My DParents: £15-20 each
My DBro: £10
My DGrandmother: £15
My DUncle: £10
MIL: £25
BIL: £25
BIL's fiancée: £10
SIL: £25
DH's DAunt: £10

We have also spent just over £100 on DS and will spend around £40 each on each other but this was all bought/organised earlier in the year to spread the cost. I've already bought all gifts for my family. DH still yet to choose stuff for his lot. I refuse to do it this year as I feel that in previous years, gifts that I have spent a long time planning and sourcing as I think they'll love them (within our significantly lower-than-theirs budget) have been met with indifference that hasn't been hidden well (MIL!!).

I posted because I feel bad for budgeting less for my family than my ILs. I have bought presents for my family that I really think they'll like, and feel this shouldn't mean I spend more for the sake of it, but still feel bad and a bit unfair

sunflower maybe they don't want a load of tat "to keep"! Presents should be about the recipient, not about the giver and what they'drefer

DM -£25
DF - £25
Step dad - £20-25
Siblings (grown up) -£20
Siblings (still kids) -£25
Nephews - £25
Auntie - £10
Granny and Granpa -£10-15

DH -no budget, it gets a bit silly sometimes

Am cutting out some people this year we've got in the habit of buying for although we never see them! Literally haven't seen them since last Xmas.

PIL/my sibling/our DD/each other - £40
Close family - £30-40
Extended family - £10
Close friends - £10-15

We've a number of birthdays around the yule period so have to be rather cautious with money, particularly as I'm currently unwaged.

Total Xmas spend this year will be about £300. That's about £80 on DH and £50 on DD which given that she will only be 3 months old and have no concept of Christmas is probably too much. With my Mum, Dad and Brother we have set a £30 limit. Then there's a couple of friends / extended family which I'll buy for, at around the £10-30 mark depending on who it is. DH will buy for his side of the family (it's just how we've always split the present buying). I've only maternity pay coming in at the moment so making a conscious effort not to go to bonkers this year!

Lots of people haven't posted budget for teachers or postie or whatever - does this mean they won't get something, or more that it just comes under cost of December?

I ask because I have now decided I have to include these things in my own budget to avoid a black hole of biscuits.

I don't buy anything for our postie as we get a different one every day of the week.

School teachers are usually £5 to £10 each depending on how much we like them!

Nothing for teachers. We don't have a regular post man so don't do anything for him.

dont buy for anyone but our own kids we simply cant afford it the family understand