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Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

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Original poster

How much spend on family members

39 replies

2mum17 · 02/09/2017 21:12

I was just wondering as i really need to cut back Christmas this year how much you all spend roughly on people in familg like mum, mil, dad, niece nephews etc as i dont want to come across a cheap skate but dont want to spend as much as last year either x

OP posts:

HoneyWheeler · 02/09/2017 21:14

We do a secret Santa and draw names out of a hat and only buy for one adult, with a limit of £30. We buy for close brides and nephews but only up to 18 years old. Works well for us! I do spend quite a lot on my husband >£100 but that will probably change once our baby is born!

RealBabyFoodBaby · 02/09/2017 21:15

Well I spend £15 per person on anyone outside the house, and I don't buy for not-immediate family or anyone who isn't an extremely close friend.

The way my parents always did it growing up was the cost of a new DVD. So £10-£15 roughly. I realise the cost of a DVD has probably gone up but I now stick with £15 and shop for bargains that mean people get lovely thoughtful gifts that don't break my budget.

TittyGolightly · 02/09/2017 21:16

My family: £20 secret santa
DH's family: zero

ItchyFoot · 02/09/2017 21:17

£20 limit. That's for 11 adults. That doesn't include dp or the kids. Sometimes dp and I don't get each other anything if it's a tight year.

Original poster

2mum17 · 02/09/2017 21:18

Thank you thats what i was looking at spending really. Lol at the dh family zero id love to do the same

OP posts:

buckeejit · 02/09/2017 21:19

Exactly the same as honey-£30 for family grown up secret Santa & £20ish on niblings. Loads on dh family who don't do secret Santa sensible things, (though they do buy lovely presents 😁)

anyoldname76 · 02/09/2017 21:19

i spend £50 on my mum and dad £20 each on my neices and £20 /25 per couple for my brother and sisters. sometimes its a bit more, sometimes less.

EssentialHummus · 02/09/2017 21:20

Not Christian, but I think secret Santa is the way to go with these things - the amount of stuff that piles up because of xmas, so much of it unwanted, unsuitable or panic bought, is a bit sickening to me. Or if Secret Santa isn't feasible, something consumable that at least will get eaten/used by someone in the household.

EssentialHummus · 02/09/2017 21:20

(Didn't mean to sound sanctimonious, which is probably how that came across.)

Rosehyd2 · 02/09/2017 21:22

£20 is my max per person. I'm happy if I can get it under £15 though. I start buying early and try and buy quite unusual bits so the item feels a lot more unique/valuable.
Me and DH buy for two kids, 3 teens, 12 adults (all family) , and each other.

Rosehyd2 · 02/09/2017 21:22

Would much rather do secret santa for the adults but everyone else is against the idea. "I'd still want to buy for my parents/siblings/grown up children"

Original poster

2mum17 · 02/09/2017 21:23

Yes i know sometimes it gets abit silly especially when you end up giving your sisters children £20 each then they give yours the same you might aswell not bothered etc or i give my mum a voucher and she gives me one back as never know what to buy. If i had my way id only buy for my children but unfortunately people expect a gift

OP posts:

HSMMaCM · 02/09/2017 21:24

Our family have agreed to buy nothing for over 18s, except our own parents.

MrsHathaway · 02/09/2017 21:25

Agree £20 as a rough ceiling for adults but that's to buy a nice token and if you can get something suitable for less then you don't need to make up the difference - eg nice gin on offer in November ought to be £23 but is £14.

Children are a bit different because they can't buy frivolities for themselves but want to. I'd squeeze the adults more than the children, if I could, and give cash/vouchers once they're in double figures.

rackhampearl · 02/09/2017 21:27

It depends on what I see that I think they'll like. I don't really budget and I should. My Dad always gets abit more cos I love him to bits. I always do him like a care package too. He's a hard grafter so I include like thick work socks, corn plasters, shower gels, thermals, cough pastilles etc. This year I'm hoping to plan a trip to London for him so we can spend the day at the national history musesum. My mum just gets perfumes/handbags ect. DH mum is a divorcee who lives alone, she spends every Xmas with us as we have her only grandchildren and I always buy her quite a few presents. Anyone else normally I reckon gets about £20-30 spent on them but I do like to get meaningful presents. I find that price doesn't matter so much if it's meaningful. My dad is a big reader and one time he told me that first book her ever read alone was called the Otterbury indecent. One year I looked it up on amazon and it only cos £2.99 a good condition classic hardback, I wrapped it and he was so emotional when he opened it, took him back 50 years.

FruitBadger · 02/09/2017 21:28

My family (DM& DF, DSis, BIL & Nephews), £10-15 each, might go to £20 if I saw something really perfect.

DMiL imposes a £5 limit on all presents o DR's side of the family, which we find means we would end up buying silly tat for, so we choose to be a bit flexible about it.... usually £10-12 for Nephews, Nieces and PiL. With DH siblings & partners we do a Secret Santa which is a £10 limit.

DH and I usually have a chat about how much we can afford to spend on each other, could be anything from £15 to £150, but usually less than £50. DS is usually about £40-50, but he's only 2 and has a birthday shortly before Christmas so we may spend more or less in future years.

kingfishergreen · 02/09/2017 21:29

This is a real "how long is a piece of string" question. You'll shortly have people popping along who spend £1k per child.

There's no right answer, it's just how much you can justify, without having to put yourself in hardship elsewhere.

Last year we were in a decent financial position and I spent £75-100 per parent, £50 per sibling, £30 on aunts and uncles and £150 on DH.

This year we have DD and business hasn't been as good, so we'll probably cut it in half.

TittyGolightly · 02/09/2017 21:29

If i had my way id only buy for my children but unfortunately people expect a gift

The oxfam goat was made for them.

Original poster

2mum17 · 02/09/2017 21:33

Lol. Well im glad on the whole its coming in around £20 so seems majority are on the same wave length

OP posts:

TittyGolightly · 02/09/2017 21:36

I can't abide xmas consumerism. I'm not buying for people to commemorate someone I don't follow who wasn't even born in December!

Love51 · 02/09/2017 21:38

I have a LOT of nephews and nieces already, and a few of dhs siblings don't have kids yet but probably will. So I have to budget 10-12, as pushing it to 15 each is too much. Don't buy for brothers and sisters who have kids, do buy for those who don't (try to get a joint present for their partner as well. Don't always). They don't buy for us, but do buy for our kids. Spend more on mum and dad than the (other people's) kids some years, less other years, depends what I'm buying.
I spend nowt on my own kids, santa brings them loads.

Original poster

2mum17 · 02/09/2017 21:38

Lol well said i wish i was brave enough to do the same

OP posts:

Floralnomad · 02/09/2017 21:38

My family have an agreed budget of £30 per person excluding children . We generally stick to that for some family members but not others . I'm particularly close to one of my sisters and she gets whatever I think she wants , which this year will be a new iPad .

Tensecondrule · 02/09/2017 21:44

£25 on parents, £15-20 on niece/nephew and same for friend's two kids who we have always bought for...but are now 19/22 and I'm actually thinking this is ridiculous, why are we buying for two extra adults one of whom is in full time work? Have tried to knock it on the head but friend is determined to keep going 🙄 Not the point of thread but a different friend bought gifts for 88 people last yr, not inc her own kids...literally buys for all her friends plus their partners and kids along with all the family, runs into £100s. Why??

MrEBear · 02/09/2017 21:53

£50 on parents
£50 on nieces on my side, £25 on his nephews.
We stopped buying for siblings and partners a few years ago.

I'm cutting back on what our own kids are getting this year. Partly because the oldest only wants Lego and the youngest has so many hand me downs I'm stumped on what to get him.

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