What would you do?

[Madwife3006]

I like to think of myself as a bit of a bargain hunter in that I will use voucher codes and my works money saving schemes and search for the best deals before buying anything.
My husband and I have had a bit of a difference of opinion though and I wondered what other people do in this situation?
I have a set amount I spend on people, for example £30 on my nieces and nephews. Today I ordered my niece a nighttime hoody thing she wanted. It was originally £25 but I managed to get it for £16. Now my husband would say she has £5 left in her present money whereas I will spend another £14 to give her the full £30.
For context we’re not exactly rolling in it, but we’re comfortable, both work full time and our kids have left home.
DH is not usually a Scrooge but can’t see why I spend the full amount.

I’d do the same as you, or else she is getting less spent on her than other cousins.
I spend the same on all of mine. Imagine how crushed she’d feel if she knew it had been on sale and you didn’t spend as much on her.

see I think the opposite - she will get items that are 'value' of more than £30 which will make someone else present which was purchased at full price look 'less'

So if you bought person #1 a book which reduced to £15 and then spent the rest of the £15 on a game for £15 they are getting £45 worth of value where as person #2 gets a game worth £30 as was purchased at full price - they will compare to what the other person got and feel hard done by!

I dont subscribe to having to spend the exact same on people or buying to a certain budget just because.
If buying for sibling groups I try and make sure they have equal - equal in terms of percieved value rather than quantity or actual money spent.

I agree with your OH and would go on the value of the items, not what you paid

To coin a phrase - its a limit not a target.

It'd perfectly reasonable to set a budget but does that really mean you have to spend up to it?
Surely the point is to get something that will be appreciated and valued by the person receiving it?
I've spent much less on my god daughter this year than I would normally do, because she is living abroad, I don't want to give her something awkward or difficult to carry. But I know she will love what I've got. I've spent more on nieces I'm less close to, again I know they will love what they've got.

I'd not top up the gift at all! If she'll love what youve got her, why buy something more for the sake of it? Perhaps another year her perfect giftvwill cost £33....

I would go for perceived value rather than monetary value, and try to keep things looking equal.

For example, my youngest child will probably get something worth a fraction of what I spend on the older ones. But they will all be happy with what they get - perceived value is equal

I don't think you need to spend exactly the same on everyone. Surely what matters is that it is something they want.
You bought her what she wanted and it happened to cost less than it normally does,. If you buy her two presents it may seem unfair to your other nieces /nephews.

If I set a budget of £30, then that is what I'm happy and willing to spend, and yes, I'd spend all of it. I'd just be delighted that I could treat someone I love to a bit extra, rather than the opportunity to spend less and keep a bit of money in my own pocket. The only difference might be siblings and ensuring presents looked equal-ish but I'd still spend the full budget across the siblings, so they'd both get something a little extra with the spare money in the budget to keep the gifts looking comparable.

Is he usually this hard of thinking?

It's not a saving if you're going to spend the £30 anyway. It just means you buy more stuff. I'd just get the hoodie thing and leave it at that.

I judge by what I spend not RRP.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. Having thought more about this I’ve decided I’m going to continue as I normally would.
It’s very rare that I buy any presents without finding a discount and so everyone usually gets about the same amount value wise. I enjoy spoiling them, especially seeing as how we usually spend Christmas together and I get the experience of little ones opening gifts again.
Merry Christmas to you all 😊

The other thing is people know stuff is discounted. It's like those gruum sets everyone's buying, it might well be '£10 worth of gifts', but I know full well it was free