What is your Christmas budget?

[KittyPup]

I’m considering trying to cut back a bit this year as DH thinks I go a bit mad at Christmas. I’m not sure I agree so I’m just gauging what others do.

I put away £250pm all year and everything Christmas related comes out of that 3k. This includes gifts for our 2dc (approx £400 each), gifts for each other and dc in the family, Christmas food shop, Father Christmas trip, Christmas jumpers, any new decorations / wreath making workshop, fresh tree etc. Basically anything Christmas related in December and then the day itself and a few days in between.

Can I ask what your Christmas budget is? Or do you just not track as you’d rather not know?

Budget?
One does not understand the question.
Surely one does as one chooses, roast swan, Duchy of Cornwall potatoes etc. and the Country pays - like every Christmas?

I do an extra big roast

Put gifts I buy in sales through the year, for instance I have some cashmere socks that I paid £10 for reduced from about £40.

I am financially solvent but like a bargain and don’t see the need to spend thousands.

I spend around £1k max on gifts. Christmas food shopping is around £300, plus another £100 for alcohol for guests. I buy stuff in the January sales (as many gifts etc for people throughout the year and summer clothes for the children in case we go on holiday).

We put away £50 a month, so £600 in total

I gift each of my 3 DC a budget of £200. £50-60 of that goes on their stockings. I spend £50 + stocking on Sil, DS's gf. I spend £100 each on 2 dgs's. That is £1k. I just buy all the food, any replacement decorations, Xmas tree and gift for DH. It cost what it costs. I always buy an 8 foot Xmas tree and that is expensive. I pay to take all my family to paint a Xmas decoration and that cost about £200. I pay to take DGC ice skating £30 and DH and I usually go to either the Nutcracker ballet or Twelfth Night at the theatre £60. I do lots of free or very cheap activities with DGC like spray painting the fir cones we gathered earlier in the year, cutting up last year's old Xmas cards to make gift tags, picking holly from the woods and making cup cakes and decorating with Xmas icing.

I'd say all in, food, wrap, presents, decor around a grand. Maybe a bit less.

Me and my partner do something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read, something to eat. We also do each other a stocking. We don't go overboard.

My girl is only 16 months old right now so we'll probably just get her a play kitchen and a couple of other bits. Until she's older and starts asking for specific main presents like a bike, game consoles, etc, I don't envision spending more than £100-150.

I try and save between £500-700 a month. £500 easily covers all Christmas gifts I buy, but I'm lucky and don't have a huge family.

We’re aiming for £100 on each DC, one has a birthday close to Xmas so need to also budget for that. Will be staying with family who don’t expect us to contribute to food etc but will probably take some wine / beer / nice cheese, so £50 for food. £200 to
cover family secret Santa gifts, probably another £80-100 on gifts for nephews and neices. Max £50 for each other and probably £50 on a trip to christmas show with the kids. So about £700 total…

Forgot the tree… so an extra 100 to cover that and all the other random bits

It depends on how many people you are buying for and if you are hosting and for how many. A family of three being hosted is going to budget/spend far less than a someone hosting for a large family.

I have never spent £400 on my now adult DC, or my DH for that matter.

11 billion pounds

400, that covers gifts and extra food. We prefer going on holidays throughout the year to Christmas, so try not to overspend at Christmas as can't afford both.
We enjoy seeing all the lights, mince pies in December, a few gifts and a lovely Christmas Dinner with family.

Don't have anything like that but I spend each month around 150 on days out, nick nacks, small clothes, treats etc, so this is the budget perhaps. Also could be less....

I just bought our daughter gifts for her birthday around 35 pounds but the going out to celebrate it will be on the weekend and anytime we go out as a family, I end up spending 30 pounds at least always

But then I end up spending for myself and transferred all my budget for my daughter, because she is teen now. I don't need treats that much anymore, so literally I budgeted very well without telling anyone I am going back seat and she is going to start getting all the cosmetics, clothes and treats from now on. I don[t want her to know this fact. The budget might get abused if I am so open. I have not told my husband also who does not care what my clothes, hair and general treats look like, as long I am happy, which I always am - so my advice, rebudget and prioritise the kids

I don’t really have one. Not because I’m stinking rich 😂 but because Christmas is a really small low key affair here.
DH and I visit my parents a week before the big day, and have Christmas then, as my parents work in retail so only have the 1 day off.
DH is working and also only has the 1 day off.
My boys are both still at home and in their 20’s. They work FT so buy anything they want/need for themselves.
So I spend £100 on each of them.
My mum and sister get about £150 spent in each of them.
An extra £100 for food.
So not much to be honest.

As ridiculous as I’m aware this is…. And typing this out makes me realise we do need to rein it in….
£2000 taking my mum to London for a night (stay at a 5 star hotel, 2 rooms, fancy dinner)
£1000 on other social things.
We take extended family on holiday in Dec for a week which is £10000 or thereabouts
2 kids get £2000 ish each spent on them although this year one will get a car so it’ll be more like £20k…
Advent calendars for the 4 of us are around £500-600
Presents for each other can range from £100 upwards depending on whether we like anything in particular - a couple of years ago I got some M&S bubble bath and some pyjamas, another year I got a £5k watch.
Wreath making workshop £150 ish for 3 of us
We host 3 Christmas lunches, for family and friends, which will probably cost another £600-800 including drinks…
Christmas Eve dinner out for 4 of us including taxis and drinks will be £400.
We have 5 real trees downstairs which costs around £300. A florist makes a staircase garland costing another £200 ish.

I am pretty horrified actually reading that all back, it’s somehow been some kind of crazy lifestyle creep. One thing becomes tradition, then another, then another. I don’t seem to have substituted things, just kept adding more.

This year I have already been making efforts to cut back, but reading this and realising how completely ridiculous it is, I need to cut back more. Far more!

Probably about a grand on presents and then another £500 on the rest. Although given that now it's about £87 for a mars bar the food bill will probably be higher this year.

I save £300 over the year. Daughter's present is the main thing, up to £100.
Family- we only give little things that we have asked for. (I've asked for tea towels, tights and a new purse this year.)
Don't have any nieces or nephews.
Food, we all bring bits and put it all together.
A couple of us make things; sloe gin, cherry brandy, mincemeat etc. I make the pudding.

We put £200 away a month and spend about £2.5k, honestly don’t think our Christmas looks overly indulgent either, but I know it’s a lot of money. What we are happy to spend though.

200 each on the 2 kids
50 on grandparents
150 on bil, sil and nephews
100 treat night out
100 extra on food.

Wow to some of these!

I think we do low key. Have a couple of kids to buy for but none of our own. We buy seperate gifts for family members that we do buy (very few) for but it’s like £25. We spend around £100 on each other ish and a cheesy stocking. We eat elsewhere on xmas day i l send some cash or help with food to the host. Decs and tree are reused.

Buy some snacks for home but i work in healthcare so i’m not off for any additional days than days off so don’t go mad on the food front. I don’t tend to drink at home so he will buy his beers as needed.

We do have two nights away in the uk booked in december but that’s not xmas.

I love christmas but you don’t need to go crazy to enjoy it. But then i’m not on a high wage.

About 50 each on presents for me, DH and two DDs.

DHs family about 150 pounds (PILs, niece and nephew). My mother around 30. DH and I tend to get money from PILs which we mainly use to buy clothes.

100 quid extra on the food budget to cover Christmas dinner and boxing day (we traditionally do cheese fondue).

Christmas tree usually costs us around 30. We just reuse decorations from the previous years.

So in total about 510.

We spend about £200 on DS, £50 on each other (DH and I) then we cover all other gifts for relatives with about £150. Once we’ve included the cost of food, booze, a Christmassy day out and the tree I expect we spend about £1,000 which is plenty enough and probably far too much really.

I dont do christmas at all so i have a getaway instead.

About £150 for my daughter