I'm not interested in how much you spend at Christmas ...

[Othersideofthechannel]

but I am curious to know whether you decide on an amount for each recipient and always spend that much, even if it requires buying a little top up gift or if you find the perfect gift for less than the usual amount you would spend, do you just stop there?

Also, do you spend the same your siblings? My colleague was saying his wife has trouble keeping to the same budget for her siblings so ends up buying lots of extra gifts. If the gift for her DB1 is a bit more pricey that for DB2, she will get a top up gift for DB2. But then if that top up gift takes the amount spent beyond that spent on DB1, she'll get DB1 a little something extra.

Sorry, that was a bit longwinded but I was trying to keep figures out of it.

Eg One year we managed to find a second hand book that MIL had been trying to track down for years. It cost about 10 x less than the previous year's gift but it took alot more effort. Would you have just offered that, or would you have bought something else to go with it?

I have a rough idea of budget for people but wouldn't buy top up presents if the main gift came to just under it. I wouldn't worry of the present came to just over the budget either. Only have one sibling so the sibling thingy isn't an issue! I prob wouldn't worry though if I spent slightly more one one sibling than another cos it would all balance out in the long run.

I think it is all relative.
If I get something in a sale that usually costs a lot more - I mostly take advantage of that, and don't top up.
It's the 'value' isn't it rather than the cost.

We always have a set price before we start buying but i always go over the amount with the dd's. If my mum asks for something i will buy it (within reason),last year she wanted a CD so thats all i bought her, she was happy with it.

I balance out cost and number of presents and make sure that no one in a "group" (siblings, children, parents etc) gets more noticeably than another.

We have an approximate maximum budget per person. Biggest for the children, then a bit less for grandparents and less again for our siblings/other people we buy for.

But we are quite happy to stick at something cheaper if we're confident they will like it and it looks like an appropriate present. Conversely, sometimes we blow the budget if there is a really, really good present that we want to get a particular person.

Never have a limit per person, but The bank account kind of limits the overall spend.
I think it is far more important to get the right gift.
We do however have a spend limit per DC and that may be one or 2 pressies or 4 if they are smaller things

MIL always gets more presents than anyone else. Which is just wrong. But I don't think she ever grew up, she says she doesn't want stuff, but if insufficient fuss is made she has a sulk and gets peculiar.

But because we don't know her too well (yes even dp) we buy loads of things. In the hope that we hit on the one gift that meets her approval, or at least she's impressed with the quantity.

Mad, isn't it.

No I dont set an amount.I am generous with the people I actually want to buy for and cheap for those that are duty buys (like my cousin who I never see and dont get on with that well but who if I didnt buy for my Mum would be upset)so it all kind of evens out.

With the DD's we havent spent the same in the past as DD2 still doesnt really know what its all about.Last year she was only 6 months so she got mainly clothes and bits she needed anyway to unwrap.DD1 is 3 this year and so we have spent a wee bit more on her as she showed a preference for something she actually wanted (oddly this was a Roary the racing car scooter Next year I expect we will even up in budget terms for them.

You see, the year we found that book for MIL, that was all we gave her. We tend to go for the approach that it's finding the right gift that matters regardless of cost (although obviously we have a limit at the top end of the scale!).

My colleagues couldn't believe we'd spent so little on her.

I was surprised that people would be so obsessed with the price tag that if they bought a DVD for one sibling and a book for the other, they would try to then equalise the amount spent.

We go more on trying to find things we think people will really like/want. Don't really have a budget for each pressie as such. My MIL spends exactly the same on each of her children and will 'top up' to ensure that the same amount is spent which I just find as I am not mentally pricing things as people are opening them. Sometimes if I do 3 for 2 technically I've spent nothing on someone so how does that work?

I start off with a budget per person and hence an overall budget. If I find the right gift for someone less than that great bargain/sale/just doesn't cost much then I leave it at that. That means that if I find the right gift for someone else that's maybe over what I budgetted I should still be able to absorb it within the overall budget. I really try to get the right gift for the right person without worrying too much abut the cost, even though we have a very tight budget. Therefore although no one has more than £15 as their original budget one person might get the right present for £10 meaning I can spend £20 on someone else to enable me to get something I know they really would love rather than making do.

Funny you posted this otherside - I heard a couple in Toysrus discussing this the other day and nearly started a thread about it.

I think it's strange and artificial to try to spend the same amount.

My SIL insisted on doing this last year - I asked for a ball for DS2 who literally did not need/want anything else (big bro's toys to play with/clothes to wear).

She insisted on buying him an expensive little people airplane thingy that I have since given away (never played with).

Same as Soupdragon.

But always spend less on adults.

I have a budget in mind but am happy to go over or under - it is the gift that matters not the exact spend to me!