What is really reasonable to spend on gifts

[Bijou]

What is 'normal' to spend on Christmas gifts?  Sometimes when I watch TV and talk to people, I feel out of step because I spend less than most on gifts.  I never spend more than $20 to $30 on any one person for a Christmas gift, and probably less, if I can find something they like.  On the little kids (kids under 16, say) I get them two gifts, spending maybe $40. 

[unicornbee]

I typically spend $20-$30 for my immediate family, $20 for extended family, friends, and future in-laws, and I tend to spend around $50 for DF.

[Heat04]

What is 'normal' to spend on Christmas gifts?  Sometimes when I watch TV and talk to people, I feel out of step because I spend less than most on gifts.  I never spend more than $20 to $30 on any one person for a Christmas gift, and probably less, if I can find something they like.  On the little kids (kids under 16, say) I get them two gifts, spending maybe $40. 

That's what I spend on my siblings and their kids. More on my dad because he's great 
And it varies for my df, but it's normally a really nice gift.

[Schmoopie3928]

It depends on my budget for that year. This year it's no more than $40 on immeadiate family and $20 on extended. on close friends I keep it around $15. THis is a pretty good year. I have had to limit it to 5-$10
before. But you can get REALLY creative with that kind of budget!

[Samantha]

I'm single with no children and no siblings. My spending breakdown is like this:

Mom: $100
Dad: $100
Grandma: $50
J: $25 (best friend)
A: $25 (best friend)
N: $15 (friend's daughter)
S: $15 (friend's daughter)

[Linley]

I was just thinking about this.

My BFF called me yesterday afternoon wanting to know what I thought was an appropriate price range for a bottle of champagne for a gift. She had asked around and been surprised at the answers she got. One friend told her 150 dollars!      My BFF wanted to know if I thought 70 dollars was sufficient. I was bowled over by the question, first, really nice champagne costs in the 30, 40ish dollar range, maybe a little more, second the recipient of the gift is a friend, a good friend but a friend. (And maybe this isn't relevant but it is to me, the girl receiving the champagne will just chug it without really tasting it so in my opinion good champagne is totally wasted on her.  On the other hand, she will be insulted if she receives anything other than top label.  ) Apparently gifts of 30, 40, 50 dollars and more are standard in our circle for gifts for friends. (Many of us did go to a tony and expensive private school and lived in a swanky town when we were younger.) My family has never been loaded, I certainly am not, and I don't think I've ever spent 50 dollars or the equivalent on a gift for anyone, my parents included (I don't have a SO).

These are people about my age, early twenties, no more than a couple years out of school. Champagne girl has a lot of money, comes from a rich family, has a rich boyfriend who pays her a huge amount for 'working' at his company. BFF works part time (is sort of in school the rest of the time) but gets most of her money from her parents.  Some of our circle do make tons of money but I don't think all or even most do. Especially given rent in expensive cities, associated expenses, etc. I work full time now, freelance, and do well for myself but I'm not rolling in dough and I have student loans to pay (I doubt any of the others do.)

My BFF ended up having a long talk about how absurd the spending of our circle is, on holiday presents specifically but in general as well. Normally I'm infuriated with her because she just does not understand the value of money. But even she can see the excessiveness in this situation. I was just floored that anyone would tell her to spend a minimum 150 dollars on a gift, so that now she feels guilty and stingy for setting a limit of 70 dollars for the gift.  I weep for my generation. 

[nliedel]

Actually, really good champagne can cost upwards of $200.00. Which is neither here, nor there. I too think that the money spent on gifts can get silly. I make cookies. Not cause I'm cheap, but I have four kids and we're a one income family. I often think my cookies are not good enough. I've sometimes gotten a bit of a sneer, and that hurts. I don't expect anything from anyone else.

[AbbyW]

Actually, really good champagne can cost upwards of $200.00. Which is neither here, nor there. I too think that the money spent on gifts can get silly. I make cookies. Not cause I'm cheap, but I have four kids and we're a one income family. I often think my cookies are not good enough. I've sometimes gotten a bit of a sneer, and that hurts. I don't expect anything from anyone else.

I bet if you didn't give cookies one year, you would hear a lot of complaints.

My mother's BFF used to give us the BEST chocolate chip cookies for Christmas.  But I guess she felt that they didn't measure up to what we (my siblings and I) gave her, so she asked my mom if we could just exchange cards.  We knew that she couldn't afford gifts and we just wanted to use Christmas as an excuse to give to her things she could use.  And we really miss those cookies.  

[Bibliophile]

Actually, really good champagne can cost upwards of $200.00. Which is neither here, nor there. I too think that the money spent on gifts can get silly. I make cookies. Not cause I'm cheap, but I have four kids and we're a one income family. I often think my cookies are not good enough. I've sometimes gotten a bit of a sneer, and that hurts. I don't expect anything from anyone else.

I personally detest Dom.  I don't think a champagne has to be expensive to be good.  There are some great bottles in the $40-$70 range.  Plus, there's some great sparkling wines and proseccos that are even better...

[Sleepless]

I don't exchange Christmas gifts with friends. Most of them have children and their finances can be pretty tight around the holidays. We exchange birthday gifts usually in the $25.00 range and will go to lunch or dinner as well. It spreads it out a bit.

For family members, it depends on what I have in any given year. I don't use charge cards to buy gifts. In the past, we've spent a lot on parents and never regretted it. This year we've had a lot of unexpected expenses so the amounts are decreased significantly.

[FishWoman]

I think the answer is entirely situational.

We get gifts for some friends (and not always the same friends from year to year). Usually those gifts range from $25 - $50.

For DH's brother/wife/son - we usually just get something for their son - under $50.
DH's mom and dad - anywhere from $25 to $150 - it depends on what we think of to get them. This year, we can't think of anything, so they are getting a $40 fruit basket (they will love it though).

This year, my family (my mom, step-father, and sister) is not exchanging gifts, but usually sis and I spend about $100 each on mom, about $50 each on step-father, and about $100 each on each other. Mom and Step-F usually spend about $500 each on me and sis, and about $100 on my DH.

DH and I? When we were first married - about $50 each. Now that I am out of school and working - anywhere from $100 - $500. This year I splurged and bought him a $1000 electric smoker.  It arrived on the second day of Chanukah, and I am currently in the running for "Best Wife Ever"!

To me, at this stage of my life, these are reasonable amounts. Ten years ago - no one would have received anything over $25.

[Linley]

Actually, really good champagne can cost upwards of $200.00. Which is neither here, nor there.

Well, I know the really swanky stuff can be super expensive but there is good champagne by top brands in the 40 dollar range. (To be really honest, I consider the very expensive stuff a rip-off, I think it is seldom better than the cheaper bottles and you are paying mostly for gimmick or bragging rights [My champaign is super-expensive-brand! It cost 200 dollars, see how cool and rich I am. ] But that's just me.) I think what upset me more than the actual price quoted was the absurdity of the expectation that this was a reasonable price range for a 23 year old (or anyone for that matter) to spend on champagne, as a gift or not, and the assumption that champagne that costs less than that is not of acceptable quality.

ETA that the vast majority of champagne I turned up in my google search did not even begin to reach 200 dollars (or equivalent), or 150 for that matter.

[Brentwood]

Actually, really good champagne can cost upwards of $200.00. Which is neither here, nor there. I too think that the money spent on gifts can get silly. I make cookies. Not cause I'm cheap, but I have four kids and we're a one income family. I often think my cookies are not good enough. I've sometimes gotten a bit of a sneer, and that hurts. I don't expect anything from anyone else.

There is nothing wrong with cookies as a gift. I think that as a society, we are encouraged to believe that spending money equates to love and affection ("if you love me, you'll spend $100 on me" - or whatever number). We are constantly being sent the message that more, more, more is better, and that the more we spend or is spent on us, the greater the emotional reward. We're also taught that we need to give presents to nearly everyone who has ever crossed our paths, and if we don't, it means we don't care about them. It's almost impossible to escape from these messages.

People should give what they are moved to give and what they can afford to give. For some people, that will be more than other people. And that's okay.

[platys]

I'm single with no kids, so I typically spend:

Mom:  100+
Sis:  100
BF:  100
Mom's BF: under 50
BF's son: under 50 (although I didn't keep track - I was having too much fun)

Then, my BF bought presents on my behalf for his family, and I did the same for him with mine, so that was another 40 dollars to my mom, about.

[Samantha]

When it comes to wine or champagne, I don't like to spend lots of money on it... But that is because I know nothing about it, and am trying to figure out what I like, what makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust and what sets of my asthma.

I'm still in the "if it costs less than $10/bottle, I'll try it" method if I'm buying a bottle. If I'm out at a restaurant and buying by the glass, I stick with less than $8/glass. Either way, it won't break me... and if I don't like the bottle of wine I've bought, I'll use it in a recipe of some sort.