How Much Do You Plan of Spending for Each Child for Christmas?

those are neat.

spending what ever the good Lords lets me.
and not anymore.

 

Exactly!

 

My kids are the only g'kids on my side, and my mom hasn't yet realized that she's NOT their "primary" gift source! And my mil WAS my dss' primary source of gifts before we were married, so she wants to go all out for ALL her g'kids. I fought HARD to get that to stop; it has improved. "Three isn't too many!!!" Carl tried to explain that 3x3 is 9, plus one each from each of his three siblings, plus from my mom.... And that's not even counting what we give them at home!!!

 

I am big on stocking stuffers too, I got some good deals for free!..... my mall has this E-mail thing about sales, and a couple of weeks ago I got an E-mail for $10 gift card for the mall, just for ONE day, It happened I was out with my mom that day and happened upon the Claire's little girl jewlery store that had a bunch of stuff 10 for $10 but everything had to be worth $10 to start with, so some of the items I couldn't get, I got 9 items and paid .64......

also they have some fun cookbooks in the Micheal's craft store's dollar section I got 3 for eva as the last gift from my dad.

 

Me, too! I love stockings!! That's all dh and I do for each other. I've gotten a good start this year-got several things form the $ Spot at Target. I have to get a few more things for my older 2, as they are a little harder to get things cheaply.

 

Kewl Lee! The spirit of Christmas! (((( ))))

My ds shopped for a family over the weekend hoping to bless their Christmas. We also purchased some gifts for another family.

 

we are spending the same on each child.... I have not even started my shopping yet.... My hubby and I go and get it done in one day,,,, when my parents can watch the girls... i think the budget is around 250 for each this year.

 

I voted "more". Our son is the only grandchild on my husband's side...but his parents are jehovah witnesses...so obviously nothing comes from them. I just remember Christmas seeming so magical when I was little...we are doing our part in making our sons memories the same.

 

...

 

no kidding, its really hard right now finding things for the boys, I am not sure why, mine are ages 10 and 12 and they don't play with hot wheel cars anymore. Girls are easy, ear rings, pony tail holders or small barrets, stickers, small stationary etc.......... I am at a loss for the boys..... Micheal's does have a few things in the dollar section, but I got most of them last year. (magic tricks, posters to color etc).:roll:



I wanted to share: my DD really wanted the Crayola art set http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Ultim...e=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1259785699&sr=1-1
but I just didn't think it was worth it so I made my own for all 4 kids and this is what I got:
plastic case with handle......$3
64 ct. crayola crayons with sharpener ........$.99 (special on black friday at wallgreens)
markers, colored pencils, stickers, note pads or small "journal" and an activity pad from the dollar spot either at Target or Micheal's Each one has a different theme like cars, cinderella, Hello Kitty and Toy story.... I also put in a glue stick that I just took out brand new from the craft closet. Each "kit" cost under or at $10 and they really have never had the big pack of crayons that they didn't have to share. I found a different color case for each too.

 

Phillip will be ten on Friday. He has requested batteries in his stocking.

Other good "guy" stuff include flashlight, pocket knife, stop watch, "bullets" for Nerf guns, deck of cards, compass,

 

I've done flashlights, bb's, cards, and books. This year I got air soft pellets, a movie ($3 Black Friday movie) and a micro SD card. (That was more than I usually spend on stocking, but it's very small.) My son is 13.

 

Garrett still plays with cars, but he also collects Corvettes and Ferraris so when we find them in Hot Wheels we hoarde them for things like that... also he loves legos still so some small sets work for that.

Stockings are for silly things in my opinion, so that is what I go for for the most part.

 

Hubby and I set down together when we know how much how tax refund is. We do our Christmas budget and then put that money in our savings account. We have planned on $75 for each girl +stockings. I watch all year long for good deals on presents and stock up. I'm done with all of my shopping except for the stockings. I'll work on that next week. I like to do a lot of little things in the stockings- normally they are no longer hung by the fireplace come Christmas morning- the stocking holder isn't strong enough to hold it!

 

Honestly, I don't know how much I spend on each of them for several reasons. The biggest being that I buy all year long for my kids. My oldest had fiesta dishes, so when I find some at an antique mall that's got 50%off, they go in the basket! Same with Breyer horses at garage sales (both girls), etc, etc. Then close to Christmas I maybe add another 20 - 25 dollar gift. So I guessed that I spend somewhere around the hundred dollar mark on each, but it is spread all over the year. Some years I get more than others, so I save the extras for birthdays or even the next Christmas.

I guess it's not the best system, as I don't have very good handle on my finances, but it certainly is a lot more fun!

 

We probably spend about $200 - $300 per kid on average, but I would say my oldest gets more expensive things. She's getting a "new to us" DS this year. My youngest is going to be thrilled with the $9 pet shop and playdoh sets I got at Walmart on Black Friday! So it's not equal. We also buy lots of clothes to wrap up. They would be getting the clothes anyway, but it's nice to have lots of stuff under the tree. I spent about $250 on DH, and he's doing about the same for me.

Luckily I'm doing it all credit card free this year! My jewelry sales have helped us a LOT this year!

Edie

 

We usually spend about $50 per kids, but this year we also bought a wii on sale on Black Friday for them to share. I don't have to worry about spending a lot on my kids. Between the two sets of grandparents they are all set. My mom gets them the books and educational things we want and my mother in law gets them all the expensive fun things. We are blessed.

 

The boys are getting a pretty darn good Christmas for a daddy who is unemployed this year. Thankfully, I put money aside each month throughout the year for Christmas. I spend about $100-$150 on each of the boys (2), but I also make my dollar REALLY stretch. One gift might be $20, but another might be $5. At their age (7 and 2), they are still about quantity and not quality. lol I try to bargain shop as much as possible, and I LOVE black friday!!! lol I got a LOT of amazing deals this year. Our family has always gone hog wild on Christmas, but that is mostly for two reasons. #1, my mom taught me well on how to make my dollar stretch so it may look like a lot, but really it's not that extravagant. #2, I do not buy things for the boys throughout the year at all. Christmas is the one time, other than birthdays, where they recieve toys and that of the like, aside from the occassional Hot Wheels at Walmart when we are there. I don't buy them things other than necessities throughout the year. They have to save their money or wait for their birthday or Christmas.

 

Well, the two older boys get more $$-wise than the baby, but we've spent around $500 total (gifts & stocking stuffers) for all 3 kids altogether. So that averages about $150-ish per kid. That includes a netbook we snagged refurbished and on sale for $180, which is technically for all three kids even though the little one won't be using it for a while yet.