how much did you really spend on xmas?

[markio26]

i am setting my 2007 xmas saving goal at $600... this is the average amount spent on xmas i was told.... anyway, i gave my son's $300 in cash total.
i gave my 2 brother's $20 each, total=$40...
my spouse gave me $100 for clothes, and $20 for a 10kt white coral necklace, bracelet and earrings from kmt on sale..
my friends received small gifts i had purchased througout the year. cost was less then $40.. so, it all equaled to $500.....i have added the left over $100 to my 2007 xmas saving fund........................
my spouse had his $100 gc from work for wmt... that is all he wanted......

[Ima saver]

We spent about $800, less than I usually spend.

[Aleta]

$600 is about right. What we do is save from Jan to June for Xmas, at about $105 for 6 months. Then, we save from July to December for vacation. It works out good for us.

[jodi]

We budgeted about $850, spent a bit over $1000. It took quite a chunk from the budget, but it could have been a lot worse. I reined DH in a bit this year
That amount covered two kids, four parents, five siblings, one niece, one nephew, two grandparents, 6 stocking contributions (we all pick one $10 item to contribute to everyone else's stockings since we no longer exchange gifts with all the siblings) and three gift exchanges (work, cousins). Believe it or not, we cut out three people from exchanging gifts this year, and two from last year, and still had that many people to buy for. We have quite a large family!

[cashqueen]

I'm still tallying....sigh

[living_in_oz]

I spent right at $1000. That's how much I budgeted. I give my kids a nice Christmas, but not nearly as nice as most of their friends get(rolling my eyes). In addition to my kids, I have my DH, 5 neices and nephews, 3 parents, 4 siblings and spouses, 1 aunt, 1 teacher, and 2 coworkers. I budget $100 monthly for giftgiving so I'm never caught at Christmas without money for gifts(been there, done that and it ain't fun!).

[vishenda]

we had a reunion and it happens once a year, that increased my xmas budget for gifts and food (between $700-$800), far higher than what I usually allocate for xmas spending

[LivingAlmostLarge]

$500 unless you count airline ticket then it's up like $2500

[lrjohnson]

Less than $200, including special groceries.

[lgslgs]

$238.80



Lynda

[Snoopy2645]

I would say we spent right around $700 I got tons of stuff for free or so close you might as well say it was free. It was definetly a cheap xmas the bad part is I think some people noticed how cheap we went!! The $700 was mainly between my 3 kids & my nieces & nephews the kids you could say. And I even tried to do that as cheap as I could I think even the kids felt ripped. But I think I am done going clear out for xmas & in all fairness my 3 kids bdays are 1 in Nov. & 2 in Jan. so the winter months are bad for us!!!

[cschin4]

I bought a drum set for my son ($800), 2 Nintendo DS games for each child (3 kids) at $40 a piece ($240), DS accessory for my oldest ($35), a couple of board games ($60), a few things for my mom ($40), some items for my spouse ($75), a bike for my daughter ($65), and a few other odds and ends. I bought my oldest son an IPOD but returned it because we had problems downloading. So, I am probably going to get him something else. Possibly a Bass guitar and amp. Turned out to be a high priced Christmas!

[MonkeyMama]

We spent about $600, way less than usual.

we had budgeted $400 but some last minute windfalls and things come up so we went a little extra on a couple of people for different reasons.

Our budget includes birthdays because we all have birthdays this time of year too. Dh and I didn't get each other a thing, but got stuff mostly for the kids and our parents, and niece and nephew. Then there were the gift exchanges and bonuses to the preschool teacher and gardener, etc., etc. Included everything related to christmas in the budget so wasn't so bad.

[sakigt]

$460 total.

Not bad, I suppose.

[tinapbeana]

$ 1,191.00

this includes food and baking, Christmas gifts for 20, birthday gifts for 3, baby shower gift, stamps for cards, a trip to tennessee

and to be honest, 600 of what was spent was on mine and DH's gifts to each other(we went small in 05, big in 06, perhaps and every-other-year trend)... so 591.

[markio26]

any ideas on how we can save more money for xmas???
we only gave gifts to ppl. who cared enough to give to us... the first time we did this...
i still spent $500... wondering how to get away even less......hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[cicy33]

somewhere around $2000. that is pretty general for us

[lillyb]

About $100. Yup, you read that right.

[dossin1]

Well, since everyone is including food too, it was about $700. I really blew the budget on the kids, planned to spend $250 and actually spent $470.

[markio26]

my auntie and unkie had 60 guests over at their home for a gathering... i prepared food and spent about $14 for the food.... so, not bad, i made salmon patay, made from seakist skinned and boned foil bag, with relish and mayo, mixed in..$1.20,. the crackers were $2.50, i made amish noodles, maybe with the broth, noodles, butter, $2.50, i made baked beans, cost $2.50, homemade cheesecake, $2, cheeseball $2.99.