Average US Xmas Spending This Year Will Be $830 on Gifts

[tripods68]

Christmas time is a perfect example why most people should establish a saving account from the get go. I know its difficult for most to save extra aside from retirement contributions (401k, IRA). People say "Cash Is king" and often over look and under appreciated but it is the important concept of 'cash on-hand' especially if its prevent many from charging and piling on more debt along the way.

[disneysteve]

Christmas time is a perfect example why most people should establish a saving account from the get go.

Remember the old "Christmas club" bank accounts? I don't know if they still exist but basically, you opened an account and put in a few dollars a week and cashed it out in December. If you started in January and put away $5/week, you had $250 at the holidays. They also called them "Vacation club" accounts and people did the same thing to save up for vacation.

[tripods68]

Remember the old "Christmas club" bank accounts? I don't know if they still exist but basically, you opened an account and put in a few dollars a week and cashed it out in December. If you started in January and put away $5/week, you had $250 at the holidays. They also called them "Vacation club" accounts and people did the same thing to save up for vacation.

I remember that back in the ole days. Not sure if it still exist, maybe they ought to bring it back. But you know that's also the time when credit card started and popularized.

[corn18]

I plan to spend 0.6% of my gross income on Xmas this year. About normal for us.

[Thrif-t]

Remember the old "Christmas club" bank accounts? I don't know if they still exist but basically, you opened an account and put in a few dollars a week and cashed it out in December. If you started in January and put away $5/week, you had $250 at the holidays. They also called them "Vacation club" accounts and people did the same thing to save up for vacation.

I made my own Christmas Club account. I have an ING/now Capital One360 account and one of my savings buckets is Christmas. I deposit so much per pay and have more than enough to pay for everything I buy for the holidays. It's really not a hard thing for people to do on their own.

[sv2007]

Definitely. One of the most popular gifts today is gift cards. Give people money and let them buy what they want..

We've already converted out babysitters into cash recipients; and we'd like to convert all into cash as well once the taboo with giving cash is gone.

The only issue with cash is that one must give at least a certain amount, i.e you don't want to give, say, 2 $20 bills, it just looks bad. In such cases, I think gift cards work.

I remember ~10? years ago when VISA gift cards have no fees, and those were the ones we gave out. We didn't need to give cash back then because those cards are almost as useful as cash.

[GoodSteward]

We have been guilty of overspending on our kids and learned from it. This year we have a 150$ minimum/child. Also, NO MORE ELECTRONICS. I love the stuff, and because of it we are loaded with it from various things. My wife and I want our kids to play with items that are not games and controllers. We bought my son a meccano 2.0 2ft tall robot you have to build and program. He loves doing things like that so I hope it works out. Also got a Knex set for him.

My wife has started crocheting so my 8 nieces and nephews are getting handmade hats and scarfs. Some are pretty cool actually and she made one that looks like Anna from Frozen. She added yellow yarn for hair and everything. This is for younger kids. Saving us a butt load of money haha.

On the flip side I have a friend who grew up very poor. Didn't get much at all, and in fact got more from my parents than his own mom because of it(we grew up together). Today, this friend is in financial mess and over the last several years has spent 3-4k$ on credit on his wife and kids buying tablets, cameras, sports equipment, game systems, etc. That is per year! Then he would pay it off with taxes. They did it too much and now they have to roll debt. It's a mess. They bring in less than 30k a year total.

[FLA]

with my income having dropped so much, I'm taking the $500 (actually a bit less) that I spent the last two years and cutting it in half. The kids will get $50 or a gift card and maybe a small gift. I plan to only gift my brother and his wife and my parents. Then I search deal sites and get multi pack things, like 4 pairs of ear muffs for $12 and I give them to 4 people who have helped me and my family this year or if I need a hostess gift.

the people I gift know my situation and understand. Christmas is no less fun since the big gifts have dropped off or the gifting of unnecessary people. It's really about the actual holiday and being with the people I love, presents are a bonus.

[tripods68]

I plan to spend 0.6% of my gross income on Xmas this year. About normal for us.

Tom,
At $300K a year gross that's roughly maybe $1800. I could be wrong.

[Singuy]

Tom,
At $300K a year gross that's roughly maybe $1800. I could be wrong.

Whoa Whoa Whoa. That's peasant money..Tom's income doubles that.

[corn18]

I put a percentage of gross income as I felt that would be relevant.

If you gross $50k / year, 0.6% is $300 for Xmas gifts. You can do the math from there. Seems like a reasonable percentage, but maybe I'm out of touch.

25% of my Xmas spending is for people at work, including my boss and executive assistants.

[disneysteve]

I put a percentage of gross income as I felt that would be relevant.

If you gross $50k / year, 0.6% is $300 for Xmas gifts. You can do the math from there. Seems like a reasonable percentage, but maybe I'm out of touch.

25% of my Xmas spending is for people at work, including my boss and executive assistants.

I don't think I've ever seen a suggested % of income for gift-giving. Maybe we need a rule of thumb for that as there is for car-buying or house-buying.

Probably about 40% of our spending goes to my office. The other 60% goes to our daughter.

[scfr]

In this case I'm happy to say we're below average.

[sv2007]

We have been guilty of overspending on our kids and learned from it. This year we have a 150$ minimum/child. Also, NO MORE ELECTRONICS..

I know what you mean.

This year, we've not bought many toys for my son. Wife did something that's great: she only allowed him to open 1 gift (from his bday party) each month and all remaining toys the month before next bday. So far, he's very prompt in reminding us that it is the first of each month.

[StormRichards]

I know what you mean.

This year, we've not bought many toys for my son. Wife did something that's great: she only allowed him to open 1 gift (from his bday party) each month and all remaining toys the month before next bday. So far, he's very prompt in reminding us that it is the first of each month.

Do you mean specifically open the toy or also unwrap the presents?

Because common etiquette involves sending/handing thank you cards to show appreciation for the gift. Typically you keep track of what was bought so the notes can be personalized, like "Thank you for the toy car." You also have friends that ask "did you like the _____ I got you for your birthday?" Not sure how you handle those situations if the gifts are also just being unwrapped one per month?

But even if your child knows what he has coming to him, not so sure it is a great way to do things. Kid's interests change so much in a year. What he liked in January, he might not really care for in December. That has happened with my daughter on many occasions over the years.

Last Christmas it was a certain series of books. She asked for every book in the series, probably 30+ altogether. She got a couple of sets from family and she used her own money after Christmas to buy many that she didn't have. Started off great with her zipping through the books and then she lost interest completely. I don't have a son but have plenty of nephews, and I know their interests change quickly as well.