Do You Have A Specific Budget For Gifts?

I have a very strict budget for everyone I'll be buying for because I simply can't afford to go over my budget. My list will have even down to the item how much I'm willing to spend. For example, my step dad has asked specifically if I can get him a set of notebooks for Christmas because he wants to get into writing more after Christmas. I suppose he's planning a long time in advance what his new years resolution will be this year! But because I know this is what he wants I've already been looking around for where to get some great cheap notebooks, and I'll probably make them more personalised by adding things to them myself. I may cover them so they all match for example. That way it looks more high end even though it isn't, and I can stick to my budget better.

 

I do stick to a budget and it is usually limited to the amount of money I earn working online for the year. I could probably afford to spend more, but at least this system of doing things keeps me focused and prevents me from over spending. I have already started my Christmas shopping and have 3 people done already. I plan to do some more shopping in September.

 

I don't give gifts to many people and if I must be honest I never have a budget for gifts. I simply buy them all through the year and then decide who will be getting what at Christmas time. That said, I think anyone who has to buy gifts for a lot of people must allocate a specific amount of money to gift buying. If it's $100, it should be $100. If you want to spend $500 then it shouldn't exceed $500. Christmas will whiz by and if you spent too much on gifts will you regret it afterwards or maybe be forced to do without things you actually need?

 

Yes! I always budget everything and buy in advance to save the most. I usually buy gifts online and use my gift cards that I earn on swagbucks to pay for presents. I really don't have that extra cash lying around. I am already buying gifts for Christmas and have had some for a month now. I buy gradually over the year and then save them up in my closet. When Christmas comes I just have to worry about wrapping. It is stress free and easy on my wallet!

 

I don't maintain a specific budget to giving gifts to acquaintances. I prefer to adjust my expenditure as the need arises to give whatever gift I may decide to give. Sometimes the need for giving gifts can be very unpredictable, therefore, a budgeted expenditure may not be easy to forecast.

 

I'm less focused on the price of a gift, but the quality of the gift I gave. Once, I printed out a picture of a very funny text conversation that I had with one of my friends, framed it, wrapped it, threw it in a bag with a candle that I got from a dollar store. I might've also put some granola bars in there. Well, printing out something is pretty cheap, and it's very easy to find cheap frames at a yardsale. The gift I gave was very cheap, but it looked richer than it was and meant a lot to my friend. They loved it. The best kind of gifts are priceless, and I will do whatever I have to for a loved one, whether it be cheap or not. If I set a budget for an item, it's for someone I don't care much about.

 

Oh I most certainly do. Especially around the holidays, I am very careful with taking only a little bit out and setting it aside for gifts and special foods and things like that. It is not really anything formal but more of a mental effort on my part, but I do scratch some numbers down along the way.

 

Of course especially when you're in a tight budget and you would like to give everyone a gift. I usually have a certain budget for gifts particularly during Christmas and New Year We tend to give gifts to everyone and it might be a bit difficult to stick on a limited budget if you're planning to give gifts especially if it's more than 15 people, excluding kids

 

As the first thing I make a sort of " gift list " in which I sign how many gifts and for who; then I distribute my budget more or less proportionally!!! But I think that making gifts during Christmas time is a sort of " fair of consumerism ", so I tend to do this activity before or after this time; if people who receive your gifts want you really good, especially in these times of crisis, they will understand you

 

I remember Christmas time in the olden days when I was not married yet, I would have a long list of names with a tentative gift and the amount of budget. That way, I would readily know if I could afford all the gifts. Can you imagine buying gifts for more than 30 people, huh. That's an ordeal for me in terms of money and also effort for it was not easy to shop for those gifts - for children and adults. But now I am glad that I had relegated that responsibility to my wife and she is good in budgeting for gifts.

 

My plan usually depends on the people that I'm gifting to. For close family members, I'd go for about 200 dollars each while other members, 10 to 30 dollars each. I always try to gift an item worth at leas 10 dollars but of course, this situation only occurs if I ever have money like I used to have.

 

I try to make an overall budget, since I usually host Christmas dinner as well (and Thanksgiving). So, those expenses need to fit into the overall holiday budget. I try to stick to it, and I'm usually pretty close. I do sometimes go over by a little bit, if unforeseen things arise, like extra guests coming.

I don't have a set amount per person to spend for gifts though. That wouldn't really work for me. I might find something great that costs less than that amount, and I wouldn't go get something else just to reach a specific number. On the other hand, I wouldn't skip the perfect gift for someone if it is a tiny bit over that amount either. I just try to keep things kind of balanced and within the main budget. It's worked pretty well for many years.