Do you regret your Christmas spending? Via Shutterstock
I’m scared to think about how much we spent on Christmas this year. I’ve avoided looking at our credit card bill, which we’ve been capping at $2,000 each month, because I knew we were going to go over. Way over. I tried to save money on Christmas gifts this year – but with a new baby in tow, and a lot of family coming to town for the holidays, we were more rushed than usual. Limited time means limited time to compare prices, look for deals, or make homemade gifts. I’m guessing we spent several hundred dollars on presents.
How much did you spend on Christmas gifts?
Here’s how much we spent on Christmas gifts.
- $110 for a 90-minute massage for my husband
- $41 for Perplexus Epic, a toy Bobbi recommended, for my husband
- $13 on three pairs of socks from TJ Maxx for my husband
- $32 for a Christmas stocking from Etsy
- $7 for a Play Doh fun center for Lucy
- $20 on a starter train set for Lucy
- $40 for two boxes of chocolate from See’s, my favorite chocolatier
- $42.33 gift card to Target for my sister using Cardpool
- $39.98 gift card to Victoria’s Secret for another sister
- $75 restaurant gift certificate for yet another sister
- $30 on socks for my sister and her husband
- $35 for two bags of caramels for various gifts
- $45 for a J.Crew shirt for my little brother
- $2 for three (used) books for my nephews from the library bookstore
- $6 wrapping paper
- $75 restaurant gift certificate for my Mom and step-father
- $100 cash gift to our niece
- $30 for a miniature Christmas display gift to my brother-in-law
- $28 on a party game for my sister-in-law
- $16 for a golf gag gift for my father-in-law
- $30 museum admission gift for my Dad
- $19.99 for a semi-rare hardback book for my half-sister
- $10.50 on a coffee cozy that looks like a cat for my half-sister
So my grand total Christmas spending comes to $847.80.
Oh. My God.
(This total doesn’t include the money my husband spent on the gifts he gave me.)
I thought that the total would be much, much lower. For the first time, we exchanged couple gifts (one way to save money with a creative gift exchange) with most of the adults. For example, we bought one gift for my sister and her husband, and they bought one gift for us. I guess couple gifts didn’t save us much money because we ended up buying a bigger gift. It did save a lot of time, however.
So why was my Christmas spending so high?
I have a big family, yes. (I don’t even exchange presents with all of them.) So there are lots of gifts to buy. And we enjoy being generous at Christmastime. We exchange fewer gifts for birthdays throughout the year, so this is one time we make a big splash. Perhaps too big of a splash.
But our total is actually lower than $847 because…
- I used a gift card for the J.Crew shirt (-$45)
- The starter train set was a toy I received free to review (-$20)
- I bought the Perplexus toy with an Amazon credit (-$41)
- The $39.98 Victoria’s Secret gift card only cost me $35.98 because I bought it at a 10% discount on Cardpool (-$4)
- The $42.33 Target gift card only cost me $41.06 because I bought it at a 3% discount on Cardpool (-$1.06)
So our Christmas spending was actually $736.74.
The really scary thing is that, despite the savings I pointed out, this total doesn’t include the holiday photo cards we ordered, the postage to send them out, our Christmas tree, and all the food we bought to have a houseful of family for a week. So if we totalled all of the money we spent related to Christmas, it would be well over $1,000.
Not that I regret the spending. No, I would do it all again. We save year round – as much as 26% of our income we stash away every month – so we won’t have any trouble paying off our credit card bill in full when the big Christmas statement comes due in a few weeks. But my eyes still bug out when I add up all the gifts.
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
This was very interesting! Not many people will disclose their holiday gifting amount.
I’m sure we spent more and I’m not proud of it. I have a big family as well, but it’s the little things that really seem to add up –stockings, holiday baking, holiday party food.
Tips on avoiding it? If I shop year round I’m likely to budget but also likely to gift something unwanted or not to that persons liking necessarily.
@Jessica I agree, shopping year round is a great way to lower the cost of Christmas presents, and also spread our the punch to your bank account. With small children, I just wasn’t able to do it. Running errands with even one child is a total PITA!!!! I did even more online shopping this year than ever before.
Have you considered giving some of your nieces and nephews 529 contributions instead?
Or heading to Costco for their gift card deals?
@Jen I have done that in past years, but the parents told me the kids really enjoy receiving toys, so I took that as a subtle message that 529 contributions were not preferred over toys.
We finally discussed with sisters and brothers that we wanted to stop gift giving– nieces and nephews are all in their 30’s so I send cards and for those at our house for one of the meals, make up party favors– candy, cute scarves for $4 I got at a jewelry show recently, dog toys as everyone has several dogs…….so that has really cut down costs. Of course when there is a baby in the future, we will give gifts to the baby!
@Janet I love that system! It does feel a bit odd to exchange gifts with the other adults as we get older, but I also really love sending a present, so I’m torn. I’d like it if could all just give gifts to the kids, but not everyone has kids so that wouldn’t really be fair. Maybe a few years down the road we’ll adopt a system like yours!
We create a budget and don’t deviate. I have always done this. There will always people who spend more and peoe who spend less…
$500 on my daughter
$500 on my husband
$500 on me
$700 on my son, his wife and baby
$100 on my brother
$50 on my 2 cousins
$65 on my son’s in laws
$60 on my husband’s family’s gift exchange party
$30 on another adult gift exchange
This budget has grown as my husband’s income has grown. But when times were tough, we never spent more than we could pay in full.
Shopping year round helps and buying gift cards at my grocery store that give extra perks at the gas pump help save money as well.
@Trish So your budget is close to $2,500. That’s a lot! Do you spend a lot of the budgeted money for your daughter, husband, and yourself on clothes? Growing up, my Mom used Christmas as a time to restock our wardrobes if we needed pjs, socks, underwear, and other basics. Or is it just toys???
That’s serious cash! But to be honest I can totally relate to it. It’s such a special time of the year and with lots of family and my wife to buy for it’s critical to get it right! I’m not far off your total!
@Mark Cash I’ll admit I’m slightly relieved to hear others spent about as much as we did. It IS a special time of year, and I like to give gifts. 🙂 Perhaps as the kids get older I’ll be able to lower my total.
I forgot to mention that as a parent, I try to remind my family that used books are always a great gift. For example, my daughter is 7 and really into Harry potter so we encouraged family to gift used books in that series. That doesn’t help me when it comes to spending though. Maybe I should take my own advice!
@Jessica C That’s awesome! I asked my family to give our daughters whatever age-appropriate toys and books they had in their attic or basement, but neither family listened. Drat! Any advice for how to convince family that hand me downs are a truly wonderful and appreciated gift?
I spent $300 because that is the amount I set aside in my Christmas fund. Everything had a coupon and/or a discount of some type. I don’t regret giving gifts to my loved ones. They are worth it. Have a amazing New Year.
@Gwen That’s great! How many people did you exchange presents with? Did you make any homemade gifts? Regift anything? Tell me your secrets!!! 🙂
How did your hubby like the Perplexus?