Help me settle a debate with my wife about Christmas presents...

[Proprioceptive]

So, my wife and I were discussing expenditures for Christmas. She read on one of the forums she frequents that one woman spends $400 on each of her three children. Apparently to her, this is unreasonable. $400/child is too much to her. So, fellow millionaire ATOTers, how much would you say you spend on your kids/family, or what do you feel is appropriate?

Obviously we'll see several "appropriate" responses due to income differences, but I'm curious to see what people here spend. Feel free to vote in the poll.

 

[rasczak]

i think that is a bit much myself.

 

[Newbian]

Doesn't matter what the right answer is.

The woman is always right even if she did something wrong.

 

[Vic Vega]

Depends on the kid and the item. A new computer for a teenager might be $400.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Poll's up!

 

[Newbian]

Poll's up!

Need age of said kids.

 

[AstroManLuca]

That seems insane to me, but if you make enough money to be able to afford that, good for you I guess.

What DOESN'T make sense is when Wife A reads that Family B spends $1,000 for Christmas presents and concludes that Family A must spend $1,000 on presents as well, even when Family B makes a lot more money.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Depends on the kid and the item. A new computer for a teenager might be $400.

You know, this is what I told her... every once in a while you make a large purchase. Every year could be different... but I don't really see much trouble in spending close to $400 per kid. My parents use to spend more than that, but it was a Christmas thing only. They just wanted to save and make our Christmas awesome.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Need age of said kids.

35... and they're still living in what is supposed to be your home theatre room.

 

[TuxDave]

I have no children so I'm still a cold hearted bastard...

...but there's no way I'm spending close to $400 per kid on Christmas. $50-100 IF they earned it.

 

[Newbian]

35... and they're still living in what is supposed to be your home theatre room.

Um... a swift kick in the ass will be more then enough.

 

[dquan97]

We're spending $50/child. ages 3, 5, 6.

 

[MayorOfAmerica]

Pics of wife...

 

[SlitheryDee]

I think the "one big item with a couple little items" method seems to work pretty well. I suppose setting a firm per child budget according to your income isn't a bad idea though. With us it always ends up pretty close to $400 anyway.

 

[MotionMan]

How much do you spend per person on Christmas gifts?

Nothing. We're Jewish.

Glad I could help.

MotionMan

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

First thing to discuss with wife is that forums, magazine articles, newspaper articles, radio shows and, television are for entertainment and have nothing to do with the real world. Next. discuss what the total amount you feel comfortable spending for Christmas is. Then, and only then, divide the number of people you have to get gifts for into the total amount to see what you should spend on each. Obviously, co workers and other acquaintances will receive less than family members but, that's not hard to work out. If your wife is going off the deep end, show her how that will affect your lifestyle in black and white.

 

[badb0y]

Did you just say 35?

 

[MotionMan]

Did you just say 35?

He might have been kidding.

MotionMan

 

[Proprioceptive]

Did you just say 35?

Ha... kidding. We have three, 4, 2, 4mos

And we'll probably spend no more than $100 per

 

[sygyzy]

$400 a kid? Are you insane? I don't care how much money you are making, that's an unreasonable amount.

 

[Born2bwire]

I was going to say that it sounds rather excessive. But then I did an inflation calculator and found out that I got probably around $350 as a kid. That has the caveat that was total (parents, grandparents) and for big budget stuff like video game console I shared the gift with my brother. What makes $400 sound more excessive is that a lot of the gifts that I got as a kid cost less today. At the time, an SNES was $200 and some SNES games even got as high as $60-$70. So for us, we could get a game console and two games each and that was pretty much all of our gifts from the immediate family. Right now consoles and games still try to hit similar price points.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

We spent about 4-500 per kid (4 and 1 year old) and we spend about 300 on each other give or take a bit. Then 50-100 on other family members

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

We spent about 4-500 per kid (4 and 1 year old) and we spend about 300 on each other give or take a bit. Then 50-100 on other family members

Outside of clothes and possibly furniture, WTF is a 4 and 1 year old going to do with $400 or even $500 worth of presents? Have you lost your mind?

 

[lxskllr]

I buy what's appropriate, and within budget. I've spent as much as $1.5K, and as little as $300, it all depends. This year I think it'll be around $250, but I'm not sure what I'm getting yet.

 

[sonambulo]

Outside of clothes and possibly furniture, WTF is a 4 and 1 year old going to do with $400 or even $500 worth of presents? Have you lost your mind?

Hey, they're going to watch cartoons on the big screen too