Zero dollars well maybe a card for my hubby.

I hope to spend no more than $300 on close family and friends and my b/f.

we have certain relatives and close friends that we always exchange presents with (by mail usually -- like gift baskets). I don't know how to stop that, though it would save us a ton of money and we're not that close to these people... any ideas? we can't just not send them anything when they will be sending us something... can we?

I'll buy my in laws some steaks or something, and buy something like nice pj's for my mom, and maybe nice slippers for my brother and dad. my husband and I will just exchange cards probably. we're so broke and having to go to FL to spend Christmas with his relatives, which will be $$$.

I'm hoping to spend no more than $250-300 dollars on presents.

Honestly, probably between $500-$1000. But I've already started buying presents and setting them in my designated presents spot, so I've already spent $250ish and am like 25% done with my list. I'm actually going to try making quite a few presents this year, but I have a pretty big list, so I usually spend a decent amount. But I save up for it.

I'm hoping to keep it under $500 this year. We've got large families.

Ugh, I don't know. Last year I bought presents for all of my extended family (we are a huge family, and very close!) for the first time.. this year I'm not really sure I have enough to do that comfortably, but I can't just give one year and not the next! I'll definitely have to figure out a budget for them as well as my immediate family and very close friends so I can get shopping!

ugh also I need advice about this -- my close female friend always wants to exchange nice presents. I usually let her badger me into it, even though I tell her we don't have a lot of money and would rather just do "happies" or go out to eat somewhere nice but not insanely expensive. She gets her feelings all hurt and I end up feeling resentful. What can I do besides stick to my guns and not buy her anything/anything expensive and then have to deal with the awkward situation when she gives me a really nice gift?

probably 400$ to 500$ on my bro, sis, dad, mom, and bf, plus wine for my two bosses and other little knick knacks as necessary

but i've already purchased my brother his gift so by then i won't need to spend the money

I honestly have no idea. I need to start shopping for my fam, my girlfriends and my boyfriend.

lawchick. tell her you don't want to spend too much, and if she balks again then get her something smaller with a nice card as a gesture, so it's not awkward, but don't overextend yourself...for instance, i like to shop at TJ Maxx and stores like that to get cute and interesting stuff, sometimes labels, but for cheaper...so start looknig around to get her something unique but that may not have cost a lot

i figure if you get someone something meaningful that they appreciate and will actually use, they won't consider how much you spent on it

books are always cool. at chapter's you can get super cheap books like "how to make sushi" with a rice spoon and rolling boards for like $13....now that's useful for a sushi lover, something they can use, something a little more interesting than standard gifts, and it didn't cost you much!

I have no idea. I have not received my family that I am adopting this year.

thanks skigurl

We donate toward charities for our loved ones. So while we "spend" upward of $500, it goes toward great causes that help people in need.

No one in our family really desperately "needs" gifts. But people the world over really need food, clothing and shelter.

I challenge everyone on Sugar to think about redirecting even $5 of your holiday gift-giving toward a charity in honor of a loved one. If we all did that, we could make a big difference in the world.

My husband and I agreed not to buy anything for each other, but instead possibly get new carpet for our house or a new mattress. As far as spending for our family is concerned we're only planning to spend at most $200.

I think I'll be spending somewhere between $200-$300 this year.

Usually, my family does a Secret Santa between the siblings and their spouses (6) and we limit the spending amount to $30/person. This year, my dad wants us to donate that money to the Salvation Army instead of giving each other stuff; he always asks us to donate to charity whatever we'd spend on him because he says he doesn't need anything.

We'll see. It's been a tough year for one of my brothers and I don't have that much extra money right now as a grad student.

For friends, I've already purchased a few little things here and there that were on clearance. I like Renees3's idea of making a lot of presents, so I might do that.

We are trying not to spend as much this year as we are going on a cruise to Bermuda and trying to save money for the trip but we have a big family and the gifts never end.

Lawchick - I don't know if this helps or not but a good friend and i decided instead of buying each other christmas gifts we would do birthdays instead. We both have too many people to buy for and one less person helps.

thanks, Liss your friend may be more reasonable than mine! (this year for our birthdays (which are a week apart) she wanted to give gifts, have a spa day, AND go out to a super expensive restaurant -- like a $300+ day!!)

She is definately more reasonable My friends bday is actually thursday and we are going out to dinner but nothing too expensive and i am going shopping tonight for a gift and it will probably be some stuff from bath and body works and a book as she loves to read. $300 is a bit much, i can see the problem

Considering I got laid off this summer and still haven't found a new job, I'm definitely not going all out this year. I decided to keep my shopping list to immediate family and the boyfriend, so $200 if I'm going to spend $50 each on them.

My bf and I both have large immediate families. We usually overspend (over $1200 each year for 3 years!!) but this year we've told everyone that we'd like to focus more on family time and food (!) than gifts. We might even take a little camping trip or something. Hopefully, we can cut our holiday budget in half this year! I've just started our shopping, but have been making gift idea lists on Amazon for a couple months.

I am going to shoot for around $200-$300 tops! I just will have to be super creative!

I'm not spending a dime this year. My family all agreed that we would rather just enjoy our time together this year, and not stress about buying each other gifts. In my opinion, Christmas is more about spending time with family and friends than it is about spending money that you can't afford on things that your loved ones really don't need.

For anyone semi crafty that wants to make gifts I just picked a magazine called "Gifts to Make" I got it at Barnes and Nobles but you can get it at a craft store like Michaels too. It's got some cute stuff, I plan on making my niece a sock-tapus and all the girls in my family/friends lavender eye pillows/sleep masks.

I am only buying for my immediate family this year since I will soon be unemployed!

beau and I are going halves in a flat screen tele (we've wanted for ages, but refuse to buy it on credit). Other than that, maybe £200? I hope to pickup an antique french brooch in paris in a month for my step mum, a case of beer for both dad and FIL (exotics they cant usually get), and a few other small gifts for friends. We dont have alot but neither does anyone else we know which makes it nice.

lawchick -- what about a nice dinner or mani/pedi trip together? That way there's no awkward, oh-thanks-for-the-$$$-gift, here's soap, and you guys can spend some QT together

I plan on spending $200 at the most. I intend to shop major sales and utilize the $5 and Below store to my advantage. I like getting things for people that I know they will use.

thanks for the advice runningesq! she'll get me something no matter what we agree to do, but I suppose that's her choice and I don't need to feel guilty about it

Honestly, I'm not sure. My husband and I always spend about $50-$100 on each other and a total of about $500 or less for everyone else. His family doesn't do gifts, so that saves some cash. But my mom fully expects a gift every year (and she's usually VERY specific about what she wants). Christmas has never been a huge financial burden for us, so we just plan to keep it that way. I'm really creative about my shopping...I buy a lot of cool things on eBay or at auctions that I know my relatives will love and I don't spend a fortune.

I'm thinking.. less than 100€. I decided to paint some paintings

Well...all told for "Family Days" this year I think I will be spending around $2,000 to $3,000 possibly a little more. Which is the most I will have spent in for the last 6 to 8 years.

My family doesn't do the holidays or "family days" on the actual date of whatever holiday. Usually because we're all working - my sister the nurse can never seem to get Thanksgiving, Xmas or NYE off same for my brothers so everything been pushed to mid-January.

My plan is to get my sister a tankless water heater for her house and that's gonna set me back about $1,500 to $2000 a lone (with installation). But in the long run it will save her a lot of money and help the environment. Everyone else will get gifts that are both fun and useful. Like my youngest nephew (

i am glad im not the only one keeping the total amount for gifts under $500. I have 5 people tp buy gifts for and 2 of those ppl also have bdays in Novemeber and December so i usually (in the past) dedicated about $2-300 total for bday gifts, and $3-400 total for xmas gifts. This year im probably going to do 100 for bday gifts and $200-275 for xmas gifts. I am also going try and get as much stuff around black friday as possible to save even more.

My husband and I aren't really into exchanging presents on Christmas, but we do go out to a nice dinner or something like that. The only other people I worry about are my parents, and I can usually make them something or buy something cheaper but thoughtful. My parents still send presents to my aunts, uncles and cousins and sign my name to it, so no worries there.

like someone mentioned, ebay is also a good spot
if you get someone something fun and novelty like a hamburger phone from the movie juno, it's funny and entertaining and they'll be so impressed you found it at all, and will have no idea it was 15$

Maybe about $300 but that is it.

Im going to a hard financial crisis. lol.

well i can say that as of right now i'm not going to spend that much. it's kind of sad - cause i have more people to shop for but i really don't have enough money to do it. i hope that people realize that if i COULD i would - but that things are really tight!

With this horrible economy, I'm still getting gifts, but I am trying to really hold to a budget this year and limit big gifts for just family. For close friends, I found a great website where people can buy and personalize land for only a few dollars....kind of the same concept of naming a star, etc. I think it says that I care, but also keeps my wallet safe

Oops! Forgot to give the website address (sorry, bu thank you for messaging me! http://www.ownapieceofamerica.us/UnusualandUniqueChristmasPresentsandGif...

I plan to spend about $200 on gifts, and you can get some great gifts and gadgets at Crazyaboutgadgets.com

http://www.crazyaboutgadgets.com