I was listening to Dave Ramsey's podcast sometime last week and it was stated that the average family making an income of $50,000 spends approximately $800 on Christmas.
Does that seem like a lot of money to anyone else but me?!?
The truth of the matter is, though, I calculated the Christmas spending one year when I bought Todd the Wii, and we spent around $700. That was for everyone though. Between his parents, my parents (remember, I have 4 of them,) step brothers and step sisters, nieces, friends, and Todd's sister and her husband and three girls.
This year, Todd and I arent buying large gifts for each other. I bought my own gift (a nice scale) for $38, I bought him a new keyboard for his computer and a docking station for the Wii remotes to charge after use. For both of our gifts, I spent less than $100. Usually, that is our budget per person. And we are cutting back on gifts for everyone else too. We should be at about $550 for everyone this year.
We make a little more than that "average family" figure, but we spend a little less than "average." In my personal opinion, we spend too much on Christmas. This year wasnt too bad, but in years past (the $750 years,) is a bit excessive in my opinion. I would love to one day take my family on a nice trip, all expenses paid, for Christmas. There is nothing better than spending time with the ones you love...whether it be on Christmas or in March!
I would be thrilled if I could spend $800!! I spend around $2,000 each year! We have 14 nieces and nephews, 3 sets of parents, 7 kids, and teachers, mail lady, etc....it's nuts!
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