Seems like I can barely get away with $30/person in my family and something slightly less for friends. For my grandparents (who are basically my parents) I will spend upwards of $100. How about you? Do you prefer secret santa drawings for family?
I spend $20 for people in general, $50 for sibling and $80 for parents. Sounds cheap, but I’m a college student.
Zero for spouse. We agreed long ago not to do the competetive gift giving thing. Ever.
Grandkids: one $100 savings bond for each plus some books. Yeah, I’m boring.
I spend between five and ten pounds per person, which is plenty. I like to find (or make) personal presents, I don’t see why Christmas should be anything but fun, and spending money you need for real life is unnecessary. With nine immediate family members plus about five family friends that usually brings my total to about one hundred pounds or so, roughly a fortnights income. I might spend a little more on the SO, depending on circumstances. The rich ones don’t need my money and the poor ones don’t need to feel they have to compete. I think the idea of getting into debt for Christmas is ludicrous, what kind of holiday is that?
We generally buy what we want for ourselves and wrap it up. That way we get what we want and one of us is surprised on Christmas day.
Wrapped up my shopping last night buy ordering $500 worth of chrome stuff for the Harley. Next week we are heading for San Francisco where we’ll shop for Ms Hook.
The amount, anywhere from a few hundred to $3,000 for both of us. Then 2-300 for our grown son.
$20 for each of my cousins, nothing for my friends (there are too many of us and it would quickly get very, very expensive), around $50 each for my parents, and up to around $300 for my boyfriend, although this year I bought him a magazine subscription for $190.
I can usually pull the whole thing off for $150-200 or so (two nieces, two nephews, bro’, sis, BIL, SIL, couple of friends). Shipping might add another $30 (fortunately bro’ and sis live in the same city, so I just send it all to one of them).
Not trying to turn this into a consumerism debate but…
$15/1 = $15 average
I came home from overseas about two years ago and flatly refused to buy anyone a Christmas gift. I also told friends and relatives that I didn’t want anything either. My argument being, why should I spend $1,000 a year on stuff for other people and then end up with $1,000 worth of stuff I didn’t ask for, don’t need and in the majority of cases don’t want whilst the stores end up with $2,000.
A compromise was reached and now our whole family (including the kids) have a Kris Kringle (buy one present get one present) arrangement, to the value of $15. You get given a random relative to buy for and no one knows who got who so there’s no need to thank anyone personally, you thank “Kris Kringle” instead.
It seems a bit extreme but it has changed the way we spend Christmas day to the extent that each family member now gets up and does a Karaoke song they have been practising instead of handing out mountains of presents.
If I want anything now (during Christmas or at some other time) I go out and buy it for myself. 
Zero is good. No one in my family exchanges presents and I haven’t bought presents for friends since grade school (nor received them either). I find the whole practice somewhat irritating.
I only buy presents for friends and family when I’m inspired to buy him or her a particular thing. For instance, I bought a good friend a gift for about $50 a couple Christmases ago, because I wanted to get it for him, and knew it was something he would be able to use, but probably wouldn’t but, or buy for himself in a lesser quality model. Since then, he’s gotten a card from me for holidays.
Same goes for family. I gave presents a few years ago when I came up with appropriate gift ideas. I hate token gifts; I doubt I’ll shop this year and just send cards only.
I’ll probably spend about $60-75 on the boyfriend.
$100 on my daughter, maybe a little bit more. Nothing on anyone else, can’t afford it.
My family’s never really been the sort to go whole hog at the holidays; none of us want people to spend a lot of money on us, so we tend not to spend much on each other, especially since we all buy for everyone.
I’ll probably spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 on Dr.J, and $20-30 each on my parents, brother and sister-in-law, then lesser amounts on various aunts, uncles and cousins. Gifts for friends tend to be in the $5-10 range. I tend to make a lot of stuff, so I usually come up with pretty cool gifts within that price range.
Hubby and I aren’t exchanging this year, same as last year and the year before. I’m hoping to keep the rest of our spending under $200. This is going to be a lean holiday for a variety of reasons. I want him to get his brothers to agree not to exchange with us either - it’s a silly exercise.
Funny, I used to love gift-giving. Now it’s just a hateful chore.
I love gift giving. I’ll probably spend near a grand on the husband, and another grand or so on the rest of the family.
I love gift giving as well. I wish I had a bigger budget so I could really spoil people but no such luck. I usually average about $20 for friends and extended family. Close family varies according to what they want/need that year.