How Much Should You Spend on Each Family Member for Christmas? - What Mommy Does (2024)

Going into the holiday season, I am faced with the age old dilemma – How much should I spend on Christmas gifts for family members?

While I would love to spend an unlimited amount on Christmas presents for everyone in my family, I realize that I need to keep my holiday spending in check.

How Much to Spend on Family Christmas Gifts

How much money you spend on each person depends on their relationship to you.

The closer the family member, the more you should spend, in general.

Here is a some examples:

• $5 to $15 is a good range for family members you don’t see very often.
• Between $25 to $40 is good for closer relatives like nieces or nephews and cousins.
• For immediate family members like brothers, sisters, children, and parents, you could spend between $50 to $100.
• And if you’re buying a single gift for an entire family, then something along the lines of $100 to $150 could be in order, although you can definitely find whole family Christmas gifts for less

The higher your budget, the more you can spend in each category.

Now that we have more wiggle room in our household budget, our kids get up to a few hundred dollars’ worth of gifts.

For a husband or wife, the sky’s the limit! HA (I’m only kind of kidding)

What About Your Grandparents?

I think the trickiest family members to know how much to spend on are grandparents….oftentimes grandparents are the people in your life who can already buy whatever they want on their own.

There is not really a set amount to spend on your grandma or grandpa, Nana or Papa or Poppy. Or your great grandfather!

I find that most grandparents don’t want kids or grandkids to spend a ton on them. Just try to make their gifts thoughtful.

My grandmother loves receiving recent framed pictures of the family. Picture calendars are also a great idea. You can get a great & thoughtful grandparent gift for $10-$30.

Here are some amazing gifts for grandma if you need some ideas.

The First Step in Budgeting for Holiday Gifts

Before you decide how to spend per person, you need a grand total that you’re willing to spend. As in, the MOST you want to spend this year.

If you’re not sure where to start, a good rule of thumb is to look at your previous years average spending.

If you have more spending cash this year, then set a total amount slighter higher than last year. If you want to spend less, then go lower.

Once you know the final amount AND the number of people you will be buying gifts for, then you can set a limit per person.

Your Christmas spending budget is easier to adhere to when you keep in mind an average amount to spend per person while shopping. If you keep this number in mind for each gift, you will avoid overspending.

Not only does this help you stay within budget this time of year, it also encourages you to find the best gifts at a great price.

Don’t forget that you can use sales and coupons to stretch your holiday budget. For this reason, Black Friday is a perfect time to do some of your Christmas shopping.

This is a great way to make sure everyone gets equivalent gifts according to their relationship to you.

For instance, you want to avoid buying something really expensive for your cousin when you didn’t spend very much on your brother, if that makes sense.

Example Christmas Shopping Budget

Let’s say you have $500 total to spend.

And let’s say you need to buy gifts for 10 people.

1. Write down the names of everyone who you will be buying a gift for, in order of closeness in relation to you. This helps you get a good starting point.
2. Write a dollar amount beside their name to represent the MOST you will spend on each present. Now here’s a completely made up example –
   • Husband – $100
   • Daughter – $75
   • Son – $75
   • Dad – $50
   • Mom – $50
   • Niece – $25
   • Niece – $25
   • Nephew – $25
   • Dog (really!) – $15
   • Best Friend – $35
   • Neighbor – $25
3. Add it all up and see where it comes up to in total relation to your $500 budget and adjust from there.

You could do this on a spreadsheet but I find that a simple piece of paper works just fine. I’ve done it both ways!

Here are two resources you can use to set your Christmas budget:

• Printable Christmas Gift List
• Free Christmas Budget Worksheet

How to Reduce the Amount You Spend on Gifts

If you are on a tight budget, do not worry. There are many gifts that can fit into a smaller budget.

I’ve written about many free (or almost free) yet meaningful gifts that are not very expensive on the blog before >> Read: 17+ Free But Meaningful Gift Ideas

And this $25-$30 gift of cash in the most unique way is the absolute BEST GIFT to give any older teen or college-aged kid in your life. Trust me on this one!

It’s just one of over 100 money gift ideas I have written about on the blog. Here are 7 of my favorites >>

You may also like these related posts for when money is running low and for gift giving & receiving in general!

• 21+ Gifts for Kids Under $10
• 37+ Low Cost Gift Ideas
• 47+ Thoughtful Christmas THANK YOU Messages to Write

If you do your best to stick to a reasonable spending limit per person, you will be able to have a special day without blowing your budget or adding to your credit card balance.

Best of luck to you!