What Do You Consider a BIG Gift for Christmas?

When my kids were younger the "big" gifts were usually around $100 (a new bike, an American Girl doll, etc.) or sometimes it would be a family gift, like one year we got an air hockey table. I spent about $250 per kid on average.
Now that they are teenagers it's MUCH harder. Everything they want and/or need is so expensive! Laptops, game systems, phones, ipods, fancy clothes, etc. Now the one big gift can easily be $300 but they don't get much else, just a stocking and a few other small items. It's sad because I love the thrill of opening a bunch of presents on Christmas morning, but I must say I also love the thrill of living within my means :)

I'm planning to buy an Xbox - with games, that's going to end up being $300 . That's the biggest gift I've ever bought. But that's for both littles and dad. Other than that, the biggest gift usually would be a $75 bike or bigwheel when it comes to the little kids. Truth be told, I shop for a month and pick up a ton of under $20 stuff. If I totalled it up, it would be a lot of money. So, this year I'm going for quality over quantitiy.

My teenager, that's differant. Everything they want is expensive. Last year she asked for Uggs and $100 jeans. I buy what she asks for.

Anything over $100.00 is a big gift to me. Some years we do big gifts and other years we don't. It really depends on the wants/needs/interests for that year.

For kids? Things like a new DS, specialized bike (mountain/motocross) anything over $75 - although we can thank XBOX for $60 games that shoots the budget to crapper.

Adults? Jewelry, cars....LMAO!!! I do know a W. who got a new car for Christmas one year. A few years ago Bob bought me a Wii!! LOVE IT!!!

I really do try to keep things fun but not over the top - try to limit to 3 presents and some smaller ones...stocking stuffers...reminding my kids that Christmas is about GIVING and not receiving and more importantly the birth of Christ...

Anything that is $100 or more is a big gift. I learned that doing quality over quantity is much better. I have friends that have 20 gifts per kid to open on Christmas, and it's mostly junk, but they do it for the wow factor on Christmas morning. Our kids receive 1 big gift, something very special that they are asking for, and a group of other gifts that are in the $20-30 range each. We try to stay at $500 for everything, spending $250 on each of them. We do a stocking too but it all probably costs about $20.

The BIG gift is usually the one gift your recipient WANTS the most. Could be as big as a bike or as small as an iPod.
With my kids there were usually 2 BIG gifts, the one they wanted, like a new vid game or whatever and then the one WE wanted them to have like a new bunkbed set or whatever we thought they actually NEEDED. Santa brought the one they WANTED, Mom and Dad gave them the one they NEEDED.

We do 1 big gift each for the kids and the rest smaller toys. Our big gift is usually in the $100 range.

We also limit birthday gifts to $50.

It is so easy to get out of control on costs or amounts of gifts, especially with excitement, but I think the kids tend to appreciate it more when they get less and are not so overwhelmed with a ton of toys at one time.

Our big gifts this year... A Loving Family dollhouse for my daughter ($60). She'll get a handful of little things to go with it.

Boys will get a big lego set each, a few hotwheels tracks and a handful of things to go with.

We don't get ourselves anything.

J.

We do the whole "big gift" thing as well, or at least we try to. In years past the kids have both gotten bikes, or a giant Barbi dollhouse, or a Wii all of which are considered the big one. This year Mike is likely getting an Xbox360 (and not much else) & I want to get a dressform & nice fabrics for Hailey, my little budding clothing designer. Though not equal in price, they should provide about equal amounts of happiness. We also do several smaller gifts as well. It's getting harder & harder to keep things even at least in numbers because we're a take-turns-opening kind of family so I don't want my son to open his Xbox & have nothing else to do while his sister opens 10 more things, but that might be what happens this year.

For each other we do very little because it seems silly to spend our own money on ourselves like that. We do always make stockings for each other & that's been my favorite part since I was a little kid anyway.

A big gift is anything over $40... The kids and my husband each get one 'big' gift (this year, bunk beds for the girls and xbox live for the husband), OR, I do one big 'family' gift (wish I could afford rock band 2, but I can't)... Then everyone each gets 3 or 4 small things for themselves, plus stocking stuffers.

We live paycheck to paycheck (sucks!), but I like seeing the kids get excited over Christmas :)

Ha! Another Navy Officer's Daughter here... who NEVER knew we were poor growing up. Ever. Even though we were below the poverty line, always, looking back. Officers make less than teachers (significantly less), but we had it soooo much better off than enlisted families. That wasn't why we didn't know we were poor, though. We didn't know because my parents rocked. Mayo sammies for a week (because of course, officers "can't" be on WIC/stamps even though we all qualify) was an "exciting" thing in our house (Oh boy! Kids! Guess what WE'RE going to do?!?!). As was mac'n'cheese for dinner for a week. And stateside Dad would commute an 1-2 hour+ each way so we could live in a biggish house with a yard...Anyhow... cool parallel aside.

It REALLY depends.

I save a lot of our "needed" things for xmas. New clothes, blankets, cooking things, house stuff, electronics... ALWAYS gets wrapped up and put under the tree or into stockings.

A lot of our "big" (kids) gifts are actually super cheap, so it's a hard thing to quantify. The $250-$300 Flip we got for $50 (cybermonday, I get almost every electronic year round on cybermonday). An ipod was a handmedown (free). We buy year old games ($15 instead of $60) for the xbox, the xbox360 itself is a refurb one that we got for 1/3 the price. Classes and memberships (like lift season pass, or zoo membersip, or drama camp) we'd be buying anyway, but this way they're all exciting to "find" what cool things we get to do this coming year. These are all examples of 'most wished for' presents in our house. The feather blankets/pillows/etc (fun to wrap) are from IKEA (as is a lot of the cooking stuff) which is super cheap. I very definitely go for VOLUME, but it's not "junk". It's mostly stuff we need/use EVERY DAY.

This year, we have quite an expensive gift coming from Santa, because our TV crapped out on us almost 3 months ago. Instead of replacing it... Santa is going to bring one in 2 more months. It will be a family gift (like the xBox), and for now we get along without one (computers make that not much of a hardship).

This year I've giving my 7 year old my old work laptop - I bought it from them for $100. To me that is a big gift - especially for a little guy. He'll get a get a few more things but we tend to do a big gift (last year he got the Lego Airport which was around $80) since I prefer quality over quantity.

My parents always went overboard and while I loved those memories of great big huge Christmas's with presents everywhere (there were 7 of us) I don't necessarily think it's any better than a few very thoughtful gifts.

My husband and I are the opposite too. I grew up where Christmas was one thing you asked for and if you got lucky you would get another present for good behavior. Always something i needed, like shoes. My husband grew up very spoiled. He would get like 20-25 gifts and there was never a money limit. I try to meet common ground w/ our daughter.She is 4 yrs old. Most of the large over the top items she gets are from her grandparents. Its funny because i had limits growing up and it seems as they got older and they have only one grandaughter those limits of theirs went out the window!! We do have a budget for her. Most of things are under $100 and she will get one or two large gifts that are over $100. As she gets older im sure this will change as her behavior, grades, etc will all come into play at what you get at Christmas ;)

P.S. We dont buy for each other. We take her to the store and she picks out one thing for the other parent. Keeps are budget in check!

Last year,our son was only 4 weeks old and we spent Christmas on the road and in a hotel (in the middle of a military move), so we didn't really do Christmas. We celebrated in January with a few Santa gifts and that was it. This year is the first year we will be celebrating as a family! My husband an I will not get big gifts as we cannot afford that, and our son is getting a big gift from Santa which really only cost us $15 used (retails for $130) and it is a ride on bouncy zebra. When I was little, we always get new clothes, and the big gifts were from Santa (swing-set, dollhouse, bike etc). My husbands family gave all toys from Santa and other gifts were from the family.

We're getting my 3.5yo a new bike for Christmas. I consider that a big gift. It'll be around $120, I think. Most of the kids stuff is around $20-30/gift. Trucks, etc....

For DH, a big gift from me is around $200-300.

We'll usually only do 1 big gift/season, though. DH and I do our finances separately, and I can't afford as much as he can, so we keep it limited to 1, if any, big gifts.

I'm sure it will change as our daughter gets older, but since she is just 2 1/2, we spend about $150 on everything. Plus she gets presents from her grandparents and some of her aunts and uncles.

A "BIG" gift is usually something that I will be irate if they tear it up, or something that I would strongly consider the warranty period when making my purchase. A DS: big gift. DS game, not a big gift. Wii for the family: big gift. Wii game, not a big gift. Electric scooter, big gift. iPod, big gift. Furniture, big gift. Helmut, rug, clothes, books, art sets, not big gifts.
Usually when you start approaching $100 (or more) then you are usually in "big gift" range. And there hasn't been a year yet, when there was more than one of those under the tree for the kids (either each, or as joint gifts--the Wii and balance board and games, were WAY over $100, but was a "family" joint gift).
BUT, that is just in our immediate family. Other families probably adjust what is "big" relative to how much they spend overall, and how many gifts overall. We tend to spend around $400 total on each of our 2 kids, or somewhere thereabouts... so they get clothes, DS games, art sets, misc whatever, but not in boatloads, and one bigger thing, typically. That is going to vary extensively family to family.
For hubby and I last year, our "big gift"s were Kindles. We each got one. The year before, watches.

I grew up with my mom usually giving my brother and I 5 to 6 presents. Most of them are what we wanted, but were not very expensive. My husband's mother goes crazy for christmas . Each of her 5 kids gets about a zillion gifts. However, hers are practical, fun, and inexpensive.

I considered a big gift to be something over $50. That was before my son was born, and things for him now cost so much more. The big santa gift for him last year was the lego airport/plane. that was around $100. So, that was pretty big.

This year my oldest daughters big gift will be a writing desk.......her birthday shortly follows and she will be getting a computer for her desk that day. My youngest daughters big gift will either be a giant littlest pet shop mansion or a custom made doll that looks like her.

In years past their big gifts were things like......a bike, a barbie jeep, a scooter, rollerblades..........etc...

Think around a hundred dollars, but since my oldest is getting into thew tween times the gifts will be fewer and nicer.

LAst year the trampoline was the BIG GIFT. It cost about $150.
Anything that cost that much is a big gift now. As they get older the toys get more expensive.
So the Nano, camera, Amerian girl dolls, compound bows, things like that.

More than $50 is a big gift IMO. We haven't done any big gifts for him yet (He's only 3.5)

My son's had 3 christmases so far. I think I bought him about $10 worth of stuff that first year b/c I wanted to. But now I see that everyone else is going to buy him a ton of stuff, so we don't spend any money really, b/c MIL, FIL, SIL, Brother, Mom, and Dad and the great gradnparents get him plenty.

In our house Santa brings the big gifts. My kids are still very young (5 and 2) and this year Santa is bringing them a kids size drum set and keyboard.

BIG gifts are over $100. This Christmas we're getting my daughter a princess/barbie sized dollhouse priced at $149 and that will be her BIG one! My son will get an overpriced whopper Lego set and 3DS games. We stick with fun stuff on Christmas and lots of cheapy things for the sake of opening presents. My husband and I do a big gift, but it's something we've been wanting and will possibly buy it for ourself.

Wow! Big gifts! When my daughter was little, the tree looked like several kids lived there. She pretty much got several big gifts, if you are considering over $100 a big gift. Those Barbies and Bratz accessories really added up. I know I went overboard a lot when I think back on it. Now that she has gotten older and out of the doll phase, the items changed but the budget for Christmas didn't seem to get lower. Hmmm... Our focus has shifted from toys to clothes and boots. So this year may be the same as last year. Clothes and gift cards. The "big" gift has yet to be asked for or thought of at this point. All this to say, I agree that gifts over $100 are "big" gifts.

$50. is a big gift, We are fortunate that our daughter always received a lot of gifts from her grandparents and so I tended to purchase things throughout the year that I knew she would love, but were under $50. Dress up clothing, books (our daughters favorite gifts) games, piggy banks...
So she ended up with lots of packages to open, but my budget for our gifts for her were low.

My husband and I do not give each other a gift at Christmas, because usually something falls apart and we end up having to replace it it or repair it.. Hee, hee.. Never fails, Fridge, oven, car breaks down, heater..
It is amazing.. every year.

Well, first of all, the "big" gifts always come from santa. We buy them the second thing on their wish list. Our kids are older, but when they were younger, their "big" gifts were things like bikes, those big cars/trucks they sit in and drive, electronics, etc. This year our 15 yo dtr is spec needs so she is getting cash from santa to pick out whatever she wants for clothing. Our 12 yo dtr has been saying she wanted an electric guitar but just yesterday has changed her mind to some kind of Transformer figures from the 80's she really wants. Our 9 yo son also wants some rare Transformer but we saw it for $250+ so we told him santa has a dollar limit and that is WAY over it. So I encourage them to write out a "wish list" to santa and I tell them santa will decide what HE wants to give them. That always allows for some wiggle room on availability and finances. =)

Wow, I feel totally like the odd man out here. Each of our 3 kids get 1 big gift for xmas..generally anything over $100, last year they got a DSI, powerwheel, and train table. Plus probably another $800 in smaller gifts. We definately aren't well off but we save ALL year for Christmas. My hubby and I both grew up on the lower end of the income scale and Christmases were scarce so we really want Christmas to be a huge, awesome day!

As a general rule, a big gift is $50 - $150. We have only spent more than that once when our son got a Tivo - that was $200 and he got little else! I do all of the shopping so I generally get the kids 1 big gift, 2-3 medium gifts, some clothes if they need them and a few small gifts plus a stocking. Example - last year my teen got an ipod (not the super expensive one but one up from the shuffle about $100) - big gift, an ipod docking station/alarm clock (about $30) - medium gift, a donut maker ($20) - medium gift, a Wii game, a couple of funny t-shirts, PJ pants - small gifts - and a stocking. It's funny b/c I grew up with less than my husband did and am usually the cheapskate but I always do more for Xmas than he thinks I should. Of course his family is really weird about gifts but that's another story!!!!

I try desperately hard to set a budget and not go over it, BUT with the oldest being almost 6, their "big" stuff is generally much cheaper. The kids always get entirely too much for the amount of money I spend. It's never junk stuff. This year their big thing is a wii for them to share. The big stuff is generally from Santa and Mom and Dad (since we have a direct connection to the Big Man) get the accessories.

Last year, they each got a bike. Grandma and Grandpa got the helmets for them.

I start my shopping early (like the day after Christmas early), so most of the shopping is done early too. It also spreads the expense out.