How do you budget for christmas money?

I save up change. I do the surveys and it Target's clearance. I try to get everything with just one pay check. I get paid bi-weekly.

I would like to say that I only spend 1000.00, but I know I always end up spending more.

I save $100.00 per month every month for Black Friday. Then do the surveys and put any rebate checks ect in to my special Christmas savings and it adds up nicely.

Sad to say, we dont really budget for it. we end up taking a couple
of DH's Part-time paychecks and use them. That way, we're not cutting
into our reg. pay and hurting ourselves financially.
I'd say I spend over $500. It keeps increasing every year. :)

I do pretty much exactly what DramaQueenLucy does. We probably spent about $1200 last year.

I buy all year..so I don't really budget it. I am very lucky and blessed the last few years to not have to. When I went back to work, I used the $$ just for Christmas...kept me very happy. I do save change for $$ just to blow.

I buy all year too so we don't budget either. I just hit sales when I see them and keep an ongoing list of what I've bought and what ideas I have so I know what to look for.
As far as black friday goes I always use gift cards we get from our credit card points and then my hubby always gives me a pretty decent amount to take with me. I'm usually just down to finishing up stockings by that point, but I always buy extra stuff since the sales are so good :)

Budget?? What's that?? Just kidding lol :D

I probably spend about $1000. I save a little money every month, all year long.

usually its whatever DH will let me spend, lol.

but i think its usually between $300 to $500-ish

We don't budget for it. I just try to get the best price I can on everything I buy.

Dont really budget.....just buy all yr long

Haven't bugeted in the past and it has bitten me in January :) I am sure I spend about $1500 but then I of course overbuy for my kids, I buy for my mom and dad, dh's mom and dad, 2 nephew's, 2 niece's, my grandma, and 7 cousins who are younger than me, and of course dh and I buy for each other - some years it is more than others although last year I spent about $200 on dh.

I spend about $20 per niece and nephew and $10 per cousin.

This year will be so nice because my last car payment is in a couple of days!! Yay!! That free's up $500 a month which I will be putting into savings for BF and Christmas.

I put a bonus check in a Christmas Club account and add to it when I can and then add the second bonus at the end of the year.

I have a Christmas club - for me, it's easier that they just take it straight from my paycheck so I don't have to! ;)

I get a bonus check in Dec. 2 weeks pay, but doesnt help me for BF. I never really budget but this years I want to spend less than my bonus check. I wants to spend 750 or less.

i used to keep all my bills paid up so when dec came i could hold off paying them till jan, money was really tight so that was the only way, yeah it would double up my bills, but i would pay them off in 2 months. now i managed to save. when i would get a tax check i would just put money on the side for birthday, holidays or when something comes up that's needed. so thats what i do now, just keep it on the side. but lately it seems i'm spending more then i'm saving.

i guess i spend about $300 on each one and they get about 35 gifts each. this yr their getting way less then that, since they're getting mostly video games and electronic toy.

I save up out of each check about three months before BF all the way up til Xmas...and that gives me just enough....and I can buy gradually up to that point...if I have to put anything on credit in that time, I pay it off as soon as the next check comes in so I'm not putting any xmas gifts on credit....

No budget here...I start Christmas shopping in January.

I have a Christmas club that my husband deposits money into every two weeks. It automatically comes out of his check and we cannot touch it until the bank sends a check in mid November. That is always what i use and of course, extra that has been saved.

No I don't set a budget.....I try and find the HOT items selling on Ebay and grab them if I can. Last year it was the PS3 and Wii's and elmos that helped with my shopping expences. With 6 kids saving all year is hard to do....But DH will work all the overtime he can!!! Gotta love him

I start shopping in September and try to stay in a budget less than $1000.00 (excluding my mom and dad's gifts). I have a huge huge family of 13 aunts and uncles, not including their children and grandchildren. Which sends my list of people well into the 50's and that's only my mom's side :D

Needless to say, I don't buy everyone a present and not everyone shows up to the parties. So I buy a bunch of discounted gifts every black friday and keep them wrapped in my trunk just in case. If need be, I take a breather from the party fill out a name tag, rip off the post-it description of what the gift is, and slip a present under the tree for the loved but forgotten partier :D

I try to budget, but this is my favorite time of year I cant help but to overspend. Its ok though I have a whole year to recover from it!

I also shop all year. By Sept I usually have several gifts, stocking stuffers, etc. We also do a christmas club and get that check every October. Each week we put money into the christmas club. The amunt we spend varies year to year, depends on the sales and deals.

We have an account at the credit union that we set aside money in. This is just an all purpose savings. I usually get about a $500 Christmas bonus, so I use that and then get the rest out of the credit union. I don't even know how much we usually spend. We have lots of people to buy for. I would guess it's around $1500.

I opened a second checking last month to use for specific things and have been putting lottery winnings into it. The way it's been going i'm going to have a fun BF (especially if I keep getting $50 and up winners like I have been for the last two weeks... yesterday I won $250!) My husband is happy to provide me the money to play because I keep winning :D We play responsibly, though, and never spend more than we can afford.

As to how much I'll spend, I have no idea since I have to send to family and friends overseas as well as buy for people over here. Ask me after the holidays :)

I shop year around for all my christmas gift and after christmas sale at Target and walmart:)

I have a spreadsheet that shows what bill is due on what paycheck. I will bulk up on paying bills the 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after BF paycheck so I only have a few, if any, bills that I need to pay with my BF paycheck. Then when I run out of money from that paycheck that's it!

I don't have a budget either and I couldn't tell you what I spend to be honest. I just keep my eyes open for a good bargin and pick stuff up when I do. I have a basic list of things I always get the kids: 3 outfits, 3 pj's, socks, underwear, shoes/boots. The rest is either picked up because I know they will like it (such as I got DSD Hannah Montana perfum) or it is on their lists. All 3 kids get the same amount of presents right now since they are close in age but as they get older I will start spending a certain dollar amount since teenagers want more expensive stuff.

I do a budget, but it is a per person budget. It is usually set during the previous Christmas Season, and I tend to start buying on December 26.

Sometimes I go over, but that is usually because I see an item I know someone would just love, and I have to get it for them.

The total this year is $500.00.

I don't really budget. I buy things on clearance (usually at Target) throughout the year. Usually I take everything out and make a list of what I have for who and figure up who is lacking. I then purchase a few more things to even everything out. I come up with a budget for BF after seeing the ads and going over bills.

Dh puts in a week straight of work, and all the overtime takes care of Christmas. We also have 3 December birthdays in our family, so that gets taken care of w/ overtime too. Also, I sell stuff on ebay and use the money from that towards Chrstmas too. We usually budget about $100. per person in our family, but I admit, we spend more than that when I factor in the stuff I buy with my money too. More like $150. per person.

Elena

It depends on how I do playing poker the night before. Seriously!!! My Dad's family get's together after Turkey and play poker for two hours. (dealer choice) The last four holidays, I've walked away with up to a quarter of what I spent on BF! ($100.00-150.00) We start off only playing for quarters, but by the end of the game, my uncles are breaking out the twenties left and right. LOL!!

Next year I'm going to use my flexible spending acct! THis is the first job where I've truly understood how it works (and have the expenses to justify one). My husbands copays for prescriptions add up to more than $600.00 and with other copays for dr visits, we can easily spend a $1000.00 a yr. My company matches what I put in the acct up to 500.00 so we're going to hold all the receipts this year until say October and then use the reimbursement from the acct to do Christmas shopping!!!:D

I don't really budget. I just save my extra change, etc till around midsummer. Thats for BF purchases. I buy though all year long (clearances, etc). I probably end up spending around $1500 every year.

I admit I dont budget for it, I get 3 checks (instead of 2) in november, and almost all of that ends up getting spent between BF and christmas.

I always set a budget but I wish I could stick to it - we come pretty close. We don't have a big family to buy for and I think that's why it's easy to "justify" picking up extra goodies for people-especially the few kids that we do have to buy for since Dh and I don't have any kids. I also don't start shopping untill early Nov. because I never know what anybody wants and I am a huge impulse buyer! I think I set a budget to make myself feel resposible but it never works out! My Dh is just as bad about sticking to it so I don't feel so bad. He had his first BF experience last year and he can't wait for this year - he's been checking this site a few times a day for ads!!

I have a limit for each person I'm buying for and I really don't spend very much. Last year it was ~$300 and this year will be a lot less. I don't have any kids though :)

In between 300-400.

I get paid a per diem for days that I travel. I save the fall per diem for Christmas and the Spring per diem for Summer vacation. It is just 42 dollars a day, but I can usually get four weeks in before BF. Other than that, it depends on whether we have renters who pay their rent. If we do, I don't worry about what I spend, if we don't I worry about it and think of evicting people on Christmas morning. (I wouldn't do it, but the thought is there for people who don't pay rent and lie to me about it.)

We save $100 per month for Christmas unfortunatly we spend it on bills couple of months back :(

I spend about $1,000 because I have 5 kids, 2 grown and 3 at home. I also have 2 grandchildren. I always say I am going to do less but when I add it up it is about $1,000. I try to buy all year long when I see something they like but teenagers want expensive things.

Every year I spend about $1000 on my two kids (and $25 each for my two nephews) - this year I have a little more to spend - getting dh a XBox 360 (that is all he is getting) I always say I'm not going to spend too much on my girls, but always end up doing it anyways. Toys are easily $20 - $30 each, so I have a hard time.

Next year I'm going to use my flexible spending acct! THis is the first job where I've truly understood how it works (and have the expenses to justify one). My husbands copays for prescriptions add up to more than $600.00 and with other copays for dr visits, we can easily spend a $1000.00 a yr. My company matches what I put in the acct up to 500.00 so we're going to hold all the receipts this year until say October and then use the reimbursement from the acct to do Christmas shopping!!!:D

This is what we do.... You are spending the money anyway and since it is pre-tax, it saves you money. I usually wait and get reimbursed for the receipts the first week of November...
This year's money went towards renovations though...... but I do have lots of my Xmas shopping done already....:D

I haven't really been saving. I haven't deoposited my October Bonus check yet. I"m holding onto that to deposit the week before BF. I've been picking little things up all year.

I'm going to try to set a limit per person and stick to it.