What is the average SO/spouse buget for big annual gifts in your relationship?

[musey]

I'm poll-happy lately, they're just too much fun!

What's is the average budget for your SO/spousal gifts for bigger annual occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)? If some annual occasions are more important than others, choose the more important one (for example, birthdays aren't that big in your relationship but anniversaries are). If one of you tends to spend more than the other, choose the bigger budget (for example, if he usually spends more on you than you do on him, or vice versa).

Don't vote for life-event types of gifts (graduation, birth of a child, milestone anniversaries or birthdays), vote for the things that happen every year

Also, vote for your non-recession budget

ETA: ew ew ew please ignore my yucky typo in the subject line! Didn't catch it in time

 

[MonkeyPie]

It depends on our funds at the time, but I usually save up for awhile to get my husband something nice for his b-day. Last year it was a Wii, so it was more like $300.

 

[babysteps]

I voted for the big category, but that''s because we have decided to spend big only on the b''days and anniversaries that end in a ''0'' or a ''5'' - for us, that means we hit a good birthday or anni about every 2.5 years or so . . . otherwise, we just spend more on family stuff, vacations, etc. in the ''off'' years

-- can you tell we''ve been together for a long time?

 

[Linda W]

DH and I only spend larger amounts on big bdays and milestone anniversaries. We also have been together a looooong time

 

[princesss]

Small. Very small.

 

[Kaleigh]

We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

 

[Dannielle]

We generally spend between $250-$500

Saving for our wedding now though, so we probably will be spending less this year/next year.

 

[musey]

We don''t have much self-control, so all big(ger)-ticket items we always buy for ourselves

doesn''t leave much for birthdays and such. We usually spend between $50-75 on birthday gifts, don''t do gifts for holidays like Christmas, and just treat ourselves to a day and/or evening out for anniversaries

 

[vintagelover229]

I didnt vote because most of my gifts are tacked together. What I mean by that is, because our anniversary is Nov. 25th, christmas is a month later, then valentines day, and THEN my birthday all within like 5 months of eachtother...I add the totals together normally. This year for all of those things I''m getting my upgrade and my wedding band. Now that wont happen every year. The year before that I got a Nikon D40, but the inlaws put some funds towards that, and then I got a build a bear for valentines day, and for my birthday I got my first engagement ring, oh and a Wii, but I got him a PS3. Now that the wedding is less than 2 weeks away, I''m going to be hitting school hard, and we''re going to try to start a family. So I''ll probably have to put the holidays together if I want high dollar items, like a SBTY necklace or a pair a higher ctw studs

 

[Dancing Fire]

i don''t know

can you ask my wife how much she''s gonna spent on me?

 

[Linda W]

Date: 5/14/2009 12:19:21 AM
Author: Kaleigh
We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

Same for us Lisa. When hubby turned 30,40, and 50 I went all out for him, as he did for me. Same as you, it is a card and going out to dinner.

Now, for my bday this year. Ha... that is a whopper and one heck of a party for everyone, including my classmates... but you know the story.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:19:00 AM
Author: Linda W

Date: 5/14/2009 12:19:21 AM
Author: Kaleigh
We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

Same for us Lisa. When hubby turned 30,40, and 50 I went all out for him, as he did for me. Same as you, it is a card and going out to dinner.

Now, for my bday this year. Ha... that is a whopper and one heck of a party for everyone, including my classmates... but you know the story.

must be the big one grandma.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:28:01 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 5/14/2009 1:19:00 AM

Author: Linda W

Date: 5/14/2009 12:19:21 AM

Author: Kaleigh

We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

Same for us Lisa. When hubby turned 30,40, and 50 I went all out for him, as he did for me. Same as you, it is a card and going out to dinner.


Now, for my bday this year. Ha... that is a whopper and one heck of a party for everyone, including my classmates... but you know the story.

must be the big one grandma.

I bet you know which big one too, don''t you????????

 

[musey]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:17:26 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
i don''t know

can you ask my wife how much she''s gonna spent on me?

If she takes the poll...

You''ve been married for over 20 years, right, DF? Shouldn''t you know such things by now?

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:35:59 AM
Author: musey

Date: 5/14/2009 1:17:26 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
i don''t know

can you ask my wife how much she''s gonna spent on me?

If she takes the poll...

You''ve been married for over 20 years, right, DF? Shouldn''t you know such things by now?

been receiving Polo shirts for my birthdays in past few yrs.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:32:07 AM
Author: Linda W

Date: 5/14/2009 1:28:01 AM
Author: Dancing Fire

Date: 5/14/2009 1:19:00 AM

Author: Linda W

Date: 5/14/2009 12:19:21 AM

Author: Kaleigh

We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

Same for us Lisa. When hubby turned 30,40, and 50 I went all out for him, as he did for me. Same as you, it is a card and going out to dinner.


Now, for my bday this year. Ha... that is a whopper and one heck of a party for everyone, including my classmates... but you know the story.

must be the big one grandma.

I bet you know which big one too, don''t you????????

lets just say...you got a few yrs over me.

 

[jcarlylew]

i picked 200-500 becuase my b-day is smack dab 2 weeks away from christmas, so sometimes (only when i say its okay!!) i get combined gifts. But since i make less than E, he gets around 100-300 from me for bday and christmas.

 

[geckodani]

$102 - $200 over here, and that''s for Christmas. We usually spend about $50 on birthdays. Also, we tend to make a big purchase, or take a trip right around anniversary time, and call that the joint gift.

 

[bee*]

We normally put our money into a city break rather than getting each other a present. If we are buying pressies, we tend not to spend too much though-roughly €75. When I qualify, hopefully that amount will increase a bit.

 

[Italiahaircolor]

We usually don''t "budget"...we tend to steer more towards getting the other person exactly what they want, and the highest quality possible.

We''re not careless with these things...and we do like a "deal"...but if my DH is like "I''d really love a _____" then I''ll do whatever possible to make it happen!

 

[Shoopy]

I think I may have voted wrong because I didn''t count Christmas. We only buy each other gifts for Christmas and birthdays. We don''t do gifts on anniversaries or Valentine''s Day.

I voted under $50 for birthday...sometimes the only cost is a $10 birthday cake. We only go overboard on Christmas ($500+). And since our birthdays are 2 weeks later we take that time to recover

. Although last year was the first year that we merged our accounts so we spent money on a joint gift (new TV) and that was it. I really loved getting a joint gift because we spent much less and we''ll probably do that again this year (and going forward).

 

[MakingTheGrade]

We usually go out for a nice dinner, it''s hard to shop for him because he usually just buys things he wants for himself, and he rarely wants much. I got him an xbox elite for his last bday, which is more than we usually spend, but it was 150$ off, so it was too tempting of a deal, hehe.

My birthday is within 2 weeks of xmas, and so I just ask him to get me a birthday present (makes sense because in the past we haven''t spent Xmas together, he sees his family and I see mine).

Haha, for my last birthday he didn''t know what to get me, so we just went to the mall and I picked up some chocolates and a bathrobe, his treat

 

[setell]

Whoops I misread the poll question. I thought it was the total annual spending vs the biggest gift I would spend per year annually for an event. We try to limit it to ~$50 per event like birthday’s, anniversary, valentine’s day, xmas. We don’t spend more say for birthday’s than anniversary’s type of thing. It’s pretty equal for us.

 

[icekid]

Date: 5/14/2009 1:19:00 AM
Author: Linda W

Date: 5/14/2009 12:19:21 AM

Author: Kaleigh

We did spend a bunch for the 20th wedding anniversary. But in general, we don''t spend a lot on anniversarys and birthdays. I guess the 20th was a big milestone so went all out. But for the most part we are very low key... A card and a dinner out is more our style.

Same for us Lisa. When hubby turned 30,40, and 50 I went all out for him, as he did for me. Same as you, it is a card and going out to dinner.


Now, for my bday this year. Ha... that is a whopper and one heck of a party for everyone, including my classmates... but you know the story.

This is kind of what we do, as well. If I can think of something great to get him, I do! But usually, he already has what he needs/wants. He will turn 30 next year though, and I am planning a big party with his friends who all live far away from him. Saving up to fund that one already!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Ooops, non-recession budget. I voted $200-500, but during the good years, it was over $1,000. Once year my husband''s annual gift was $10,000!

One of the reasons we don''t spend a lot is because we have kids to buy stuff for AND all the birthday parties we attend each year. We''ve been to 20 kids'' parties this year! There''s not much left for Dh and me.

 

[pennquaker09]

We don''t really budget BUT we don''t buy each other things that often. Does that make sense? I''m personally not a gift person anyway, and so, more often than not, he''ll take me to dinner or something like that.

I know that he likes watches, ties, cufflinks, and pens so will usually buy something like that. He really likes ties from Paul Stuart and one might be around $150.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 5/14/2009 12:04:29 AM
Author: babysteps
I voted for the big category, but that''s because we have decided to spend big only on the b''days and anniversaries that end in a ''0'' or a ''5'' - for us, that means we hit a good birthday or anni about every 2.5 years or so . . . otherwise, we just spend more on family stuff, vacations, etc. in the ''off'' years

-- can you tell we''ve been together for a long time?

This is *such* a good idea!! But what happens when you have 2 big birthdays and a big anniversary in the same year? This coming year I turn 30, FI turns 35 and we''re having out 3 year anniversary.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 5/14/2009 9:00:41 AM
Author: fieryred33143
I think I may have voted wrong because I didn''t count Christmas. We only buy each other gifts for Christmas and birthdays. We don''t do gifts on anniversaries or Valentine''s Day.


I voted under $50 for birthday...sometimes the only cost is a $10 birthday cake. We only go overboard on Christmas ($500+). And since our birthdays are 2 weeks later we take that time to recover

. Although last year was the first year that we merged our accounts so we spent money on a joint gift (new TV) and that was it. I really loved getting a joint gift because we spent much less and we''ll probably do that again this year (and going forward).

FI and I have birthday''s one week apart and we''ve already adopted a "joint" birthday dinner because then we can afford to go somewhere REALLY nice as opposed to two okay places. I like the idea of a joint gift as well...

 

[steph72276]

We usually spend about $300 or so each on Birthdays and Christmas. Mothers/Father''s Day and anniversaries, we usually do a combined trip and just go out to eat somewhere nice to celebrate. My birthday/anniversary/Christmas are all within a month of each other, so sometimes I will combine gifts to get something nice!

 

[tigian]

I usually go overboard with gifts for my DH. I just like giving him nice things. He appreciates it, but would be just as happy with a card and homemade dinner. I suspect I will tone it down once we have other responsibilities such as kids, mortgage, etc. DH is in school so he doesn''t spend as large of amounts, but I always feel loved! Gifts do not equal love, but I always appreciate nice gifts.

Who doesn''t?