Holiday Gift Giving Guide

Having just given birth to Zach in October, we are setting some more specific family budget guidelines this year for Christmas presents. Baby Z’s hospital bills just arrived, and his stay cost a total of $2,000.

So with that in mind, we set a budget with these 2 principles in mind:

(1) Sticking to the budget.

(2) Getting the most out of the budget by determining if the gift recipient is a gift QUALITY or gift QUANTITY receiver.

• As far as setting the budget goes, we decided on a limit of $200 per person for Zach, Stephen, and myself.
• We also decided it was fine to stick to the budget within +/-10%. We are okay if it’s $180 or $220 as long as it’s roughly within target.
• Lastly, and this one is huge, to get the most meaningful gifts, we are finding out if the person cares more about the quantity of gifts or the quality of gifts.

I’m reading the book “Know yourself know your money“ By Rachel Cruze who is Dave Ramsey’s daughter.

What I learned from that book is that people have very different ways that they spend money.

Some people only want high quality name brand items, and they are fine with only one gift that is high-quality.

Other people it is all about the quantity. It doesn’t matter how high-quality the item is just the more the merrier.

When Steve and I first got married, we would have so many Christmas arguments, because I thought he was a quantity gift receiver, and he would put items that each were $200-$300 per item on his list.

I frantically would go out and buy everything on his Christmas list and would spend upwards of $2,000 on gifts for him. Yes 🙌 $2,000 and that is not an extra zero.

When I finally figured out he was a quality gift receiver, it relieved some pressure as I learned he was happy with just 1 gift that’s high quality and doesn’t care much about the quantity.

My mother on the other hand is a hoarder, so she doesn’t care what I give her as long as she receives a high quantity of gifts. This obviously is how I grew up and learned to give gifts. Thankfully, I met Stephen and learned there are other more meaningful ways to give gifts, and it really all depends on whether the person likes high quality gifts or a large quantity of gifts.

Hope this helps! Happy Holiday Shopping from us & baby Z.