« Going broke on a six figure salary: First Blame the Kids | Home | What is your relationship with money? »
Is $500 too much to spend on your child’s Christmas presents?
By Anita |
A woman with a household income of $450,000 asked this question on the Dave Ramsey show the other day. Her husband wanted to spend no more than $500 on each of their two children for Christmas. She wondered if maybe it would be OK to spend more.
It’s nice to know that affluent people ponder this question. Five hundred dollars for this couple is probably the equivalent of $50 for people with an average income. So it’s safe to assume this couple could probably afford to spend a lot more than $500. Assuming they aren’t deeply in debt. You can’t assume anything anymore based just on income.
Anyway, Dave said the tone and the conversation around the home can be the determining factor in how much to spend. Are the kids going around spouting the “stuff equals happiness” mantra? That can be shut down in a hurry by giving very modest gifts. Are they hard-working and don’t demand presents? Your gift giving can reflect that too. You don’t need to be trapped into thinking you have to spend the same set amount each year.
He said that before Christmas each year he and his kids sat down and discussed opportunities for giving. He did this rather than just asking them what they wanted to receive for Christmas. One year they picked a family they knew and delivered presents to their door on Christmas day. One of the presents was a bike and his son was thrilled to wheel that into the family’s driveway. He said it’s essential that the kids be involved in the delivery of the presents.
This reminded me of a neighbor of mine. He has several kids of his own and they live on one modest income. Several years ago, for a few Christmases in a row, we would open our door on Christmas day and there would be a large box filled with presents from him and his family for my four children and even for me and my husband.
He has a nose for bargains and in the months leading up to Christmas would grab things from bargain bins and set them aside for gift giving. He would choose two or three neighborhood families to give presents to and in the days leading up to Christmas he and his kids would assemble the packages. On Christmas Eve they would deliver the packages to the porches of the families.
He didn’t get our names from a charity. He didn’t do this in response to a fundraising letter. There was no obligation whatsoever. We live in a neighborhood where there aren’t any low income people. Those of us that received his gifts weren’t rich but none of us technically needed the “charity” either. Yet that is what was so impressive about it to me. He didn’t just say, “I don’t know any poor people to give presents to” and focus on his own family for Christmas. He simply thought about the people in his own neighborhood and decided to concentrate his giving on the families he knew.
He also wasn’t embarrassed by giving simple, inexpensive gifts (women could learn something from him). Although one year he pulled out the stops and gave the girls a large Barbie airplane. He’s a thrifty guy who doesn’t pay retail so I don’t know where he found it. A thrift store? On clearance? But the girls were overjoyed and will probably remember that present more than most of the presents they’ve received over the years. That’s how it works with unexpected presents that aren’t given out of obligation. The encouragement lasts even longer than the gift itself.
Topics: Giving |