Reasonable Gift Amounts for teenagers

[schildi]

Would like to see what others are thinking.

We have two teenage boys, 14 & 17 years old.

Both have their birthdays in December (don't ask me how that happened ).

So they get b-day and Christmas kind of together.

We do not have any other family in the States, so what they get is from us, and a few dollars from oversees relatives that we can either give to them as cash or buy things they wish for.

What is a reasonable amount of TOTAL gifts for a teenager at their ages?

I kept track of what we did in recent years, but I am feeling we are going overboard. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[giramomma]

Most years 350..$100 for birthday, $100 for Christmas, $150 from Santa. Everyone once in a while I'll splurge..DS got a PS4. So we spent more on that. But that was prior to having four kids.

My DD1 is 12, and we keep it to a tad less, but she's costing me a fortune in activities right now, and she wants more activities.

We never kept track of dollar amounts as much as number of items. The kids have grown up getting three gifts from us for Christmas, one of which is an ornament for their trees when they leave the house. Good enough for Jesus, good enough for my kids.

We started that at Day 1 with my first because I wanted three kids and knew we'd be lower income.

I also watch sales alot. I've gotten $80 game packs at costco for $40. Depending on the financial situation, I may count the $40 towards the $100 for gifts, or a tad more and supplement with a few smaller things.

ETA: The only other gifts the kids get is $100 from one set of grandparents for Christmas and again for Birthday. And money in 529s.

The other thing we have to keep in mind, now, is that we have 6 people living in 1800 sq feet. Moving to a 5 bedroom home will run us another 100K in housing costs, and so not happening now. So, I err towards smaller things like electronics and consumables, over things like clothing. A pair of jeans for my 15 year old takes up way more space than a 3DS game. Plus, the jeans have a shorter useful life.

At 17, I was getting things for my dorm room/college for Christmas. I turned 18 a bit less than a month before I started freshman year of college.

 

[laterbloomer]

Jesus got tree ornaments for Christmas?

[sesfw]

Grand daughters are limiting the gifts to their kids ......... and I think this is a great idea

One gift to wear
One gift they need
One gift they want
One gift to read

We are getting the g-g babies subscriptions to 'Highlights for Children'

[lund]

Probably three gifts - gold, incense, and myrrh - and not tree ornaments....

[Gardening Grandma]

My grandsons get $100 into their checking accounts, a small token gift, and an ornament with their name and the year on it.

Granddaughter gets presents. I spend $100 to $150 depending on what she needs.

[Deleted]

There really isn't a right answer here.  What's reasonable for a family making 200K with one kid is going to be completely different than what is reasonable for a family with 5 kids making 50K.   I could happily spend triple what I do (or more) and not feel like it was excessive if I had the money.   I'd get Carrot a nicer "real" piano and my teen a new laptop.

I probably spend about $200/kid for Christmas on average, but there have been bigger years and certainly less when they were younger.  I normally don't get them birthday gifts at all outside of the party, but they get so much from other family they don't even notice.  

[oped]

I give the kids each 300 for Christmas and a few smaller things, journals, cords, pens, art supplies, stuff like that usually. It used to be 200 but both are in college now and not working as much as they used to. 

[lund]

We are not yet at the teen gift stage....

Usually there is two or three gifts from us the parents, one of which is a fun gift/toy. ("Santa" gifts are not common in our culture.) The other one or two things can be clothing, a book, or sports equipment, such as skis or skates if such is needed. The fun gift often is under $70, usually around $50, the book and the clothing item under $25 each, and any sports stuff is bought during the post-holiday sale at varying cost.

The grandparent gifts are partially out of our control. Often there is something fun from each side which may be a game, a toy, or a book, for somewhere between $2 to $40, a hand-knitted garment from the knitting grandmother, and some money in the UGMA account ($50 at most, often $25). I suspect that they have a budget, make purchases/ask us to do them, and put any money left over in the bank account after rounding the amount.

The money in the UGMA account is meant for education and/or a driving license. The latter is expensive here;it is rare to find persons who manage under $1000, and close to $5000 is not uncommon.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Nov 29, 2019 1:23:13 GMT -5 schildi said:

Would like to see what others are thinking.

We have two teenage boys, 14 & 17 years old.

Both have their birthdays in December (don't ask me how that happened ).

So they get b-day and Christmas kind of together.

We do not have any other family in the States, so what they get is from us, and a few dollars from oversees relatives that we can either give to them as cash or buy things they wish for.

What is a reasonable amount of TOTAL gifts for a teenager at their ages?

I kept track of what we did in recent years, but I am feeling we are going overboard. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I think it's called Valentine's Day. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Ours has changed extensively the past decade as we worked our way out of the Great Recession and increased our income. 
At this point, we're at a few hundred dollars per kid. We are splurging on DD#2 this year and getting her Bose headphones. That's the most we've spent on an item before for any single purchase. However, we've done trips as Christmas/Birthday presents because the girls' birthdays are in January. 

[plugginaway22]

Ours always varied year to year depending on ages of 3 kiddos and wants/needs.  DS got a season ski pass to local mountain from about age 10-18, but that stopped being his present at some point because we viewed it as his winter sport. One year they all got new phones and nothing else. As teenagers, my 2 DDs sometimes wanted money to pick out their own clothing. We just never had a set budgeted amount, but we also said no to some things they wanted that were way too expensive.

[pooks]

We only have one teen left.  She is difficult to buy for, as she never seems to want anything.  So far I bought all of her Saint Nick's Day stuff and her count down to Christmas candy.  Ear Buds ($20), Starbucks gift card ($50), 2 pairs of PJ's ($25), and candy. So $100 just in the stocking.  Christmas will probably be somewhere in the $200-300 range.  Some clothes, art supplies, and I have to think of something else.  She won't be excited anyway, this is a fruitless undertaking.  

ETA: The adult children get $200 each and the grandkids only get a small gift ($20).

[Miss Tequila]

I probably spend too much. This year it will be close to $1k for each. And my oldest daughters birthday is just 3 weeks later. Her birthday present is a trip to Vegas with me to celebrate her 21st! And a Tiffany bracelet that she wants

I wouldn’t put myself in debt for holidays. I have it so why not spend it on them? If I lost my job, they would have a much smaller scale holiday.

ETA: just realized my oldest is 20 and not a teen. I’m old :-(