how much to spend on a gift...

[munch]

i read an article a few days ago about gift giving in a relationship and how much to spend. apparently if it's just been a few months you shouldn't have to spend more than $50...$100 if it's been a year...and up to $500 for every year after that!! now i don't know about you guys...but it's been 4 years for me and i can't imagine spending $500 every christmas from now on.

do you guys find that you follow the trend of spending more each year on christmas gifts for your SO, or do you spend more accordingly to whatever gift you happen to pick out.

[Keelie]

we keep gift spending to a minimum, usually i spend accordingly to the gift i want to give.. some years are less than others, but neither of us go overboard.

usually its between 150-300, and more often its closer to 150.

[Loup]

how much to spend on a gift...
That's something that each couple/pairing should decide on themselves.
It's as simple as that.

[Arrow]

You shouldn't be following a predetermined amount as to what the gift should be worth. Sometimes money can't buy everything. As well, budget situations differ between everybody.

[mrpurrhead]

i read an article a few days ago about gift giving in a relationship and how much to spend. apparently if it's just been a few months you shouldn't have to spend more than $50...$100 if it's been a year...and up to $500 for every year after that!! now i don't know about you guys...but it's been 4 years for me and i can't imagine spending $500 every christmas from now on.

do you guys find that you follow the trend of spending more each year on christmas gifts for your SO, or do you spend more accordingly to whatever gift you happen to pick out.

If you feel you HAVE to spend money on a gift then you don't have a good mind going into this. You should WANT to give a gift to your spouse/significant other. And it should mean something and be something they want.. for some people the "price" won't matter as much as the "value".

[MizTEcK]

WTF... that's just messed, its about the meaning of the item u give rather than how much u spent to get it

[biosh]

I think the key is to spend enough to make the recipient feel pwned - gift giving at it's heart is a classic power struggle...

[pandaharo]

You shouldn't really limit yourself to "I must spend this much" type things, I set a limit for my GF and myself which increases yearly, this year I'm planning on buying something up to ~700 for her, but if she like something $200 or less I'm not going to worry about it. You should have had a long enough relationship to realize the price of the gift doesn't really matter. Sometimes, like last year, when we were shopping in Vegas I saw her look at this hand bag, it was US $700+tax. She didn't say anything about it but I knew she liked it, so I bought it for her eventhough it was over my budget and ended up buying myself something cheaper. We both ended up happy and that's what is important. :)