The People List

These are the people (and ages of children) for whom we normally buy. Aside from the "Just Us" and "Exchange" categories, we typically limit our spending to $20-$25 per person or couple, which comes out to $420-$525 spent (WOW! I've never added it all up before). We don't budget for "Just Us" (yikes) and we always do a $10 family exchange with my aunt/uncle/cousins on one side.

This list is more for my own benefit, so I can check mark who gets what and keep track. I recommend making a list for yourself & keeping it with you if you are trying to stay on a budget - it really helps keep costs down when you shop and limits the "oh-why-not?" purchases.

Just Us:

• Husband
• Me
• Monsoon

My Immediate Family:

• Mom
• Dad
• Exchange (sister, brother OR BIL) - from me
• Exchange (sister, brother OR BIL) - from husband
• Nephew (12)
• Niece (2)
• Nephew (1)

The In Laws:

• MIL & FIL (combined gift)
• Nephew (1.5)
• Nephew (7)
• Nephew (9)

Grands:

• Grandmother
• Grandmother
• Grandfather

Extended Family:

• Cousin (5)
• Cousin (11)
• Cousin (3)
• Aunt & Uncle (usually a combined gift)

Exchanges:

• $10 limit, family - from me
• $10 limit, family - from husband

I would like to stick with the $20 per person allowance, as far as worth, but I'm not sure how that's going to fly since some of the items will be purchased w/ money from the stuff we sell and some items will be literally free - because I won them.

As far as "Just Us" goes, we've agreed to stick with a $100 budget for Monsoon, and only purchasing gifts for each other if we have extra money after everyone else has a gift.

Grand Total: $540

I'll post tomorrow with the items I already have, who they are for, and where our monetary budget lands afterward.

This is really a lot of fun.