How much do you spend on your loved ones for the holidays?

With the holidays coming around for most of us we might start seeing our favorite websites posting holiday gift lists and ideas... depending, I suppose, on the theme of the websites these gifts might be fixed into a specific price range that might be far higher or lower than you typically spend on a loved one. I guess it also depends on what kind of loved ones you have... so this got me curious to know what people think when they're reading articles that suggest buying their parent or their kid $1000 computer or buying their spouse a $35,000 car.

So without pressuring anyone to give out more personal information than they'd like to... I'm curious to know what kind of money they intend to spend on their...

Spouse...
Kids...
Parents...
Siblings...
Outside Relatives (Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grand-Parents, etc)...
Friends...
Pets...

By the way, I intentionally left girlfriend/boyfriend out of there because I guess that one all depends on how long you've been seeing them... :) To me once a relationship goes over the 6 month mark it tends to fall in line with the money I'd spend on a parent (which is the top of my list)... once it's a year it tends to be significantly higher than any other person but probably not as much as a spouse would be.

... and even if you don't want to say what you would spend or could afford to spend... it might be worth it to give your opinion on what you think is far too little or far too much. Also, I guess it's worth it to throw in your opinion on "It's the thought that counts" and "I don't believe in giving gifts, because..." if you have either or those values.

I never spend more than $100 on everything, even that would be rather pushing it. The last couple of years we've been trying to discourage excessive gifting in our family, though some people are just a lost cause (like grandma, who seems to be competing with other-grandma for how much money to blow on the grandkids).

I'd rather they didn't shower my kids with junk, but I've fought that battle a few times and lost, and I'm tired of fighting it now.

Yeah my family doesn't spend more than 100 on each other, and with my sister I just focus on getting one thing she'd really like. That gift is usually around 50 dollars, whatever it may be.

I don't think about price so much. I just try to find the most interesting and unique gift I can come up with for that particular person. I would much rather give (and receive) something totally unexpected that is meaningful than read off of someone's wish list (they can buy that with their own money!). I once gave my two nephews each an old football helmet and shoulder-pads that they ended up wearing the entire holiday week. It was great seeing that some odd-ball, zero-tech gift turned out to be more cherished than all of the video games and other flashy crap that everyone else had given them! Best feeling in the world. :)

Sentimental gifts can cause problems though, especially when it's grandpa's sweater or whatever.

As an atheist, I do not believe in celebrating Christmas. Therefore, I do not buy gifts and I will not accept gifts from others (I try to make the point that I will refuse Christmas gifts before people start shopping so that they don't spend their money on me.) In my case, the "holidays" run pretty much from February 18 to March 22, because everybody I know has a birthday then, and so that's when I give and receive all of my gifts.

$0. I never feel pressured into gifting.

I sometimes buy people stuff when I happen to see things I think they will like, but the occasion doesn't play a role in that decision process.

I don't buy any more or less gifts during Christmas, Valentine's (which is probably why I'm single), or even people's birthdays. I think the whole holiday gifting thing is just invented by business people to get you to buy stuff. I refuse to let them influence me.

Hm. It really can vary. I usually only buy gifts for these reasons, and they're not always consistent:

1. Birthday (which can be schemed way in advance, or something they want)
2. Randomly, because they like that sort of thing or
3. A souvenir for the *fortunate* person who did not have to deal with me during my time abroad somewhere. :P

The only religious holiday I do celebrate, we don't do gift-giving then because at one point it becomes more compulsory and less heart-felt. The money we'd spend on buying gifts we just donate to charity and on a day out - family time. I'll spend up to $200 on someone close (brother, mother, dad, boyfriend), but I try to keep it at a minimum. Other than that it's utterly random and usually something low-cost. If I had a job I'd be a bit more giving and spontaneous with gifts to my loved ones though. ^^ It's not so much the cost of the gift that matters as much as what it will be valued at, and I try to bear that in mind at all times.

I just try and guestimate who is going to spend what on me, and deduct at least 25% from that. This way, after I return all the stupid gifts at the end of December, Christmas is usually a net gain.

For extended family just enough to keep them away until the next holiday season. :D

On a more serious note, I usually do not go over $50 to $100 per person.

Whatever we agree upon as the bracket for that year (and yes, we set a bracket, if we don't everyone except my sister ends up spending a lot and getting nothing from her in return. e.g. last year everyone gave her stuff costing 30-40 Euro each, I got a bookmark and my mother a bottle of nailpolish...).
For this year, that means 20 Euro per gift, each family member gives one gift to every other (except the kids, they still believe so only get gifts, no limit on what to spend on them).

It's sad we had to install such a system, but for the last several years everyone had a really sour aftertaste because of what was happening, it was either this or abandon the 40 year tradition of celebrating things together (this only started a few years ago when my sister got married, she drifted completely to her in-laws and spends all her money on them)).