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Chief
Too dang much or not enough. There is no middle
Rising Star
All of my nieces and nephews (11) are pretty spoiled so def don’t feel bad for not spending more. I usually spend about 25 per kid for Christmas and birthdays. I have a huge family and still buy presents for my sisters, BILs, and parents. Having to buy for so many people is a pretty big factor in how much I spend on the kids.
Chief
Same same same.
Chief
My niece is six and has no concept of how much things cost. She likes to play "waitress" and charge me $18 for a cup of coffee, steak, ice cream or whatever ... it's always $18. Point is, it makes no sense to spend a lot of money on little kids.
I do put some money in her savings account every year.
My nephew asked me if he could buy an airplane on my credit card when he was like 5. They have no concept of money
I have 10 nieces and nephews and are close to the same age. They all get the same thing. No favoritisms, etc. Usually around ~$50. Easy Christmases. Birthdays are maybe around $70-100 but I don’t see them all for their birthdays. Those that are far get a birthday card. They are usually more excited to get something in the mail.
Pro
Whatever you can or want to afford. Is the family well off and / or have a lot of grandparents, aunts / uncles, etc.? If so, then go small or more meaningful because they will already get a lot of toys and stuff. Otherwise, it’s up to you.
I ask them what they want
Enthusiast
All my nieces and nephews are young (8 and under), so I don’t get them anything too expensive since they’ll just outgrow in a year. But I contribute heavily to their 529s until they get to their teen years and then I’ll splurge on the gifts
Rising Star
$50’ish. Sure I like them, but given it wasn’t my choice to have them I don’t feel any real obligation to them. I chose not to have my own kids to actively avoid obligations like that.
Enthusiast
Same. But I also never got an acknowledgement text or phone call from my sibling (across the country) so it started to feel like I was sending gifts into a black hole.
Conversation Starter
50-Bday 150 Christmas
Rising Star
$200
My sister is has a lot less income than me and my husband, and gave us three amazing crazy nephews. I usually spend $50-80 for birthdays, and probably around $100 for Christmas. They get stockings and Easter baskets from us too.
And I love to host holidays and do silly themed stuff for them. They're 9, 7 + 5. Gotta get all those good memories in/surprise them while you can!