How to Know How Much to Spend on Grandchildren at Christmas

Work on an overall Christmas budget.

Figure out how much you want to spend on the entire holiday. Then, choose how much money you want to put towards grandchildren presents. There's no hard-and-fast rule about how much of your budget should go to Christmas—it's what you have to spend. If you're also giving gifts to other people like your grown children or your partner, you may want to determine how much you're spending on them first. Then, figure up how much is left for the grandkids—or vice-versa if the grandkids are a priority over the adults. For instance, you may plan on spending $700 total at Christmas with $400 of it going to your grandkids.

Review how much you've spent on them during the year.

If you pay for clothes, classes, or education, take these expenses into account. According to an AARP survey, grandparents spend an average of $2,562 on their grandkids each year. You might consider how much you've already spent on your grandkids for birthdays or holidays when you figure up your Christmas budget. Further research showed that grandparents spent an average of $340 on toys for their grandkids each year. For instance, if you usually spend around $2,000 on each grandchild a year and you've already spent about $1,500 on clothes and after-school lessons, that leaves $500 for Christmas.

Divide your budget equally if you want to be completely fair.

Make a list of your grandkids and split the money evenly between each kid. This is a great way to figure out how much to spend if you don't want to overthink it or you want to be totally fair. For example, if you've got $1000 for 8 grandkids, that works out to around $125 each. This may be a good way to go if you're planning on giving gift cards to your grandkids. That way, one child doesn't get $100 while another gets $50 for instance.

Budget based on age if your grandkids' ages vary widely.

You may not want to spend the same amount if young grandkids won't notice. After all, it's probably easier to pick up inexpensive gifts for little kids while older children or teens want more expensive items. In this case, you can tailor the amounts based on their ages. For instance, if you've got $400 for 4 grandkids, you may put $150 toward each of the teenagers and $50 for each of the little kids. This is because the littles might only want board books and stuffed animals while the teens may want gift cards, tickets to events, or newer technology.

Give the same number of gifts for another way to be fair.

Sometimes, it's hard to spend the same amount on each child. If you prefer, make a point of giving each grandchild the same number of presents so they all have an equal amount to unwrap at Christmas. For instance, you may plan on giving 3 gifts to each grandchild. Then, you can feel free to spend as much or as little on those presents as you like. For instance, if you give 2 gifts to each child, you may give a younger one a game and a toy they've been asking for. Then, you might give an older grandchild a new phone and a shirt. Usually, little kids are less likely to notice how much you spent on gifts, but they may notice if they got fewer gifts than a sibling or cousin.

Communicate your gift plans with the parents.

Your kids might not want you to spoil their children or outspend them. They probably recognize that you love splashing on out on the grandkids every December, but it's important to be on the same page. Your children might not appreciate it if you buy your kids gifts that are too valuable, aren't age-appropriate, or take up lots of space for instance. Avoid tension by sharing your gift ideas before you make purchases. If money is tight for your children, they may really appreciate that you can step up and splurge on presents. This is just another reason to talk with your kids about Christmas spending. Talking with the parents is also helpful so you don't inadvertently buy something that they also bought for their child.

Give what you can and don't worry about what others think.

Gift-giving can turn into a competition if you let it. Don't think that you have to compete with other grandparents to give your grandkids the most presents or the fanciest gifts. Give your grandchildren Christmas presents because it makes them happy, not because you want to show other members of the family how much stuff you can give them. On the flip side, if other family members are bragging about how much they're buying for your grandkids, don't let it get to you. Making gift-giving into a competition says something about their insecurities, so you shouldn't let it bother you.

Don't feel pressured into spending more than you can afford.

Christmas gift-giving shouldn't give you anxiety! Remind yourself that gifts are a gesture—they're by no means the focus of your relationship with your grandkids. Once you've made a Christmas budget, don't dwell on how little you have or be tempted to spend beyond your means. If you're truly concerned that you don't have enough to spend on your grandchildren, think of creative ways to show you care. You might have them over to bake Christmas cookies, you may put together a thoughtful photo album for them, or you may have them over for a sleepover during Christmas break.

Track your spending so you don’t go over budget.

This prevents you from accidentally overspending on a grandchild. If you're not great at budgeting or you didn't get around to making one, monitor your spending as you shop. You could download a budgeting app to track your purchases or write down what you spend on each child after you buy it. Refer back to your figures to see if you've spent the same amount on each grandchild. For instance, if you've shopped at 2 or 3 stores, pause and look at how much you spent per grandchild. You might realize that you've bought a lot for one grandchild but not enough for another. If you're using an app on your phone, check that it has security features like 128-bit SSL encryption, a secure connection using SSL certificates, and multi-factor authentication.

Come up with inexpensive gift ideas if money is tight.

Think of free or inexpensive ways to make your grandkids happy. Maybe you don't have a lot of money to spend on Christmas or you've got a lot of grandkids to buy for. Create memorable experiences to share with them. You might invite your grandchildren over to bake and decorate Christmas cookies or drive them around the neighborhood to see Christmas light displays. If you're working with a limited budget, you may buy supplies to make something that you can give to all your kids. For example, buy materials to make bath bombs, Christmas ornaments, or hot cocoa mix for all of them. Don't forget to find out what your grandchildren are into. Finding out what they like can prevent you from buying a gift that they won't really appreciate. You might find that they don't want the latest toys or technology for instance.

Decide if you'll budget more for adult grandchildren.

There's no right or wrong for budgeting, especially when there's a big age range. If you'd like to give the same amount to all your grandkids regardless of age, that's fine! However, you might decide that once they're a certain age, you'll budget for them along with the other grownups on your list. You may find that a smaller budget works for younger kids, but that it's harder to find gifts for the grownup grandchildren. This is when a bigger budget might be easier. It's also completely fine to decide that you'll stop giving gifts to grandkids once they reach a certain age, especially if you've got a big family and you don't typically gift gifts to your children or other adults.