How Much to Spend on Christmas Gifts, Person by Person

By the Gift DeskUpdated November 2, 202623 hand-picked ideas

The short list

$10 to $25: teachersCoffee Shop Gift Card~$15
$25 to $50: friendsAzul Tile-Laying Board Game~$35
$50 to $150: parentsSmart Digital Photo Frame~$150

The short answer

Set one total you can pay off by January, then divide it: roughly $10 to $25 for coworkers, teachers and neighbors (a $15 Starbucks card), $25 to $50 for friends and siblings (an Azul board game), and $50 to $150 for both sets of parents (an Aura Carver photo frame), with grandparents usually a little less.

Nobody publishes an official price list for Christmas, and anyone who tells you the correct amount to spend on your sister is guessing. What does exist is custom: the ranges offices, families and friend groups drift toward without ever discussing them. Those ranges come down to how close you are, whether the other person gives back (and roughly how much), and what your household can pay off by the end of January without wincing.

The short version, as common practice rather than rules: most people spend $10 to $25 on a coworker, teacher or neighbor, $25 to $50 on a friend or sibling, $50 to $150 on a parent, and whatever they’ve agreed on with a partner. Offices often cap Secret Santa at $15 to $30. Bosses usually get nothing, or a card signed by the team. Your mail carrier can accept $20 at most, and never cash. With kids, settle how many presents before you settle the money, and for a sitter, hairdresser or cleaner you see all year, the custom is about the cost of one visit.

To do the sums for your own list, the Christmas budget calculator splits one total across everyone on it. Each range gets its own section below, with gifts that fit it and a note on who each one suits. There’s a section for a year when money is tight, and one at the end for the people you pay all year, where the custom is closer to a tip than a present. Once you have the number, the budget pages take over: Christmas gifts under $25, under $50 and under $100.

Try it with your own listChristmas budget calculatorSet your total, tap who's on your list, and see what each person gets.

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Set one total first, then divide it

Before you buy a single present, decide what the whole of Christmas will cost: gifts, wrapping, shipping, the extra groceries, the office exchange you forgot you’d signed up for. Pick a figure you can clear by the end of January, write it down, and only then start dividing. Shopping name by name works the other way around. Each gift seems reasonable on its own, and the real total turns up on a statement in the new year.

Then sort the list into rings. The inner ring is a partner and your own children. Next come parents, siblings and the closest friends. Then siblings-in-law, nieces, nephews and friends you see a few times a year. The outer ring is coworkers, neighbors, teachers and the people who help you all year. Give each ring a range, and inside a ring, keep things roughly level: two sisters, two sets of grandparents and three grandchildren all notice differences, even when nobody mentions them. Reciprocity matters as much as closeness. If a friend has always spent about $30 on you, a $100 present doesn’t come across as generous. It sets a bar they now have to clear.

Know exactly who it’s for?

Open the Christmas gift finder

$10 to $25: coworkers, your boss, teachers, neighbors and the mail carrier

For people you see often but not socially, the custom is a token: small, usually consumable, and asking nothing back. Neighbors get $10 to $20 or a plate of something homemade (Christmas gifts for neighbors has ideas). A teacher gets $10 to $25 from one family, and anything bigger works better as a class gift; some school districts limit what teachers may accept, so whoever organizes it should check. Your mail carrier has a hard ceiling. USPS rules let carriers accept a noncash gift worth $20 or less per occasion, and no more than $50 from one customer in a year. Cash, checks and gift cards that work like cash, such as Visa, Mastercard or American Express cards, aren’t allowed in any amount.

At work, gifts flow down more comfortably than up. Many teams skip the boss entirely or sign one card together, and nobody should feel pressed to chip in. Federal employees have a firm rule: gifts to a supervisor on occasions like Christmas are limited to noncash items worth $10 or less, and coworkers can’t pool money to get around it. Managers giving to their team usually choose one modest thing and give it to everyone. Christmas gifts for coworkers and Christmas gifts for your boss have more at this level.

1.
Coffee Shop Gift Card
Our pick: Starbucks $15 eGift Card
The easiest teacher gift there is, and one of the few that suits the mail carrier too: a $15 card for one coffee chain isn’t cash, so it’s allowed at $20 or under.
On Amazonabout $15
2.
Chocolate Dipped Hot Cocoa Spoons
Our pick: Melville Candy Hot Chocolate Spoons
About $13, for the neighbor who shovels your walk or the coworker at the next desk. Stirred into hot milk, each spoon makes a mug of cocoa.
On Amazonabout $13
3.
Mulling Spice Gift Set for Apple Cider
Olde Tradition Mulling Spices, 24 Tea Bags
About $15 of mulling spice bags covers a neighbor household: drop one in a pot of cider and the kitchen smells like December.
On Amazonabout $15
4.
Air-Activated Hand Warmers
HotHands Hand Warmers, 20-Pair Value Pack
A 20-pair box of HotHands for someone who walks a route all January. At under $10 it sits well inside the $20 the mail carrier may accept.
On Amazonabout $8
5.
Fleece-Lined Knit Beanie
About $15, so a manager can give one to everyone on a crew, and it fits any office draw capped at $20. Dark colors suit almost anyone.
On Amazonabout $17

$25 to $50: friends, siblings, siblings-in-law and the family draw

This is the middle of most lists, and it’s where people compare. Friends who swap presents every year tend to settle somewhere between $25 and $50 without saying so; aim for roughly what they spent on you last year and you won’t go far wrong. Adult siblings sit in the same range. Once brothers and sisters have partners and children of their own, many families switch to a name draw with one limit, often $25 to $50, so each adult buys one good present instead of six small ones.

With in-laws, the rule that matters is parity. If both sets of parents are part of your Christmas, spend about the same on each (that belongs in the next range up), and settle it with your partner before anyone shops. Siblings-in-law sit here, and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law can share one present addressed to both, which feels warmer than two smaller ones bought separately.

6
Olive Oil Tasting Collection
For a sibling-in-law who cooks, or a partner’s family you’re still getting to know. Several small-batch olive oils with tasting notes sit near the top of this range and are naturally addressed to a whole household. Food sidesteps any guessing about their taste in decor, and it gets used well into the new year. At about $45 it looks considered rather than safe, which matters with people who are still forming an opinion of you.
On Amazonabout $50
7
Custom Photo Jigsaw Puzzle
At about $25 it’s the bottom of the sibling range and the most personal thing in it. Choose a photo of the two of you as kids, or a family trip everyone remembers differently. It’s a strong family-draw gift when you pull a sibling’s name, and a fair answer to a brother who swears he wants nothing. Order by early December, because printing takes a while.
On Amazonabout $25
8
Azul Tile-Laying Board Game
For friends who host, or a sibling’s household with kids of eight or so and up. Azul takes five minutes to teach and under an hour to play, and the chunky tiles look good on the table, so it gets opened on the 26th instead of shelved. At around $40 it replaces the two small gifts you’d otherwise buy for a couple.
On Amazonabout $35
9
Sherlock Holmes Complete Novels and Stories Box Set
Sherlock Holmes Complete 7 Books Hardback Box Set
For the best friend who reads, a hardback box set of all the Sherlock Holmes novels and stories sits at the top of the friend range and lasts the whole winter. It looks handsome on a shelf, which matters at this price, and it suits someone who likes a puzzle as much as a story. Skip it if they read mostly on a Kindle or have a stack of unread books already.
On Amazonabout $50
10
Merino Wool Hiking Socks Set
Danish Endurance Merino Hiking Socks, 3-Pack
The safe pick when the family draw hands you an uncle or a brother-in-law you know mainly from Thanksgiving. Three pairs of cushioned merino socks are a clear step up from the cotton multipacks most men buy for themselves, and good socks never come back for a refund. Ask a sibling for a shoe size, or buy large.
On Amazonabout $35

If money’s tight this year

Say so early. Most families have at least one person quietly dreading December, and whoever proposes a limit first usually gets thanked for it. Send the message in early November, before anyone has shopped, and offer a choice: a name draw for the adults with a single limit, presents only for the children, or one cap for everyone. A big family that switches to a Secret Santa shrinks most people’s list from a dozen gifts to one.

Then spend time instead of money. Homemade food is welcome almost everywhere: cookies, granola, spiced nuts in a jar. An offer of help is often the gift a parent or friend values most, like an evening of babysitting, a Saturday clearing their garage or dinner cooked in their kitchen. Write it on a card with a specific date, because a vague offer rarely gets redeemed. For the people at the edge of your list, a handwritten card with two specific sentences is a complete gift. Nobody worth buying for wants you paying off their present in March.

$50 to $150: parents, in-laws and the closest family

For most adults, parents come right after a partner and their own children, and $50 to $150 covers what most people give them. The top of that range is where pooling earns its keep: three siblings putting in $50 each can buy one present none of them would manage alone, and it spares parents a stack of things they never asked for. Grandparents tend to sit between this range and the friend range, and many value a photo or a visit above anything boxed. More ideas are in Christmas gifts for parents.

11
Smart Digital Photo Frame
The classic sibling group gift for parents or grandparents, at about $130. Load it with photos before wrapping, and the whole family keeps sending new ones from their phones.
On Amazonabout $150
12
Custom Family Portrait Illustration
A drawn portrait of the whole family, made from photos and framed. At about $60 it suits one adult child, and parents who kept every school drawing will hang it.
On Amazonabout $60
13
Japanese Chef's Knife
Shun Sora 8-Inch Chef's Knife
For the parent who cooks Christmas dinner every year with a blunt knife. About $110, and it lasts decades if it’s washed by hand and kept out of the dishwasher.
On Amazonabout $110
14
Barefoot Dreams Cozy Throw Blanket
A Barefoot Dreams throw for the parent who naps on the sofa after Christmas lunch. Near the top of the range, so a natural pooled gift from siblings.
On Amazonabout $130

Your partner, girlfriend or boyfriend: agree on the number out loud

There’s no going rate for a partner, and it’s the one name on the list where the amount should be discussed openly. Couples who share money often set a joint limit, or skip presents for each other and put the money toward a trip or something for the home, which is a perfectly respectable Christmas. The trouble comes from mismatches: one person spends $300, the other $40, and both feel bad for different reasons.

New relationships run smaller. About $25 to $50 is usual at one or two months, rising toward $100 by six months, and a thoughtful $40 gift lands better than a lavish one that implies more commitment than either of you has reached; Christmas gifts for someone you just started dating goes through it stage by stage. After a year or so the range opens up, and the useful question becomes what they’d never buy themselves. The girlfriend and boyfriend guides go further.

Our favorite15
Luxury Robe
Our pick: UGG Women's Myra Robe
Our pick for a partner of a year or more, at about $85. Most adults own a thin robe that came free with something, and you already know their size, the color they wear around the house and whether they run hot or cold. Skip the wrapping paper and hang it on the bathroom door before they wake up on Christmas morning.
On Amazonabout $85
16
Cashmere Beanie
For someone you started seeing this fall. At around $45 it’s warm, useful and soft without being intimate, which is the right register two or three months in. Match it to their winter coat. If they spend about the same on you, nobody feels awkward, and if they turn up with only a card, a hat is easy to accept as a small thing.
On Amazonabout $55
17
14K Solid Gold Ball Stud Earrings
Jewelryweb 14K Gold Polished Ball Studs
For a partner who wears gold, small solid gold studs at about $100 are an everyday luxury that suits a settled relationship rather than a new one. Confirm pierced ears and a preference for yellow gold over silver first. Solid gold is kind to sensitive ears, and a plain pair like this can stay in for weeks without coming out.
On Amazonabout $100
18
Date Night Box Subscription
For couples who agreed to keep presents small. A monthly box with an activity for an evening at home turns the budget into time together, at about $40. Give it as a joint present for the two of you, and only in place of a personal gift if that’s what you both agreed; otherwise it can look like a gift to yourself.
On Amazonabout $40

How much to spend per child, from toddlers to adult children

Children notice how many presents there are, and how big the boxes are, long before they notice price. For your own kids there’s no going rate worth quoting, since household budgets differ too much, so many parents settle the count first. A popular custom is four gifts each: something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. Others give one main present plus a stocking. Whichever you choose, keep siblings on the same count and roughly the same total, and expect the toddler to prefer the box.

For other people’s children the usual range is smaller, often $20 to $50 for nieces, nephews and godchildren, and less as the list grows. Grandparents often keep amounts equal across grandchildren regardless of age, and many parents would welcome a contribution to a child’s savings in place of more toys. Ask before buying anything large. Christmas gifts for kids has more by age.

Grown-up children are the quiet exception. Many parents keep giving them about what they spent when they were teenagers, switch to one useful present for a first home, or put money toward something they’re saving for. Whichever you choose, keep it equal between siblings, and decide early whether their partners get the same, then tell everyone.

19
Magna-Tiles Magnetic Building Set
Magna-Tiles Classic 100-Piece Set
A main present for a child of about three to eight, from parents or grandparents. The translucent magnetic tiles snap together into towers, houses and ramps, and a set gets years of use, which justifies the price better than most toys at this level. This 100-piece set is a big start; extra tiles make an easy birthday gift later.
On Amazonabout $120
20
LEGO Classic Creative Brick Box
Squarely inside the aunt-and-uncle range, and very hard to get wrong for a child of about five to ten. A tub of mixed bricks has no single model to finish and abandon, so it keeps getting used after the themed sets are done, and it combines with whatever LEGO is already in the house.
On Amazonabout $20
21
Stacking and Nesting Cups
Lamaze Pile and Play Cups, 8-Piece
Babies and toddlers have no idea what anything costs, and a $12 set of stacking cups gets more play than many pricier electronic toys. They nest, stack, pour in the bath and dig in the sandbox. A good gift for a baby niece or nephew, with anything you’d have spent beyond it going into their savings, if the parents like that idea.
On Amazonabout $12
22
Kids Science Experiment Kit
Thames & Kosmos Kids First Chemistry Set
For a grandparent or godparent who wants a bigger present for an eight- or nine-year-old. A Thames & Kosmos chemistry kit holds weeks of experiments, at about $40, and it gives you something to ask about on the phone in January. Pair it with an offer to do the first experiment together on a visit; some of them need an adult.
On Amazonabout $45
23
Christmas Money Holder Cards
Teenagers mostly want cash or a gift card, and that’s a reasonable thing to give them. A holiday card with a slot for folded bills turns it into something you hand over properly, with room to write a line about the year. The same pack covers the sitter and the hairdresser in the next section.
On Amazonabout $9

Sitters, hairdressers, nannies and the people you pay all year

For someone who provides a regular paid service, the Christmas custom is closer to a tip than a present, and cash is usually welcome. The rough guide most etiquette advice lands on is the cost of one typical visit: one haircut for a hairdresser or barber, one cleaning for a house cleaner, one evening’s pay for a regular babysitter, a week of walks for a dog walker. A full-time nanny traditionally receives about a week’s pay, often with a small gift or drawing from the children.

Daycare is different, because several adults look after your child and many centers have their own gift policies, so ask the director first. Etiquette guides commonly suggest something around $25 to $70 for each staff member who works directly with your child, or a share of a group gift organized by the parents. If that’s beyond you this year, a smaller amount with a specific, handwritten note is still a real thank-you. Service workers don’t expect something from every client, and they remember the ones who say thanks.

Secret Santa price limit: pick one number

Offices usually set a Secret Santa limit of $15 to $30, and family draws tend to run higher, often $25 to $50, because each adult buys one good present instead of several small ones. Set it before the names are drawn, so nobody has shopped yet, and pitch it at what the least comfortable person in the group can manage without having to say so.

Say one number rather than a range, and say whether it’s a ceiling or a target: “$25, give or take a few dollars” stops one person arriving with a candle while another brings headphones. The Secret Santa generator keeps the limit in front of everyone in the group, and Secret Santa gifts under $20 and under $10 have ideas that respect it.

Setting your own numbers

Fix the total before the per-person amounts. Add every name, including the small thank-yous, and if the sum is too high, lower the middle ring first, since that’s usually where most of the names are.
Match what people give you, not the most generous person you know. If you want to change the level with a friend or in-law, say so before December, not on the day.
Keep equals equal. Siblings, both sets of grandparents and all the grandchildren should get the same number of presents and about the same spend, even when one is far easier to buy for.
Pool where it helps. Siblings buying for parents, or a class buying for a teacher, get something better together, and nobody’s share is on display.
Know the figure but not the gift? Type the budget into your sentence in the gift finder ("about $40, for my brother-in-law who grills") and the picks stay within it.

Christmas budget questions, answered

How much should you spend on Christmas gifts per person?

There’s no single figure, but common ranges are $10 to $25 for coworkers, teachers and neighbors, $25 to $50 for friends and siblings, and $50 to $150 for parents. Set your overall total first, sort people by how close you are, and give each group a range you can afford.

How much should you spend on a Christmas gift for a coworker?

Usually $10 to $25 for an individual gift, and many offices cap Secret Santa at $15 to $30; when there’s no cap, $20 to $25 suits most groups. If you give to your whole team, give everyone the same small thing so nobody compares. Giving nothing is fine too, and plenty of offices do a shared card instead.

How much should you spend on a Christmas gift for your boss?

Often nothing. In many workplaces gifts go down the ladder rather than up, and the team signs a card or shares a box of treats. Federal employees are limited to noncash gifts worth $10 or less for a supervisor; in private companies it’s a matter of custom, not law.

How much should you spend on a teacher’s Christmas gift?

About $10 to $25 from one family, or a share of a class gift if the parents organize one. A gift card for coffee, books or school supplies is the usual choice, and a note about what your child loved this year often means more than the amount. Some districts cap what teachers may accept, so check before pooling a large sum.

How much should you spend on your partner for Christmas?

Whatever the two of you agree on, because there’s no going rate. Couples who share money often set a joint limit or skip gifts in favor of a trip. Early on, $25 to $50 at one or two months and up to about $100 by six months is typical, and a big mismatch hurts more than a small budget.

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Set one total first, then divide it

Know exactly who it’s for?

$10 to $25: coworkers, your boss, teachers, neighbors and the mail carrier

$25 to $50: friends, siblings, siblings-in-law and the family draw

If money’s tight this year

$50 to $150: parents, in-laws and the closest family

Your partner, girlfriend or boyfriend: agree on the number out loud

How much to spend per child, from toddlers to adult children

Sitters, hairdressers, nannies and the people you pay all year

Secret Santa price limit: pick one number

Shop this guide by price

Under $25

$25–$50

$50–$100

$100+

Setting your own numbers

Christmas budget questions, answered

Related gift guides

Set one total first, then divide it

Know exactly who it’s for?

$10 to $25: coworkers, your boss, teachers, neighbors and the mail carrier

$25 to $50: friends, siblings, siblings-in-law and the family draw

If money’s tight this year

$50 to $150: parents, in-laws and the closest family

Your partner, girlfriend or boyfriend: agree on the number out loud

How much to spend per child, from toddlers to adult children

Sitters, hairdressers, nannies and the people you pay all year

Secret Santa price limit: pick one number

Shop this guide by price

Under $25

$25–$50

$50–$100

$100+