Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Which is more important to your family on the Holidays?

Seeing their face light up on Christmas Morning / First or last night of Hanukkah?

OR

Depositing $$$$ into a 529 or other fund for college and having the "emotional payoff" when they are older?

Just curious. Sometimes I feel like DH and I are in the minority on this one. To answer my own questions...

We are making a decent deposit to her college 529 account and feel that having the "emotional payoff" when she is older is HUGE for both DH and I. We are passionate about her NOT being in debt after college and starting her life off debt free from school loans.

Yet, we *ahem* Santa will be getting her a few things and the rest My mom, MIL, aunt, Uncles, grandpa, etc. will be getting. When they asked me, I told everyone to get 2-3 toys and the rest to deposit in to her 529 account. My mom got her some clothes she needed and a bunch of toys (against our wishes...but that is OK) b/c my mom NEEDS to see the emotional payoff on Christmas morning.

ETA: This post is based on the assumption that most of us are contributing something monthly to college for their kids. This post was about an "over and above" the normal monthly contribution to the 529 or whatever. EX: If you are contributing $50 a month to a 529 and have $200 to spend on Christmas for your kid, what do you do with that $200? How do you spend it personally?

Message edited 11/7/2008 2:27:38 PM.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

DC (even at 2.5 and 5.5) have no idea what things cost. They are so much happier when they get 5 $10 items than 1 $200 item. I'd rather give them a few small items so they have stuff to unwrap (and boxes to play with....) than something really big.

For both DC, their favorite "toys" are always cardboard and pillows.... They push aside all their expensive toys so they can play with boxes, paper, plain cardboard, and pillows....

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I really try to find a balance, I mean for me I don't put an exact dollar amount on how much I will spend, I won't go crazy with the toys but I loved Christmas as a kid and loved the wonder of it all and yes, getting the new toys and stuff. In fact, I STILL love it and feel that wy on Christmas morning, I hope hat never changes.

DH and I were brought up much the same way and Christmas was a HUGE deal and we want our DS to be raised like that as well but I also agree with your thinking, we want to make smart choices now so that he can get off to a good start in life and have money saved.

In my mind, it's all about striking the right balance, not really one or the other.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

We don't make that choice-they are both important to us so we do both. We contribute to her 529 and custodian account every month. Any monetary gifts throughout the year go in there as well. I guess because we budget to regularly contribute to her accounts, I don't feel like I am taking away from that when we pile gifts under the trees. If we did it once a year, i.e. with tax return or bonus time, we might have competing priorities.

My hope that we are always fortunate enough that we can do both.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I agree with Goldenrod. My 2 year old has no concept about the cost of items. So far, I have 2 Little People play sets that I got on clearance, a doll, Elmo Live and about 10 books. Outside of the Elmo Live, nothing was expensive at all. I might get her a few more little things but nothing expensive. In total, maybe I'll end up spending $150.To me, that's not a lot. I know she will be excited no matter what.

ETA: I have money taken out monthly to go into DD's 529.

Message edited 11/7/2008 1:14:08 PM.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I deposit money in both accounts every paycheck. My parents also have an account set up for both kids and they deposit $$ for all special occassions/holidays and "just because". All the money they received from baptism/birthday/holidays is also deposited in the account.

So, for Christmas, I will enjoy seeing there faces light up with the pile of gifts they have under the tree AND when they are old enough, I will enjoy seeing there faces light up when they see how much money they have saved! If we couldn't do it,,then we wouldn't.

Message edited 11/7/2008 1:23:07 PM.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I voted toys toys toys... but I dont feel "thats what xmas is all about" and I do have a budget but it is more than $200.

Money comes out of both DH and mine paycheck and is directly deposited into DS account.

For us, christmas is seperate than our financial obligation for college.

I do what I can, when I can. If I dont have it, he doesnt get it. When I do, he does!

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

toys
we have had such a hard year with the seizure, allergies and asthma.

medical bills, co-pays, prescribtions...after we get paid, anything left over goes towards abulance payments and dr bills.

I don't really buy much throughout the year, I want Christmas to be that excitement that we saved all year for.

I don't have a college fund set up for him. All our savings go into our retirement funds.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

it's eryks first christmas... I doubt we'll go over $100. in the future, big $ toys seldom interested me in the long run as a child.... I'll give eryk the toys I loved.... legos, blocks, drawing supplies, cars, fisherprice sets.... things that encourage creativity... and outdoor toys...

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I didn't vote because none of those really apply to me.

This year we are going over $200 because there is something in particular we want to get him but I don't usually set an amount and it all depends on our circumstances at the time.

It's not all about the toys for us, if anything it's all about the family time, and hey, life is short.

Last year we had a very, very lean Christmas. DH and I did not exchange gifts, we only got stuff for Jake and immediate family we "had" to buy for.

Under normal circumstances I do feel that around $200 or less is more than enough for Christmas gifts for a child.

I don't correlate Christmas to a savings account at all. One has nothing to do with the other for us. Christmas is one thing, savings account is another and dealt with on the household monthly budget level.

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

I just edited my OP...here's the edit:

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Re: Spinoff to the how much are you spending on the holidays question...which is more important to you?

Message edited 11/7/2008 2:44:59 PM.