Holiday Gift Budget
The budget is always a round number, and the list of names is always longer than the budget assumed. This turns one number into a per-person plan, including the wrapping and shipping nobody budgets for.
Count everyone once: the secret Santa you are buying for counts for one person, not three gifts. Shipping is the silent line, a $45 gift that ships at $9 is a $54 gift.
How the math works
- Gift money = budget ÷ (1 + extras %). A 10% extras rate takes $73 of every $800 out of the gifts themselves.
- Per person = gift money ÷ people, the number you shop to. Split it: a $30 tier for the acquaintances, a $60 tier for the immediate family, and the tier counts are what make the budget work.
- Your plan = people × your expected gift price × (1 + extras %). Compare it to the budget, most people discover they are 15% over at the checkout, not the plan stage.
- Max headcount = budget ÷ (gift price × (1 + extras %)). This is the number to argue with the list, not the average.
- What dropping one person saves is the average gift plus its shipping and wrap, the cheapest available lever before you cut the tier.
What is a realistic per-person holiday gift number?
For the extended list, acquaintances, neighbors, the building staff, $20-$40 per person is the common band. Immediate family lands $50-$100, and kids on a Santa budget are a separate line. The per-person figure this tool prints is the number that keeps a 12-name list from breaking an $800 budget.
How do I handle shipping and wrapping?
Budget them as a percentage of gift money, 8-12% is typical for a list where several gifts ship. Buy gifts that ship free, and group the ones that do not: one box to one address costs one shipment, not three.
Do gift cards count in the budget?
At face value, and they are the cheapest gift per dollar of impact because there is no shipping, no wrap and no return. A stack of $25 cards covers four acquaintances for $100 with zero extras.