Personal question about money - but going to be rude and ask anyway!

Lolol well, you could look at it like this; once you have kids your money is likely to be spent elsewhere...

If i had a perm job and earning the 27k I am supposed to be earning as a teacher then I wouldnt blink twice.

But as I have a job for the next 4 weeks and have a thousand urgent jobs to our home to be done then I dont like spending that much on ONE thing. Saying that, I have bought him a cool spanner set thingy for a fiver.....

at xmas we spend roughly 150 on each other. No more than that. You arent weird. You're fortunate and he's lucky!

Lucky mr kayl having so much spent on him!!

Before wedding savings started, i guess for the both fo us on birthdays around £150 - 200, dependant on whether it was one big gift or smaller ones, now its under £100 for sure....will be less this year as its his last birthday before the wedding so wel be super saving lol

As we have been saving for the wedding, our last bdays have been relatively "sparing". I think i gave her £40 to get some new jeans she wanted. Xmas was pretty much the same but i got a few little bits to wrap up. Normally would spend about a £100 mind you.

Aw I always knew he was spoilted!!

My brother has a rule - he doesn't mind spending more if he can use whatever he is buying too.!

So 2 Birthdays ago his GF got a £70 necklace (less as he couldn't use it) and this birthday got a £150 Ipod dock as he could use that! Naughty naughty! I know OH is getting me a laptop for my birthday in 6 weeks, which again makes me feel I should spoil him too - perhaps OH is thinking the same as my brother!! ?

Normally I'd say £100 - £150 and at Christmas we set a £150 limit each which we then break...

However, it's his 30th in 2 weeks and I've spent over £1k - that includes a week away for both of us and a party for 100 people as well as his presents though.

ETA: I know this is a ridiculous amount to spend but I've been paying for it in installments since October so the cost has been spread over a long time!

TBH we don't really spend that much on each other. Last year, for example, I spent just over £100 on H and that was because it was his 30th. In a normal year I'd probably spend less than £50. We usually buy each other perfume/aftershave and then go out for dinner.

I don't think there's anything wrong with spending that kind of money if you can afford to. Afterall, they'll come a day when you have other priorities.

Aw I agree there too RaeF - special birthdays are different.! Looks like your H is in for an awesome time! Where are you off to?

My family makes a big deal out of BIG birthdays too - Dad took all 7 of us to Domincan republic for stepmoms 40th and Stepmom is taking the 3 oldest kids plus partners (which includes me) on a Cruise for Dad's 50th. Am waiting to hear what Mom has planned for her 50th~!

This time next year my H2b will be 21 I know - very young ? and also will be in Afghan where he also was for his 19th birthday so I am also trying in some way to compensate for that too. As much as he will have his stash of pressies waiting at home, it's not the same.

Oh yes - OH knows that whatever gadgets he doesn't have by the end of the year won't be coming as all cash will be directed to the baby fund!

We're just doing Center Parcs for a week and people who wanted to buy him presents have bought him activities to do.

So far he's doing Quad biking, a 4x4 experience, golf simulator, falconry, laser pigeon shooting, bowling and spa. Hoping to get a few more bits lined up as and when people ask.

A RaeF - I am jealous! The Quad biking sounds awesome!!

Random fact of the day - my H and Trickers H were born on the same day.

Birthdays maybe about £40-50 max plus dinner out. Christmas it used to be £150 - 200 but we limited it to £75 this year as things were tight. I could probably afford to spend a lot more on him but our incomes are not even and I wouldn't want him to feel he had to try to spend a similar amount on me. Besides which, I really don't have a lot of truck with "stuff" and would rather save the money and spend it decorating the house or doing up the garden or something.

He spends more on me, than I do on him lol.

Last year I had £550 spent on me (I only know as I chose it!) and I can't even remember what I bought him for his birthday, how bad is that :/

@ Dilly Dandy - My OH would appreciate an iced biscuit as much as his Netbook!! Maybe even more because he'd know I spent hours (it would be for me) making it.

Incidentally I got OH a photo album for Valentines 2010 and it made his shed a tear - so he is going to love the Grooms journal I am making him as a wedding present! ?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this! ?

We don't really have a limit, we just spend as much as it costs to get what the other wants.

There can be big differences in the amount, like for my Birthday he got me some boots, and the matching back which were £140, for his, he just wanted converse, but I got him a couple of extra openers too.

We tend to spend more on the kids. With (nearly) 4, we really should start setting a limit.

We generally do about £20 for actual gifts and then we go away for a weekend. For my H's birthday we stayed in a hotel with spa and had a few treatments and a posh meal.

For my birthday we went to London, stayed in a posh hotel and went to the theatre.

The weekend away generally costs around £400. But it's nice to do something nice with the money, rather than on stuff you don't want.

Christmas - We're cheap! - We have a £30 budget. We get so much from everyone else, and we have a lot of people to buy for, so it's not like we're missing out.

We vary depending xmas gone we spent about £250 on eachother but for birthdays it will be a token as we are saving for the wedding. If we want something we tend to get eachother it...so we never go without and i don't like buying something just to buy something if you know what i mean....

Any particular colour?!

Sorry, I know you mean paint a picture but it did make me ? when I first read it!

Dilly Dandy - you have inspired me! I said on Teehees post about her H's b'day pressie about what I'd got planned for my OH's b'day in August - and I am spending more than I can afford to (having no income to talk of either just now) but having spent years with an ex for whom b'days/xmas etc had little meaning (his family were just like that - didn't really give a toss about things like birthdays, whereas my family were 'accused' of 'sending a card when someone pharts'....!) I am now absolutely enjoying being with someone who appreciates being a lil' spoiled.

So I have planned a weekend away for us for his b'day, and I wanted to take a hamper full of things, and your baking has inspired me, although I am a super shyte cook, but I have time to practice!!!

He is a great artist so maybe he'd paint our cats for me for my b'day!!!

We have a £100 limit for B'days and Christmas, esp Christmas because we're buying for everyone else too. However, OH earns about £10k more than me so regularly breaks this by buying me pressies for no particular occasion, or whisking me away somewhere for the wknd and then claiming that it doesn't count as a pressie for me because we both get to enjoy it.

I don't mind too much, just feel guilty that I can't do the same sometimes. Once I've got my degree though I'll hopefully one day earn more than him so I'll be spoiling him for a change.

We haven't bought eachother actual presents for birthday or Christmas' for about 6 years now, We always do something either going away on holiday, day trips, weekends away, posh meals...

For my 30th we went to Vegas for a week and the a week driving round the deserts in a convertible Mustang. His 30th we spent 4 days in Copenhagen plus we had a house party.
My 31st was spent in Prague, 33nd at Longleat and 32rd was a day in London - lunch at a Michilen starred restaurant then went to see a show.
Christmas presents since 2006 have been weekends away taken the first weekened in January - Venice, Bruseels... 2007 we went to Barbados for Christmas and 2008 went to Dom Rep in December.

His birthday this year we're off for a night in a hotel and dinner at Vatika, owned by Michilen starred chef Atul Kouchar (which is actually a free meal as they bnotched our reservations we had in January for our Christmas presents). I was thinking of buying him a nice new shirt to wear - the one I have my eye on is a Paul Smith one... ? Then on his actual birthday we'll spend the day together and go for a nice lunch or dinner or something.

We prefer to spend time together than getting presents, I always make sure his birthday is special.