The Price Is Right?

Now that the recent "holiday" is over, here's a question I've always wondered about.

How much do you spend on a gift for your significant other? And how does this compare to how much you spend on other people?

I know that answers will come back running the gamut. Some couples don't really buy presents. Some spend a lot -- I know a guy who bought his now-wife a really nice mountain bike for their anniversary or something, back when they were dating. Some only buy for their loved ones, and not so much for the friends. Some buy something for everyone, no matter how small.

Let me know roughly where you stand along that line; more isn't necessarily better. This'll be interesting to see!

4 comments:

Cindy said...

As you all know that we’ve been married for 33 years this year, so, flowers/chocolates are out the window. We would go out for dinner when the busy time had gone by because G doesn’t like waiting in line. To me, everyday is Valentine Day. G does little things for me everyday that warm my heart. He warms up my car every morning, last weekend, he polished my work shoes, pull up the blanket for me at night, reminded me to watch for cars when crossing because I often rush out. He reminds (bug) me to wear a hat/scarf because I cough when cold air gets in my lung. So, how can you price these!? It’s priceless!

Anonymous said...

I think with my last relationship, the most I spent was under $100. Not because I didn't want to spend more. But he's the sentimental type and always conscientious about *my* money.

We would buy little things for each other. The things that would make us smile and remind us of a moment or an event of a day.

Like how I knew one of his favorite magazine is the New Yorker. So I purchased him the "The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker."

The little things with meaning are more important to me than major purchases with no significance. It shows thought.

Compared with others, like family and friends, he was low cost to me. Family, I can easily drop a few hundred and more.

- aliasa

Ben said...

I've noticed that over time, my gift limit has risen with my age. I used to spend around $60 to $70 on a gift for my girlfriend, but the general trend was that this was increasing (somewhat more than inflation).

It also depends more on the personality of the person. I would rather spend a little more time / thought into gifting the proper gift, than to throw more money at it and make it "expensive".

Moreover, I try to be practical when I can -- I hate buying presents that will eventually turn into dust collectors, or just never used. Why waste money like that?

Kevin Cheng said...

X-Mas and VDay, we didn't really give anything as such. But then Kat paid for our trips in January. I got her the 40g ipod for her bday. So it goes literally between zero and whatever. For us, it's not so much the fact that a gift is given so much as whether it would be enjoyed.