How Many Gifts Should You Give?

Do you have a hard time deciding how many gifts to give each person during the holidays?

Do you aim for a certain quantity of gifts, or do you set a spending limit for each person on your list? 

I tend to do a little of both, especially when shopping for the little ones on my list. And, at times, it can get out of hand.

Last week, a person posed this question to the Hip2Save blog site, asking other holiday shoppers to weigh in. The advice-seeker was at odds with her husband, who thought that 15 gifts for each child, plus additional presents from Santa and others tagged for the entire family, was too great a haul.

Responses from readers varied widely, and quickly reached into the hundreds.

A quick Internet search revealed that there are discussions like this going on all over the world.

Some say they can’t imagine a Christmas without gifts heaped beneath the tree or a Hanukkah without gifts on each of the eight nights.

Others say they have adopted a four-gift giving philosophy with their kids, who receive only “something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read” for Christmas.

In a similar vein, some followed similar guidelines for Hanukkah this year, earmarking days for giving to the kids, to charity and, on the Sabbath, to nobody.

When it comes to holiday gifts, do you set guidelines, or is the sky the limit? Tell us about your philosophy in the comment section below.