The holidays are just around the corner, which means
that we're all planning which gifts to give our friends
, our loved ones and our significant others. But
what if you're dating, engaged or newly married?
How much should you spend? And what's really the
ideal gift? Well, today I'm joined by Patty
as financial expert and host of the podcast. No
Romance Without Finance. I Well, put Patty,
thanks for joining. Thank you for having me.
What are the top three things to consider when deciding
how much to spend on gifts with your significant other
? You should really consider the relationship stage. How
long have you guys been together? You should consider
your personal budget. How much money do you have
and how much money does the other person have?
You should also consider what expectations you set amongst the
two of you as to how much you're gonna be
spending for gifts? Ok. So should do couples
establish a budget or a spending limit, especially kind
of during those early phases of the relationship? How
would you navigate that? Absolutely. This is so
important. So you don't overspend. So keep in
mind that if you've been together for less than a
year,$50 is the average, you should be
spending more than a year longer. Relationships around 100
and even marriages, it's around$100. But some
couples in the top 25% spend$300 which is too
much if you ask me. But that is the
stat, are there specific occasions or events where you
see couples allocating a bigger portion of their budget toward
gifts? Yes. So you have anniversaries birthdays,
Valentine's Day and also for Christmas, those are the
biggest holidays that people go all out for. Yeah
. Ok. So good to kinda I think plan
it out right throughout the year is what you're saying
here, Patty, what are your thoughts on couples
uh opting for experiences, purchasing those over traditional physical
gifts. It really depends on the couple. I
mean, I love experience gifts like concerts, right
? Or a weekend getaway, a cruise. I
love those gifts, but some people just want something
tangible, right? So you just wanna make sure
that if you're giving an experience gift that counts as
a gift and you're not expected to give something else
as well. Yeah. What are some good gifts
that you'd recommend this year? I love subscription gifts
, right? So meal kits to wine clubs,
book clubs. If they're a reader also, anything
that's personalized or monograms, people find extra special,
then I talk about kind of gifts like cooking classes
or golf lessons or even if if they do other
sports gifts like that, people love and lastly let's
not forget self care, right? So giving a
gift to the spa or a retreat, people always
love those, any advice. Uh for couples where
one partner earns less or more than the other.
Yeah. So you know, you don't have to
spend the exact amount on the gift, right?
That is not a rule. So if one person
makes more than the other and they wanna spend more
, that is ok. But the person that is
not making as much should not feel obligated to have
to match that same gift because they're not making as
much money. It's not fair. Yeah, I
, I think that's a good parameter to have.
Obviously, I think open communication as even navigating Patty
really helps with that too. Um Sort of to
that end, you know, let's say someone has
lost their job. We've seen a lot of layoffs
especially this year and they don't really have an extra
budget for gifts. How would you navigate that gift
giving is not mandatory? Ok. And this is
something people have to understand. There is no shame
in not participating gift giving. But what you do
is you need to have an open and honest conversation
with your partner that, hey, you know what
, I've lost my job. I don't have the
financial means to buy a gift. So we don't
have to participate in gift giving this year. But
if the other person still wants to give a gift
. That's ok. You don't give a gift to
ge get a gift, right? You give a
gift because you want to. Yeah. What do
you think is the best way to approach the gift
threshold with your partner? Just have an open and
honest conversation. So many people are afraid of talking
about it that in the end of the day,
they're surprised that the other person either spent too much
or not enough. Someone's upset, someone's broken hearted
, someone's embarrassed, right? So you just wanna
have an open honest conversation of how much do we
think we should spend on gifts? And that way
there's no surprises. So if your partner catches you
off guard and they overspend, for instance, what
would you do in that scenario that is on them
? Right. So you shouldn't feel bad if they
overspend. That's what they wanted to do. You
had an agreement, you stuck to it. That's
on your partner. Ok. So what's a great
gift, Patty that you've received this year? I
know you said you like experiences. Anything else?
Maybe for any of your family and friends watching this
segment? Yes, I love, love, love
clothes. Especially from Zara. Ok. So if
you can get me something from Zara, I always
be happy. All right. Maybe a Zara gift
card too. That could work. Yes, exactly
. Patty. I thank you so much for joining
great tips.