I Asked People the Most They’ve Ever Spent on Christmas — The Answers Are Wild

Summary

---

Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Episode Title: I Asked People the Most They’ve Ever Spent on Christmas — The Answers Are Wild
Host: George Kamel (Ramsey Network)
Release Date: December 22, 2025

George Kamel takes to the streets of Franklin, Tennessee, aiming to uncover how much people really spend on Christmas gifts, from wild splurges to creative thriftiness. With wit and snark, he elicits honest stories, laughs, and candid confessions about Giftmas excesses, boundaries, family pressure, and the logic (or lack thereof) behind holiday spending.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. People’s Most Expensive Christmas Gifts

• Mulberry Laptop Bag (00:13)

  • Gift worth about $900, even more expensive than the laptop itself.
  • UK luxury brand; humorous confusion over fashion brands: "Is it a cousin of Burberry?" – George.
  • Cultural banter about “chavy” versus “cheugy.”

• Gaming System for Kids (01:04)

  • $500–$600 on a PS5 for three children.
  • Parent sees it as a "ridiculous waste of time," but acknowledges kids’ enjoyment.
  • Quote: “Thank you for calling it stupid. Do the kids know that you call it stupid? Oh, yeah.” – George (01:11)
  • Parent: “I just think that's a dumb waste of time. Go outside.” (01:35)

• Jewelry for an Ex (01:47)

  • Hundreds spent; regret on both money and recipient.
  • “Doesn't that make it so much worse? It does.” – George (01:52)

• Sending Mom to Vegas (02:02)

  • Siblings pooled $600 to send mom to Vegas; mixed experience but no regrets.

• Purse or Jewelry for Ex-Girlfriend (02:18)

  • Close to $900; friends express disbelief at the spend.

• Gaming Computer for Husband (02:40)

  • $800 total, split with brother.
  • “He's probably gaming right now, as we speaketh.” – George (03:03)

• Eagles Concert Tickets for Parents (03:14)

  • $600 total, paid in cash – no debt.
  • “Did you go into debt for it? You pay cash? … Straight cash.” (03:20)

• Cowboy Boots for Husband (06:27)

  • $300 boots to “get him that way,” aiming to coax husband into being a cowboy-boot guy.
  • “What level of cowboy boot was this? … Very intermediate.” (06:45)

2. Christmas Budgets, Boundaries & Strategies

• Set Budgets Per Person (04:04)

  • Several interviewees allocate different budgets per recipient.
  • Often more is spent on parents, with unspoken family caps.

• Sibling Spending Escalation (04:27)

  • “Last year my brother spent 100 on me, so I have to spend 100 on him this year.” (04:42)
  • Commentary on how family gift-giving can ‘escalate’ over time.

• Thriftmas Tradition (05:15)

  • One interviewee spent ~$50–60 total by buying all gifts from thrift stores.
  • Created experiences instead of only things; games sometimes hilarious for being ‘terrible,’ leading to memorable moments.
  • “It was just good memories versus just a thing that you opened.” (06:03)
  • “We had a fun time and some of the games were terrible, but it made it even more funny.” (05:55)

• Homemade Gifts & Caps (09:49)

  • Some set a fixed $100-per-person cap and favor homemade presents, especially for family.
  • “Most of the time I'll make something. So for anything family, I'll just hand make it.” (09:53)

• Opting Out Altogether (07:09)

  • One couple doing “no gifts” while saving for house renovations.
  • “We're painting the house in January, so we're bumping that up.” (07:17)
  • Agreement among extended family: gifts only for young nieces.
  • “...going to have to calm myself this year. ...Nobody needs anything.” (07:34, 07:53)

3. Attitudes Toward Debt & Financial Habits

• Pride in Not Using Debt (03:20)

  • Several reiterate paying for gifts only with available cash—no credit card debt for Christmas.

• Reluctance Toward Debt (07:00)

  • “Do you do debt at all? We try not to.” (07:02)

• Looking for Value & Memories

  • More value placed on memories, experiences, or practical gifts rather than just price or “stuff.”

4. Humorous & Relatable Moments

• Fashion Confusion:
  • Playful banter about designer brands and slang is recurring, e.g., “Is it a cousin of Burberry? The Mulberry. They’re a bit chavy...”
• Gaming System Irony:
  • Parent: “Even though it’s for three children, I just think that's a dumb waste of time. Go outside.” (01:35)
  • George: “Outside. Bad. The sun's scary.” (01:40)
• Sibling Gifting One-Upsmanship:
  • “He keeps setting the bar higher.” – George (04:42)
• Thriftmas Laughter:
  • “Some of the games were terrible, but it made it even more funny.” (05:55)
• Bank Rating Grievance:
  • George asks, “How would you rate the relationship with your bank from 1 to 10?” (07:55)
  • “A two.” “Take that, Chase, you scumburgers.” (08:10)
• Homemade Gift Goodness:
  • “Golly. They don't make people like you anymore.”
  • “Oh, they come from New Zealand.” (10:02)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with timestamps)

• On Regret:

  • "Doesn't that make it so much worse? It does. When they become the ex and you're like, how much did I sink into this relationship?" – George & Guest, (01:52)

• On Sibling Spending:

  • Guest: “Last year my brother spent 100 on me, so I have to spend 100 on him this year." (04:42)

• On Thriftmas:

  • “It was just good memories versus just a thing that you opened and like, ‘oh, it's what I asked for. Cool.’” – Guest (06:03)

• On Banking Relationships:

  • George: “How would you rate the relationship with your bank from 1 to 10?”
  • Guest: “Two.”
  • George: “Take that, Chase, you scumburgers.” (08:10)

---

Practical Takeaways

• Set a clear budget before gift shopping (“Set the expectations, set the budget, communicate early…” 10:08)
• Thoughtful or creative gifts can be more valuable than expensive ones
• Avoid debt for gifts—plan within your means
• Consider experiences or handmade items to make Christmas personal and memorable
• Don’t be afraid to opt out or scale back if your family is on board

---

Conclusion & Final Host Advice

George Kamel wraps up by stressing the importance of setting boundaries and budgets for the holidays. He reminds listeners that Christmas should be about thoughtful spending and togetherness, not debt or one-upmanship. “You can have a great Christmas without spending a bunch of money. ...You’ll have a great Christmas without paying for it come January, come February, come March." (10:08)

Teaser: The episode closes by teasing the next topic—the $20 billion card debt hangover from Christmas—and encourages viewers to check out that discussion next.

---

Transcript

[A]

Guys, this is nuts. Americans spent almost a trillion dollars on Christmas in 2024 alone. So I'm here on the beautiful, quaint streets of Franklin, Tennessee, on what feels like the scene of a Hallmark movie, to ask people one simple question. What's the most expensive gift you've bought for Christmas? What's the most you've spent on a Christmas gift? The equivalent of like $900. Wow. What was it? It was a Mulberry laptop bag. A laptop bag? How much was the laptop that you had inside of it? Less than the bag. Okay, that's what I was getting at. Is that a fancy brand? Yeah, Mulberry's quite well known in the uk. What's the scarves? What's the fancy scarves? It's Burberry. Same thing. Is it a cousin of Burberry? The Mulberry. They're a bit chavy, if you know if that word translates. Chavy? Trans. Is it like cheugy? I don't know what that means either. I don't know what Javi means. It's a standstill. Might as well be speaking French to you, might I? Sounds French. I love the French. Okay. What's the most you've ever spent on a Christmas gift?

[B]

That's a great question.

[A]

Thank you. No one ever tells me that.

[B]

Probably just buying a stupid gaming system for my kids.

[A]

Thank you for calling it stupid. Do the kids know that you call it stupid? Oh, yeah.

[B]

There's no question that I think gaming is the most ridiculous waste of time.

[A]

Okay, what are they playing these days? You know, what system, what games they do?

[B]

The PS5, I think it is. And they're. They play sports, they play baseball and that kind of thing.

[A]

Okay. And do you remember how much these systems, like 600 bucks?

[B]

Like 500ish at the time, maybe. Yeah.

[A]

And you're like, that was still a waste of money, even though we could afford it.

[B]

And. And even though it's for three children, I. I just think that's a dumb waste of time. Go outside.

[A]

Go outside. Outside. Bad. The sun's scary. What's the most expensive Christmas gift you've bought?

[B]

Probably some jewelry or something for like an ex. They didn't really deserve it.

[A]

Doesn't that make it so much worse? It does. When they become the ex and you're like, how much did I sink into this relationship?

[B]

Oh, hundreds. Hundreds.

[A]

Okay. How about you?

[B]

Me and my brothers spent like 600 bucks one year to send my mom to Vegas. Cuz their entire family lives there. That's where like all of Us are from.

[A]

So that was cool. That was nice. That was a dope gift. No regrets there. No regrets at all. And she fought with her family the.

[B]

Whole time, but she still had a great time.

[A]

That's how it goes. Okay, how about you?

[B]

Probably a purse for like an ex girlfriend or jewelry.

[A]

What did that cost, do you remember? Like the highest ticket item for her. I want to say it was like 900. Woo. Okay. She is shooketh over here. Yeah. Get a little.

[B]

This guy. Unbelievable.

[A]

Unbelievable. What's the most you've ever spent on a Christmas gift?

[B]

I would say probably me and my brother split something for my husband last year and got him maybe like $400.

[A]

Okay, what'd you get him?

[B]

He's a little nerd. A gaming computer.

[A]

Aw. Does he know he's a little nerd or is the first.

[B]

Yes, he knows.

[A]

He's okay. So it was like $800 for this gaming computer and you split?

[B]

Yes, me and. Yeah, we split it.

[A]

Do you still use it?

[B]

Oh yeah, he's probably gaming right now.

[A]

As we speaketh. He is gaming.

[B]

Oh, hey. I didn't see you there.

[A]

I love you. All right. What is the most expensive Christmas gift you've ever bought?

[B]

I bought my parents tickets to see the Eagles a few years ago.

[A]

That's fun.

[B]

I think it was like $300 a ticket.

[A]

So like 600 bucks to get these tickets? Yeah. Did you go into debt for it? You pay cash? No, no, just straight cash.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, that's fun. What about this year? What's the plan? How much are we gonna spend on Christmas this year?

[B]

I think I'm budgeting 1000 in gifts for everyone.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Cause I've got a few more people to get gifts for this year.

[A]

What about you? Are you included in the gifts? Do you ever buy for yourself?

[B]

From time to time.

[A]

Yeah, like it's a good deal. It's a bogo. I'll get one for that. One for me? Yeah.

[B]

I mean I spend within my means. Right. So just try to keep the gifts at a reasonable amount.

[A]

That would seem to be reasonable. Well, let's talk Christmas. Are you guys going to. Do you have a budget for how much you're going to spend?

[B]

I don't. I haven't set a strict budget, but I kind of set my budget. Like per person. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. What's the budget per person this year?

[B]

Depends on the person.

[A]

Do you like them or not?

[B]

Yeah, I mean I like everyone I buy gifts for, but it's like my parents. I'll spend a little more on Than like my sister. But I'll still spend a decent amount on my sister and like, my clothes.

[A]

Do you agree ahead of time we're going to spend this much on each other or what?

[B]

No, I set a price for myself. They set their own price and they just know that it's more the thought that counts than the price.

[A]

That's beautiful. How about you?

[B]

Well, I kind of have the same thing. I already. I love Christmas, so I already have a list of like, how much I'm going to spend on each person. And me and my siblings have its own spoken rule that we spend $50 on each other. However, last year my brother spent 100 on me, so I have to spend 100 on him this year.

[A]

He just keeps setting the bar higher and higher. That feels unfair.

[B]

Screw you for not being in college.

[A]

What are you gonna get him? That's 100 bucks.

[B]

What am I gonna get him? That's a good question. Well, actually, last year I didn't get him a Christmas or birthday gift. Cause I ended up getting him something that he already had, so I had to return it. And so I have to spend a little bit more on him. So I'll probably get him like shoes or something. I think my budget for everyone is probably close to 300 or 400.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, three or 400 total. How about you?

[B]

Yeah, probably around the same.

[A]

Okay, tell us about Christmas. What's the most you've spent on a gift?

[B]

Honestly, not a lot. Okay. But I actually last year did a Thriftmas and so I.

[A]

Tell me more.

[B]

Okay. So I went to thrift stores and I love doing it. So I get a lot of stuff for my house and just all the things from thrift stores. And so I actually did like a game thing where it was like, specific to the person. And on Christmas Day, we got to play a lot of the games and did like, food and different snacks that people liked, but tried to get thrifted. Games that everybody would enjoy and different people, certain things if I really knew what they liked.

[A]

And what was the total cost of.

[B]

All of this for my whole family? Probably like 50, maybe $60.

[A]

That's amazing. Literally from a thrift store.

[B]

Yeah. And it was awesome. And we had a fun time and some of the games were terrible, but. But it made it even more funny. And it was just good memories versus.

[A]

Just a thing that you opened and like, oh, it's what I asked for. Cool.

[B]

Yeah. And I feel like a lot of the adults in my life especially have grown up money and so they just buy what they want anyways. And so I feel like it kind of takes some of the pressure off of what to get people and people can just enjoy it and it's more of a memory. Cause you can't afford trips and stuff in college.

[A]

Wow. Shrewd and thrifty, too. Charlie, what is the most you've ever spent on a Christmas gift?

[B]

Probably 300 bucks.

[A]

300. Okay. What was it? Do you remember?

[B]

Yeah, it was some boots, some cowboy boots.

[A]

Some boots?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Who are the boots for?

[B]

My husband.

[A]

Is he a big cowboy boot guy sometimes, or were you trying to get him to be a cowboy boot?

[B]

I'm trying to get him that way.

[A]

Are we talking like spurs? Like, what level of cowboy boot was this?

[B]

Very intermediate.

[A]

Okay, so not full on cowboy, but not too hipster either. Somewhere like a boot barn level? Yes. Standard cowboy.

[B]

Standard cowboy business.

[A]

Okay. Did you go into debt for it?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. Do you do debt at all?

[B]

We try not to.

[A]

Okay, what about this Christmas? How much are we gonna spend this Christmas?

[B]

Probably zero. We're doing no gifts this year.

[A]

What? I know what happened. Are you guys doing okay? Should I get the kids something?

[B]

We're painting the house in January, so we're bumping that up.

[A]

So you're saving up for the house and so it's just you and your husband. You're like, why do we need to do gifts? We're grown adults.

[B]

You can do gifts every day.

[A]

We have the things we need. What about your family? Are they like, what the heck?

[B]

Well, a little bit. I'm a gift giver. I love to give gifts.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

But going to have to calm myself this year.

[A]

So do you have an agreement with the outside family? Like, hey, we're not doing gifts this year.

[B]

Don't get us anything just for the kids. We have two nieces, so I'm like, just for them.

[A]

Okay, so the kids don't. The kids don't get Christmas ruined, but the adults are like, we're all adults. What are we doing here? And they all took that well.

[B]

They did.

[A]

That's impressive.

[B]

They said nobody needs anything.

[A]

How would you rate the relationship with your bank from 1 to 10?

[B]

10 being the best?

[A]

Yeah, like a DTR. Define the relate. 10 out of 10. My bank is amazing. I love them. One is like, I could care less.

[B]

Two.

[A]

A two. Okay. Can you tell us the name of the bank?

[B]

Chase.

[A]

Take that, Chase, you scumburgers. Okay, what don't you like about Chase? Or what are you not impressed by?

[B]

I just don't ever go in there. So I mean I don't really have a.

[A]

Okay, you're just like a number to them. You have the account, you put money in, you take money out. Yes. Do you wish you could have a better like experience banking that didn't feel transactional? I mean.

[B]

Yeah, because growing up it was like.

[A]

That back in the day.

[B]

Your banker.

[A]

Yes. Well, would you be open to trying out a new bank?

[B]

With my husband's consent?

[A]

Consent is king. There you go. Okay, well tell him about Fairwinds. They're a credit union, but they're nationwide so you can open an account, it's online. They have a great high yield savings account, a no fee checking account and. And here's the best thing. They want to see people win with money. So they're not gonna push debt down your throat. They wanna see you become debt free. Isn't that weird for a bank?

[B]

Very much so.

[A]

Okay, well check em out. Go to Fairwinds.org Ramsey and you can open their smart bundle with that checking and savings. And hopefully your husband watches this and is convinced.

[B]

All right, I'll do it.

[A]

Say yes husband. We need a win right now. Cause Chase sucks. What's the most you've spent on a Christmas gift?

[B]

Like $100 maybe.

[A]

All right, you remember what it was?

[B]

I think I got him like some. I don't know, I think I got him a cool. I don't know, I got him a couple things like a keychain and so.

[A]

Like outdoorsy guy stuff. Is that what you got him?

[B]

I would say so. Little knick knack things.

[A]

What are you getting him this year?

[B]

I'm actually getting him this. It's like a little knife, little pocket knife thing and a little wallet, like metal wallet.

[A]

Beautiful, simple man. He is, yeah, he's great. Just give him a pocket knife and he's happy. How's that gonna cost you?

[B]

100 probably. That's our max.

[A]

100 bucks max for each of you?

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

And family. Are you guys doing that too or is that only spending you're doing?

[B]

Nah, I like making gifts. Most of the time I'll make something. So for anything family, I'll just hand make it.

[A]

Golly. They don't make people like you anymore.

[B]

Oh, they come from New Zealand.

[A]

That's where they are if you want to find them. I love New Zealand.

[B]

That's great.

[A]

So as you can see, you can have a great Christmas without spending a bunch of money. A lot of these people just set a price per person pay. They were thoughtful, they were creative and they didn't go into debt to try to make someone happy. So set the expectations, set the budget, communicate early, and then you'll have a great Christmas without paying for it come January, come February, come March. Cause here's the problem. Christmas has led to a toxic trait that is costing Americans $20 billion in 2025. If you wanna learn about it, watch this video coming right up here or click the link in the description to watch. Thanks for watching. Click that like and subscribe button. We'll see you next time.