“That’s insane”: Mom slammed for budgeting just $100 for 4 kids’ Christmas gifts

One mom's attempt to keep Christmas modest ignited an unexpectedly heated debate.

Jade (@jaeliz22_) told TikTok viewers she and her spouse were capping holiday spending at $100 for their four kids and planned to thrift every gift as part of a tradition she calls “Thriftmas.”

What she framed as a practical, values-driven decision quickly drew intense judgment from strangers online who accused her of being cheap and irresponsible.

One mom's $100 "Thriftmas" breakdown

Jade explained, "We have budgeted $100 for Christmas for our four children. Is that insane? Probably, but we refuse to go into debt over Christmas. And we really wanna go on a nice vacation next year."

"And I feel like with how expensive everything is, you almost can't have both, and we would rather travel. So Thriftmas is what we're doing again this year. We did it last year, but I didn't really keep track too much. But this year I really wanna keep track of it because I think that's important."

She then detailed her haul of the day: "So I went thrifting today after my chiropractor appointment. I believe it's called All Good Things in Grove City, PA. I did really well there,” she said.

She showed an alphabet toy, a music-playing jewelry box, and a unicorn-hooded jacket. She emphasized the low costs. She spent $4.50 on the jewelry box, $3 on the alphabet toy, and $2 on the jacket.

Additionally, she showed off a horse book she bought for only 50 cents. She said her ten-year-old loved reading, so thrift store books made sense. Furthermore, she revealed a grocery cart toy for her two-year-old and said she planned to add pretend groceries using boxes from home.

After listing her items, she said, "So far, I'm at $14.50. Which leaves me with a whopping $85.50 left. I feel like I'm doing really well so far." She later posted another video to share more finds.

The comment section reacted…poorly

In the comments of her Thriftmas videos, people didn't pull any punches. One person wrote, "First of that is just junk. You could go to Walmart and buy a brand new hot wheels cars for a dollar each Barbies for five dollars books [Play-Doh], art supplies, etc. for way cheaper."

Jade replied, saying, "80% of toys end up in landfills, incinerated, or in the ocean every year. 7 billion electronics were trashed in 2022. If I have to clean it a little bit it’s fine."

Another commenter argued she should shop at outlet stores instead. Someone else chided her, saying, "You knew Christmas was coming all year. Learn to budget it in."

However, another viewer pushed back: "This type of comment screams I grew up with privilege - You don’t need to spend lot of money on Christmas to have a good Christmas ????."

Others complained, "Really that's awful. Used Christmas gifts so you can go on vacation." Jade responded, "Yes. Family Vacations are awful."

She also defended her "expensive" household cups, saying they were used daily and reduced waste.

@jaeliz22_ did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.

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