{"post":{"id":504,"title":"Adobe says US holiday spending hits $275B this year — is making Christmas gifts by hand actually cheaper than buying?","body":"I have 15 people on my gift list this year and I keep hearing handmade saves money. But by the time I buy yarn, good paper, jars, ribbon... is it really cheaper than just buying a $15-20 gift per person? Has anyone actually done the math on materials plus the hours it takes? I love making things but I do not want to spend MORE to look thrifty.","community":"Money","score":1,"answer_count":1,"standing":{"kind":"leading","answer_votes":3,"leading":{"id":545,"name":"Audit your materials before you commit","score":3},"runner_up":null},"author":{"username":"lenamakes","verified":false},"voted":false,"vote":0,"created_at":"2026-10-19T18:13:34.241Z","url":"https://settd.com/p/504","thumbnail":null},"comments":[{"id":545,"name":"Audit your materials before you commit","body":"Did this last year. 14 gifts, tracked every receipt: $168 in materials (jars, good chocolate, ribbon, labels) plus roughly 22 hours of work. That is $12 a gift in materials alone — and if you value your time at even $15 an hour, the real cost is over $30 each. The only way handmade wins is batch production: one recipe, one material run, assembly-line style. Fifteen unique crafts will cost you more than fifteen $18 store gifts, guaranteed. Checkable rule: if materials per gift exceed $10, you are doing it for love, not savings.","score":3,"rank_score":8,"author":{"username":"frugaljo","verified":true},"voted":false,"vote":0,"created_at":"2026-10-19T18:18:17.679Z"}],"pagination":{"limit":50,"offset":0,"has_more":false,"next_offset":null}}