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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayKate Gosselin Reveals How She Budgets Her 8 Kids’ Christmas Gifts
Kate Gosselin is prepared to deck the halls with the latest deals.
As the holiday season nears, the Kate Plus 8 star shared how she navigates Christmas shopping for her and ex Jon Gosselin’s eight kids: 25-year-old twins Madelyn and Cara, and 21-year-old sextuplets Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel—and it involves a whole lot of organization.
“When my kids were teenagers, I started asking them around Thanksgiving to make me a list,” Kate, 50, explained in her Nov. 12 TikTok video. “I always tell them to number the list, starting with the most important thing they want at the very top and go down from there. I don’t care how they do it, I just always want to know what’s the priority for them.”
Since the former reality star prefers to “take advantage of the holiday sales” online, Kate makes sure that her kids include “a link, size, color and price” next to each gift. Then, to help with planning, she’ll combine all the lists in “in her phone” and separate them by her kids’ name.
And with this being such a detailed process, Kate—who recently hard launched her romance with her family’s former bodyguard Steve Neild—revealed that she always informs her kids when her budget is “good” or not for the year.
“[When] we have good years, I’ll usually go through their list and maybe add some more things,” the Apprentice alum continued. “Even on not good years, I like to do as much as I can on their list. But they love when I improvise and add little surprise things that weren’t on their list.”
However, she sometimes follows another budgeting plan that was inspired by her mom’s approach to shopping during the holidays. (After all, Kate also has four siblings.)
Merry Christmas shopping! Tips on how I manage to complete a very LONG list each year. PLUS Christmas past pics and VIDEO at the end! Enjoy! #Christmas #Budget
♬ original sound - kate.gosselin“I’ll be shopping and get to my budget list for Cara and then I’ll go swiftly over it for Leah, which happens a lot,” the former nurse detailed. “So, then I’ll have to adjust up everybody’s list. I actually got this idea from my mom. She used to give us an envelope at the end of Christmas to make it fair to the penny and I always appreciated that.”
And true to her mom’s ritual, Kate will occasionally give her kids a “square box” of money if she didn’t buy every gift on their list.
“They’ve gotten $10 in their box, some will get $150 in their box if they don’t ask for much,” she added. “It tends to work out really well and the kids are really happy.”
Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
And this year, her holiday celebrations are going through a major change. As she explained in an Oct. 22 TikTok, she’ll spend Thanksgiving with Steve since some of her kids won’t “have enough time off to come here and then get home back to college.”
As for how the couple will mark the holiday together?
“He said, ‘I don’t know, I was thinking maybe we could go dancing,’” Kate recalled of Steve’s response in the clip, which was a playful nod to her ongoing recovery from her leg surgery in October. “So rude. He’s over there smiling. He’s so proud of himself.”
Keep reading to see Kate bonding with her eight kids…
Instagram / Kate Gosselin
Sextuplets Turn 21
Sextuplets Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Aaden, Leah and Joel turned 21 on May 10, 2025, and Kate shared pics from the latter four's birthday celebration.
Instagram / Stephanie Lebo
Hannah's 21st Birthday Celebration
Hannah celebrated her birthday with her dad and his fiancée Stephanie Lebo.
Instagram / Kate Gosselin
Sextuplets' 20th Birthday
On Mother's Day 2024, two days after the former couple's sextuplets turned 20, Kate shared a tribute the four who lived with her: Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah.
"No more teenagers in this house! Happy 20th birthday, my forever babies! I love you!" she wrote on Instagram. "Who feels old? I know I do! #20yearsold #ItsaPICKLE."
Instagram / Hannah Gosselin
Hannah's Birthday Post
Hannah shared new pics of herself on her and the other sextuplet's 20th birthday.
Instagram / Hannah Gosselin
Hannah the Graduate
On to the next chapter! The sextuplet graduated from high school in 2023.
Instagram / Collin Gosselin
High School Graduates
Jon shared a pic of sextuplets Collin and Hannah graduating from high school in 2023, years after they had moved in with him.
Raymond Hall/GC Images
Girls' Trip
Kate appeared with twin Mady and Cara in New York City in this 2019 pic.
All Grown-Up
"Happy 18th birthday!" Jon wrote on Instagram in 2022. "Today is your birthday we gonna say it loud. I love you. Love, Dad."
Birthday Bash
"Our big celebration of #15 is finally winding down here! We celebrated ALL DAY LONG, beginning with a present at 6:30 am before school! I'm so very thankful for my ‘babies'.... somehow they are 15 already?!" Kate wrote on the special milestone in 2019. "I'm amazed by them each day! I'm so proud of the positive qualities I've seen developing as they edge closer to adulthood."
Back to Class
"This was yesterday! Feels like school never ended...and they're already back! #SeniorYear #EighthGrade #ProudMom," Kate wrote on Instagram in 2018.
Instagram / Jon Gosselin
Birthday Greetings
"Happy 15th Birthday Hannah, Collin, Alexis, Aaden, Joel and Leah!!!! Wow I can't believe you are 15!!! Time is flying by!!!" Jon Gosselin shared on Instagram when posing with Hannah and Collin Gosselin. "I love you all very much. I wish you the best day ever and I hope you enjoy your birthday celebrations today and this weekend!!! Love always, Dad."
Girl Power
"My beautiful 'little girls' .... they keep reminding me how many days until they turn 14. Today it was '12 days til we turn 14, Mom.' HOW'S THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!" Kate shared with her followers in 2018. "I told Leah that she's too small to turn 14. She said 'Yeah, true. Are you sure I'm not turning 11 or 12?' I'm positive. I gave birth to you. They'll always be my babies....I love them so very much!"
Growing Up Gosselin
"I can't believe they're 13!" Kate Gosselin wrote on Instagram when celebrating a major birthday for her sextuplets.
Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Greetings From Alaska
Rewind to 2014 when Kate and her children found themselves visiting Alaska.
Doug Meszler/Splash News
Girls Trip
Kate also treated her twin daughters Cara Gosselin and Mady Gosselin to a trip to New York City in 2014, where they stopped by the Manhattan Hotel.
Happy Holidays
"A precious Christmas memory. My 6 were 6. Christmas Eve 2010 and they're SO excited for Christmas!" Kate Gosselin wrote on Instagram with a throwback photo. "Look at those adorable smiles! #TheyAreMyHeart #My8ReasonsToKeepOnKeepingOn #NoMatterWhat #TrueLoveX8."
Heidi Gutman/NBC NewsWire
Camera Ready
Back in October 2007, Jon and Kate Gosselin gathered their eight kids together for a trip to New York City. First stop? A visit to NBC's Today show.
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