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Kate Gosselin is breaking down how she budgets for Christmas as a single mom to eight kids, a system she developed after what she described as a “sickening” financial collapse.
The former “Jon & Kate Plus 8” star, 50, took to TikTok this week to share the detailed — and highly calculated — system she follows each holiday season, especially in what she calls “good” and “not-so-good” financial years.
Each November, Kate said she asks her kids for detailed gift lists so she can “take advantage of the holiday sales.”
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Kate Gosselin explained how she handles Christmas shopping for her children. (Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Kate shares twins Madelyn and Cara, 25, and sextuplets Aaden, Leah, Alexis, Joel, Collin and Hannah, 21, with her ex-husband, Jon Gosselin.
Although she’s estranged from Collin and Hannah, Kate didn’t say whether they are included in her holiday budget.
Once the lists come in — complete with “a link, size, color and price” — she adds everything into one large note on her phone before the real number-crunching begins.
She starts with the first list, sets a target budget and tries to match that amount for each of her other children.
But Kate admitted things don’t always go according to plan.
Whenever one child’s list exceeds the limit — a scenario she joked happens “often” with her daughter Leah — she raises the budget for everyone else to match it.
She said her goal is fairness, down to the last cent.
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She’s kept that promise with a decorated box of cash for each child, a holiday tradition inspired by her own mother, Kate told her followers.
Kate explained that her holiday gift planning method ensures that each of her eight children get equal treatment down to the penny. (Instagram: Kate Gosselin; Getty Images)
“I know that might sound silly, but, to me, fair is really important,” she said.
Some of her children ask for less, which means Kate will cash out more for them.
“Some will get $150 in their box if they don’t ask for much,” she explained. “It tends to work out really well, and the kids are really happy.”
But not every child ends up with the same box.
Kate said that she wraps every single gift to make Christmas morning last longer. (D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra)
“Sometimes not everybody gets a square box,” she admitted. “That means I finished your list completely and unavoidably went over a dollar or two, though that usually doesn’t happen.”
She also buys one larger shared gift for all the siblings.
As her children have gotten older — and their tastes more expensive, she pointed out — she admitted Christmas morning now feels too short.
To stretch out the excitement, she wraps everything, even skincare and toiletries in their stockings, just to “slow them down.”
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Jon and Kate Gosselin share eight children. They divorced in 2009. (Amy Sussman/WireImage for Discovery Communications)
After years of rebuilding her life following reality TV fame, Kate made it clear that, no matter her financial situation, she’s determined to make Christmas work for all eight children — fairly, precisely and down “to the penny.”
Her latest comments come after she’s spoken about working grueling 12-hour nursing shifts following the collapse of her reality TV fortune.
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The pediatric nurse previously said on TikTok that legal costs and providing for eight children consumed her income from the hit reality show.
While many praised her work ethic in the comments, one follower asked what happened to all the money she earned from the show.
After “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” Kate starred in the spin-off “Kate Plus 8,” which chronicled her life as a single mother. (Donna Svennevik/Disney General Entertainment Content)
“Honestly? Providing for 8 kids, college funds which I am proud to say covered all of their college and more and LAWYERS. Sickening but I was drug into court constantly and that costs A TON,” she said in her response. “Sad bc my kids could have a lot more saved and I could have a retirement saved if it weren’t for lawyers. It’s okay. I’m helping other families and I feel needed and I enjoy helping!”
The former reality star first gained national attention on the hit TLC show “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” which chronicled how she and Jon managed their eight children.
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The series aired from 2007 to 2009 before the couple’s divorce brought it to an end.
She later starred in the spin-off “Kate Plus 8,” which chronicled her life as a single mother.
