how much money would you spend on a close friend or family member. you know somebody you really want to do something special for. Even if its not a present say doing something special for them like taking them out to eat or throwing them a prarty how much would you spend?

To be honest I'm only buying gifts when "I have to" - my father forced me to from Christmas or else I had to remain alone. Otherwise I only buy gifts 1) when I really meant it and 2) when I want to rather than wait for arbitrarily determined situations like Valentine's Day or a birthday.

As far as spending, over twenty dollars seems overpriced.

I usually tend to buy gifts for others only for special occasions. The main reason for that is because I don't have a job, therefore, I don't have a steady income in which I can use to buy gifts for others. It depends on the occasion and for the person I am buying the gift for. I typically don't spend more than $30 on a gift. Anything more would be too much and would rapidly drain me of what little money I have. 

I'd more than likely be able to increase this figure once I have a steady form of income to fall back on. 

If the present is something that would mean a lot and its for a very special occasion and I have the money, then I would go all out and spend whatever I have to to make sure that the person in giving it to gets something that they could use, even if that means paying more than 100 dollars.

I was talking earlier about something that happened to a friend who lost his pet after 8 years and his graduation is coming up in 2 months so I wanted to get him something special to blend both events together and I ended up getting a dog tag for him to wear. I ended up finding a place where I got it for 5 dollars but while i was coming up with the plan I was expecting to pay anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars.

It was a big event and one of my best friends so I wanted to do something big but I normally don't spend that much on a gift, so on average I would spend maybe 5 to 10 dollars on a gift but id rather spend the 50 to 100 on a special event gift than a regular gift.

It depends on what you are willing to pay and how much the gift that the person wants costs. If they do not want a specific gift, surprise them, but do not go overboard.