With Christmas quickly arriving, it's that time of the year when we all start watching the Home Alone movies on repeat. The film franchise has become a holiday staple—it just doesn't feel like Christmas unless we can share in the wacky adventures of Kevin McAllister.

One big question that comes up often about the Home Alone movies is how much money Kevin spends on his adventures and what exactly do the McAllisters do? The films never tell us exactly what it is they do to support that kind of lifestyle. From keeping their family in such a nice home to affording lavish vacations around the world, it's boggled our minds for years.

But now, we may finally have some answers! Thanks to the sleuths of the internet, they've been able to calculate just how much money Kevin’s dad spent in the films, and we have to say, the amount is staggering.

Breakdown of what Peter McCallister might have spent in the original 1990 film:

The movie starts out with a giant pizza delivery to feed the hungry mob in the McAllister house, and the pizza guy charges them $122.50 for 10 pizzas. Most pizza deliveries these days run about $15 and do not include a delivery fee or tip. So, adjusting it all for today’s prices, that pizza order would cost at least double today, to about $250.

Tickets to Paris, France, from Chicago, during the week of Christmas, would be anything but cheap. The family flew American Airlines, and we looked but could not find a fare lower than several thousand dollars in either coach or business class. Our most recent request showed a $5,500 round-trip fare for one adult in coach and over $13,000 for first class. The McCallisters flew 15 people—four in first class and 11 in coach. This trip would cost over $50,000 if it were booked today, and that does not include the hotel the family stayed in, in France!

The family home is impressive, obviously; that is why those lovable thieves target it. Had they been successful, they would have had a pretty payday! The actual 4,243-square-foot home the movie filmed in is in Winnetka, Illinois, and sold for $1,585,000 in 2012. It's estimated to be worth almost $2 million today.

As we watch Kevin foil the par of dimwitted thieves, one cannot help but notice the sheer amount of destruction and damage done to the almost $2-million home. It is estimated that fixing the damage—including the destroyed staircase, Buzz’s room, and the flooding of the kitchen and basement—would cost upwards of $220,000. The replacement cost of the lost tarantula would run about $100.

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Breakdown of what Peter McCallister might have spent in the 1992 sequel:

In the second film, the family heads to Miami, while Kevin ends up in New York, where he lives it up in the big city and racks up quite a bill.  

To start, the family (once again) traveled at Christmastime, one of the most expensive times of the year. The flights from Chicago to Miami would run much less than the Paris trip but still cost a pretty penny. In today’s market, it could be done on American Airlines for about $10,000. 

Kevin’s suite at the Plaza Hotel would cost as much as a mortgage. The Royal Suite runs around $30,000 a night, and while the suite Kevin got was likely not that one, he was put up in one of the "finest suites", which would cost about $3,000 for the one-room penthouse and butler service.

The Mcallister family, on the other hand, spent a night at the Villa de Dolphine in Miami, a far less fancy establishment due to Kevin having all his dad's cash and credit cards with him. At about $100 a night, the family would have spent at least $700 to get enough beds for everyone to sleep on, and that's with no one getting their own.

Kevin’s room service bill was $967.43, as per his dad's freakout, which, with some inflation for today’s prices about $1,800—that's almost double!

Uncle Rob's house is Kevin's headquarters for foiling the Wet—erm, Sticky Bandits. While the brownstone was under renovation, that does not mean it cleans itself. Labor and time would be spent cleaning and repairing any damage that happened during Kevin's time there. There were about two dozen cans of paint spilled, which costs about $50 a can, so at least $1,000 or so would be needed to replace just the paint alone. That's not counting for the multiple fires, property damage, and more.

Duncan's Toy Chest, the larger-than-life toy store Kevin visits in the movie, was based on FAO Schartwz. Kevin picked up a map, a toy, and a pen knife there, and spent $23.75. We can assume the same purchases would cost about $50 or so at today's prices. 

Airfare for the family from Miami to New York, on Christmas Eve, would start at about $75 per economy ticket, and around $300 for a nonstop flight. Then, adding to that, the family had to get back to Chicago from Miami, so there would likely be at least $5,000 more in airfare for all those flights. 

Kevin also spends time playing tourist in New York; he buys fireworks and somehow makes it to the top of the World Trade Center. One can assume he either spent a lot of cash, or somehow swindled his way into all the top spots, and into free cab fare.

So, as you can see, Kevin Mcallister was one expensive kid, and his parents, for whatever reason, did not learn their lesson the first time they forgot him! The occupation of Kevin’s parents is never truly revealed in the films, but based on everything we broke down above, they had to be doing something pretty lucrative.

There's also some debate over who actually paid for the flights. Several fan theories believe that Uncle Rob was the money behind the trips and that he paid for most of it. After all, Rob has homes in both Paris and New York, and never seems to be worried about money. 

Fun fact: a promotional novel of the film published in 1991 tells readers that Mr. McCallister is a businessman, possibly a day trader, and that Mrs. McAllister is in fashion. That would explain the many mannequins kept in the house that Kevin used to create his party scene. 

While the mystery of how Kevin McAllister’s parents paid the bills may never fully be known, the films have delighted families for ages and will continue to do so for generations to come. Who doesn’t love a good Christmas story about a clever kid and a lot of mischief?