What do you spend on dc's?

[sallystar1976]

Just wondering what the average people spend on dc's at Christmas?

[alwayshappy101]

DD is 1,I have spent £100 on her.
Ds is 6,I have spent £150 on him.
I was wondering myself if this was enough...
but then you have to take into account that they will get lots of presents from other people.
I'd also like to know what others spend.

[yummycake123]

DS is nearly 4, spending £60 this year.
Last year we spent £40 in one big present and he loved it. He gets a lot from family as well so that's why we try to limit ourselves.

[sallystar1976]

Think I'm spending too much then but i don't really have family to buy for them.

[Floralnomad]

What is an average person ? I have older DC and I've always more or less got them what they wanted , or what I thought they wanted which means some years I've spent £200ish and other years I've spent £1200ish or more . We don't price match ( never have) as I figure it works out over the years , and never spend more than I can comfortably afford ( no credit cards / debt) .

[J3NN1]

I don't think there ever is a correct answer to this, and no such thing as the average person. Some people like to spend £10 or less some people like to spend £1000+
You just do whatever is right for you and your family. There are so many variables such as income, bills, savings, area, number of siblings, age of child etc
As long as the child is appreciative and you don't get yourself in debt for Xmas then there is nothing to worry about.

[atticusclaw2]

About £375 each this year but that's because there is one big ticket item (full size multi games table) which is really a whole family present. DH and I are only doing token gifts as a result. Generally we spend about £250 each.

PP is right though - "average person" is difficult to define. Even if you go on average income people have different levels of outgoings. I suspect our household income is far higher than most.

[amorita]

We will spend £150 on our ds. He get a main present and then some smaller ones. He is only 3 so is is the first xmas where he knows whats going on. He has grandparents who will spoil him rotten too. Spend as much as you can afford or are comfortable with. Its really not worth getting yourself in debt everyone for xmas.

[AlwaysNeverOnTime]

£300 each including stocking and Christmas eve boxes pjs ect. They are 3 and 5. That's what I can afford so that's what I spend. Everyone is different. I have one friend who spends less than £50 on hers and another friend who spends nearly £1k.

[Shinyshoes2]

About £600.00 between the 3 of them

[Ragwort]

There are so many variables - most importantly, what can you afford?

Just wait until the New Year and read all the threads about people getting into debt over Christmas ................ happens every year.

There will always be people who spend loads and people who live frugally - I don't think you can measure how enjoyable your Christmas celebrations are by the amount of money you spend. I know this will sound pious but I make sure my DS knows that the 'present' part of Christmas is not the main point

[Greenfingeredfun]

Inc stockings and xmas eve bags.. about £350 each on our two ds's

[Greenfingeredfun]

Oh god no.. it's prob nearer to £400 each this year. Wow

[Clickclickclick]

Ds1 about £450 and ds2 about £120.

Ds2 is ten years younger.

[talksensetome]

About £500 each has not 3 dc but I have been saving all year for that.

[SatsukiKusakabe]

100 each and then stockings on top but mainly food and some useful and silly bits in those so not much more. They are only young still and we're not into consoles yet, so I think they've done well out of that.

Everyone has a different budget and different ideas of what to get for presents.

[Bobsmum02]

DD about £400, 8 years younger DS about £300-350 plus a bit extra for Christmas Eve box. Next year I will have nieces or nephews to buy for too so this might go down. It's variable depending on how much we can afford each year.

[Sunshine59]

Probably between £200/£300 between the three of them, but we have grandparents, aunties and friends that all buy as well. Now they are older I'd rather have more money left to do things with them in the school holidays days out etc, then spend to much money on things purely for the sake of it

[Shemozzle]

Approximately £200 each without stockings, advent calendars and Christmas Eve gifts.

[Shemozzle]

I home school mine though so do think I spend more on books and educational type toys than I ordinarily would. Lots of science kits etc

[NapQueen]

It's all relative.

Dd will be 5 and I've spent about 100. Ds will be 2 and I've spent about 80.

I assume once they are older the stuff they'd want and like will be more expensive. So at age 8-12 I'd probably spend 2 or 3 times that because games consoles etc are pricier than wooden train track and play food.

[Crispsheets]

£500 each this year.
I can afford it.
I do not go into debt or put it on credit cards.
They get no other gifts from family

[SerialReJoiner]

We have 5 DC and have spent on average £100 each. I've already finished my list, but whenever I finish shopping early I end up getting them more things. I'll probably do the same this year...

[PandoraMole]

I like to think I spend £75-100 on main present/s for DD and about £50 on a stocking.

Realistically it's probably more and now she's 12 it's harder to find tiny stocking fillers and big presents tend to be more expensive.

I've spent about £100 so far this year but none of her gifts really have the wow factor iykwim.

[unlimiteddilutingjuice]

From years of similar threads, there is no average spend. The amount depends on so much:
Income, obviously. But also:
Age of children.
Whether the child will be getting gifts from other relatives.
Whether you buy throughout the year or if Xmas is a whole years worth of toys in one day.
When the child's birthday is and how much they will receive for that.
Who else you need to buy for.

MIL is known for going overboard (bless her) and both DC will receive an entire santa sack from her plus numerous other gifts from assorted relly's. To reciprocate DH and I have numerous other people (adults adults nd children) to buy for. I am therefore buying the kids just one thing each:
Ds (4): Octonaut bundle off eBay 39.00
Dd (1) : Peppa pig train and weebles 25.00

If I was buying all their presents I would consider somewhere between £70 and £150 to be reasonable.

[SatsukiKusakabe]

Also some people like to wrap lots of stuff that the children need and would get at other times too as presents to make as big a pile as possible to open - clothes, duvet covers, dressing gowns, slippers. I tend to buy this stuff as and when needed and all gifts are toys or books except the odd useful item in the stocking (e.g this year bike gloves but usually novelty socks) so our stack is quite modest because as much as I love Lego there is a limit...