quantity or cost of xmas presents

[chrisski33]

hi what are folks thoughts on how many presents their kids should get or how much to spend?
im a lone parent with a 15yr son, 10yr son and 7yr old daughter. i dont really go into giving them exactly what they want esp as 10 yr wants an iphone 11 or whatever.
i dont want to overload them with alot of cheap presents like have done in past and i dont want to spend too much money on one or two big presents as budget is tight. i was thinking maybe 10-11 presents were sufficient?

We do tge something you want, need, wear read. So 4 presents. No little kids here though.

I have teenagers who want cash as a main gift. I'm giving them 5-6 little presents like selection boxes so there's something to open.

* i was thinking maybe 10-11 presents were sufficient?*

I have no idea about your finances (other than vague “budget is right”) so would be totally irresponsible of me to say anything other than - do whatever you think as long as it’s in keeping with your finances!

DDs get equivalent presents. They don't match exactly in price, but are equivalent in value to them. Their presents are about £50 (1 from Santa, one from us) , then another £8 on a present from their sister, then £20 on stocking

Nether cost or volume,
Ds(11) really wants a Bluetooth speaker - that’s all he’s asked for. I’ve got him an Echo Dot, £22, and a couple of books he has asked for. Total cost about £30. He’ll be delighted. I’ll also upgrade his Spotify account to one without adverts.

DD is football mad and has asked for a grown up bedroom. She’s getting football themed bed linen, curtains and wall stickers. Luckily the team she supports wear the colour that her walks already are! But still- total cost around £70. She’ll also be delighted.

Mine get what they ask for
Ds1 (17)has 2 gifts at a cost of £300
Ds2 (9)has 17 costing £200

I don't price match or make up more gifts so it's even.. My kids are not Dudley Dursley

Don't think of a number.

(1) How much do you have available to spend (you don't need to reply to this, just have it in your head)?

(2) Divide it between the three children. (Do you feel best splitting it equally, or do you spend more - or less - as they get older?) This is your limit.

(3) For each child: Is there anything within this limit (ie iPhone11 is not being considered at any stage in this process) that they really want? Is there anything they sort-of need but day-to-day budgeting would find difficult?

(4) Continue (3) until limit is reached.

(5) If limit has not yet been reached, buy everyday things but perhaps a bit nicer: shower gel, character sweatshirt, things they'd be needing throughout the year anyway.

You might have two presents, you might have 30. The point is that you've stayed within budget and bought things your children want.

(I always fill stockings with stuff they'd get anyway. Oh, and sweets )

We budget for a stocking each (bath bombs, chocolate, socks, pens etc), one gift from Santa (40quid), then usually a pair of pjs a board game and a couple of books.

We simply cannot afford lots of expensive gifts.

We do one big gift, then I buy bits and bobs, and a stocking. Probably amounts to approx 10 gifts, plus some small stocking fillers.

@BikeRunSki am confused if your ds wanted a Bluetooth speaker why did you get him an echo dot?

When my kids are older and understand money then it will be similar budget (especially when they are teenagers wanting gadgets or cash) but while they are little they get a similar number of presents

We have a budget for each, if that's two gifts or ten makes no difference. 10, 12, and 17 so old enough understand, when they were little we did try to make sure they had similar amounts to open.

@MyDcAreMarvel if he's got premium Spotify and an echo dot, he can listen to whatever on that.

@MyDcAreMarvel because he listens to all his music on Spotify on his phone at the moment. He’ll still be able to listen to Spotify, but without his phone. He is very impressed with his mate’s Echo Dot, but he thinks they are too expensive to ask for.

Ahh that makes sense, sure he will be made up with it.

We do quantity on a budget of £150 per child and everything is kept even in numbers.

If they ask for an Iphone 11 tough luck lol but my kids have never asked for expensive things (my friends with daughters tend to get handed more expensive and fad-y list where as most boys I know are generally more laid back about it so maybe I'm lucky to have boys).

I buy for 6 months in the sale though to get things much cheaper so £150 goes a long way.

Mine are 9, 7 & 4. They have got 6 presents each, one expensive one and 5 smaller ones. They are all roughly equal in price. I always try and keep cost and quantity equal. The main present is what they asked for (ipad for oldest - he put his own saved money towards this so we didn't pay the full cost, LOL House for dd, and new amazon fire tablet for youngest). The other presents are new trainers, books etc. And I've adopted them an animal each. Also got some board games as joint presents, and always get them bubble bath, shampoo etc. Definately gone for quality over quantity.