How much do you spend on friends children at Christmas?

[harrychees]

I only buy for my close friends kids.
She has 2 boys (12-5)
It's the eldest birthday today and I got him a £20 PlayStation gift card (mum said he would love this )
For Christmas I have got them both a nice pair of pjs from M&S and the youngest a toy and plan on getting the eldest another PlayStation gift card
Is £10 gift card enough for Christmas with the pjs or shall I get a £20 ?
I don't want to appear stingy but it all adds up
I've also got them both a small selection box and a chocolate Santa each
Is this okay ?
Would you do the £10 or £20 gift card

It would never occur to me to buy presents for my friends' children. Pretty sure they'd think I was very odd if I did.

I only buy for children I am related to

I only buy for one family….
3 kids, £10 each (£20 for birthdays over year)
They (despite my protests) always insist on getting my DD something extra as they take into account that we by for 3 and have 1DC which is super kind and never expected.

I also have a friendship group of 6 (6 kids between us) I got them all a book each (5 for £20 on Amazon) as a token gift.

I think you should have a chat with your friend about her expectations ? None of the above is ever expected but gratefully received by all and that’s the way it should be in my opinion :)

I only buy fur my godson’s and my son, I used to buy for lots of people’s kids but it got so expensive that I stopped. I’d get the £10 card and next year suggest you both stick to £10/15

Zero

All depends really, for my best friends Ds last year I spent £50 on him this year I’ve spent £20 and vice versa, my dc are much older than hers so she now sends them money to their bank accounts, depending on if it’s been a hard year or not will make that amount vary, some years it’s been £5 and a pair of pjs others £50.

£0.

I try to keep Christmas expenditure, consumerism, workload, stress & hassle within sensible limits, and this includes not buying gifts for friends’ kids, colleagues, in-laws etc etc. It’s so easy to let these things escalate completely out of hand & tied into cycles of giving.

£0

I spend around a tenner for bdays for my best friends kids.

Nothing, I buy birthday gifts for my best friends daughters (max £20) but we agreed a few years ago to not do Christmas.

I buy a present for my sons best friend for Christmas but the only other children we buy for is our nieces & nephew.

I have 18 nieces and nephews (and 3 great nephews). No way am I buying for friends kids as well!

$0

This is madness.

I spent £10-£15 on each this year.

But last month I spent £50 on ones birthday, and will do the same next month for a different one, and probably more in the summer on the third one.

I don't buy for friends of their kids - and I love buying presents!

Maybe if I had a smaller family I would but I wouldn't expect anything back

Surely giving is not just about the money....is it?

We have some very close friends who we see Christmas day, for them I spend about £15-20 per child. Friends have 2 kids each and we meet 2 families. I have a few other friends who are not that close but I will get token gifts for their kids, inside £10, just so they have some extra bits to open on Christmas day. This is about 8 kids. So pyjamas and £10 is very generous.

We have bought for 2 sets of friends children in the past, with a limit of £10ish (so at Xmas would be £10 gift card or such plus maybe some chocs or similar).

The only youngster in family we buy for now is a teen, and he gets a £20 gift card, sometimes some chocs unless I am posting.

I would say the PJs and maybe a selection box are more than enough. If you have tried to set a limit in the past, then just ignore what she spends on you. She will eventually get the message if you limit your spending.