How much do you spend on the kids for Xmas

[missrachael]

Sorry I’m sure this thread has been done a million times. Just curious, whenever I read about what some peoples kids are getting I feel like I’m not doing good enough, at all. I plan to spend £300 each this year on 4 kids, so that’s £1200 which is a big amount of money but it also looks like hardly anything compared to some !

It rarely evens out because my older 3 are teens so their clothes and trainers naturally cost more and they ask mostly for that plus some expensive perfume for DD’s, AirPods for DS etc. I’d say teens are at least £400-500 each and younger 2 who are 5 and 7 closer to £250-300 each. I have 5 so it’s a lot.

DH would try to spend £100 each if he had his way but for teens this would be trainers and a hoodie if lucky! I don’t get piles and piles of stuff and try to use Vinted as much as possible.

My ds10 is getting new trainers and they are €140 alone!!

A teenager can want what they want, it doesn’t mean I’m going to buy it. If they want a games console they can save up and buy it themselves. And a phone isn’t something I would buy as a gift, it’s something that I will buy as a necessity.

You really don’t think £250 is a lot of money to spend on one 4 year old? Regardless of how many “parcels” that is, it’s an enormous amount of money. Obviously, it’s different if you are rolling in cash, but half of the people on here talk about scraping money together just so they can supply a mountain of presents on one day of the year. The same people will then complain that they can’t afford to cook from scratch.

No I don’t think it’s “insane” or “enormous”. It most certainly is not a mountain of presents- it’s two brio additions to his train track, some magnetic tiles, a toy rocket, and some books, board games, play dough, and a few stocking stuffers. I think saying they want what they want and you don’t have to buy it goes without saying. My son has also asked for something he’s not getting. He’s not getting everything he’s asking for.

We have plenty of money so it’s no struggle but saving £250 over the course of a year wouldn’t be difficult regardless. A fiver a week in a jar covers it.

Spending the hundreds of pounds on your teenagers phone as a necessity vs buying it as a Christmas gift makes no difference- you still bought them it.

I don't think £300 per child is crazy by any means.
it really doesn't go that far.

I don't think that's a fair or even accurate take.

Of course there are people who get themselves into debt but that's not everyone, and I think you'd be shocked at how much people who get into debt are actually spending on their DC.

We save throughout the year to be able to spend what to us is a generous amount, this is primarily motivated by the fact that we have almost nobody else buying for the children. Again, it's very easy to say you'd only spend a small amount on the kids if you have extended family, and it's an arbitrary gripe if you spend the same amount of money but buy them things ad hoc throughout the year.

We don't do Christmas eve boxes, 1st December boxes, Christmas PJ's, Christmas bedding, anything like that. But if it brings joy and tradition to people and they budget it in, why is it less worthy and more open to criticism than anything else anybody does with their money?

I don't think £250-300 is an enormous amount of money either

I mean it obviously is to some people but even if you're on min wage, it's less than a week's earnings. We spend that on 2 weeks groceries.

We don't do tat, matching Xmas PJs, Christmas eve boxes either and it's really not hard to spend £300 on gifts even for younger children. My 6 year old is getting - a Lego set, some books (on a good offer from books4people), boardgames (bought on Vinted), Beyblades, a Beano subscription, and a few small things for his stocking and that comes to over £200

I only have one child and spend £50 on a main present and £30 on stocking fillers. I'm sure that a Switch 2 would be the ideal gift but we've already discussed that it's not happening.

I've just finished mine and it's come in at about £350 per child (2 kids)
No Xmas eve boxes or anything like that. Very pleased with what I've got them. Couldn't really give a monkeys what anyone else does.

I'm going to aim to spend probs no more than £100 for each.

We have an 8,6 and 5month old. The older two have a £350 budget each, don’t have a budget for the baby, will just get her a few bits/clothes.

I spend what I can afford. I will never go into debt for Christmas nor use my savings. Others might think that’s tight but by being financially restrained we have managed to provide a nice home and lifestyle all year for our family.
our dc always got a gift from two sets of grandparents and about 5 gifts from various aunties and cousins.
I will spend about £100 each this year.

We had initially agreed on £100 per child but DH wants to get oldest DSS something that is more than that so now wants the budget to go up to £150 per child and Im actually struggling to spend that much on the 3 youngest without overdoing it. I used to watch my EXH's niece open so many presents at Christmas that she actually didnt enjoy it and would groan when told that she had more to open before just tossing them to the side and have always wanted to make sure that I never do that to my children.

Same. So much easier to stick to £250 when they were little. Now every tiny thing they want is like £40!

£200 each

I think whilst £300 is alot of money in general, when it comes to Christmas it doesn’t go far… not when you have a 12 year old who wants graphics cards and all sorts, £300 wouldn’t even cover a graphics card !

I haven't finished Christmas shopping yet, but it will probably come to around £150 for DS1 (9) and between £70-100 for DS2 (5).

DS2 still mainly wants plastic dinosaurs which are big and cheapish, and DS1 wants football 'bits' which are both small and surprisingly expensive (e.g. New goalie gloves).

I don't really have a budget as such but it rarely exceeds about £300 it's actually a bit less this year because it's his birthday this week, so I tend to buy for both at once then decide what to give for each and he's getting the most expensive thing for his birthday (£200 bike) plus some other things and a ticketed event that's quite expensive but happens before Christmas so can't hold the tickets until later.

Probably about £75 each they are 4 & 6. We've done their Santa letters early and there isn't anything big that they want. DS4 is getting a K'nex starter set, books, yoto cards and a warmie bear. DD6 is getting a second hand lego set, a craft set, some books and yoto cards. They also have three sets of grandparents and quite a few aunts and uncles so they won't go short.

Previous years I've spent more but I've just been diagnosed with incurable cancer so we aren't sure how much longer I'll be working. So we've gone more for quality time over quantity of presents this year as it'll be just us as I'll be in some form of treatment over Christmas. Future me is happy for past me last year that got loads of Christmas games in the sale, found old decorations in the loft from previous owners and booked a light show and panto when tickets all came out.

This year is a lot as laptop was needed and my son asked for a gaming PC . I do save up all year,
and anything that doesn’t get spent rolls over to next year . I also shop around and use top cash back/discount codes /black Friday sales /sign up codes for everything I possibly can .

the PC Iv managed to get relatively cheap as a relative is building it for me and donating screens etc . So the cost although £££ is a lot a cheaper than normal .

A few years ago when the kids were getting older (Teens), we started doing '5 Gifts', something they - want, need, wear, read, do.
We've continued this and it works; yes it looks less under the tree, but it helps manage expectations, helps with Budget and helps with understanding about larger price items as children grow up.

I don't buy expensive tech. My 9 and 11 year old are not allowed consoles or pads etc. Screens are TV only (no youtube) except for homework which they can do on my laptop. I think this significantly impacts Spending in my house. Around 100 each or less! Maybe another 20 for stockings. I give my 22 year old £100 in cash now and a few bits maybe £30 worth. I can afford more but I dislike consumerism and I'm frugal. I already found many 2nd hand bits in charity shops including a brand new sealed pictionary game for £2. Winner!

about £120 per child. A bit more for the youngest as it includes theatre tickets - but we take Granny to the ballet every Christmas, and tickets an 85 year old can reach easily are expensive (if its just him and me, we get cheap tickets).
Youngest gets a lego set, an art kit, a boardgame , a book and the theatre ticket. Oldest gets 2 lego sets, a cardgame and a book.

It varies year to year. Last year was probably around £500 ish each. This year, dc2 main present is £1300, dc1 main present was £300 ish. The main thing is we only spend what we can afford and dont get into any debt for Christmas.

@OioiqueenI’m so sorry to hear this. I hope you have a wonderful and magical Christmas with your family ❤️ things like this make you realise it isn’t about the money or the gifts, but about family and spending precious moments together.