How much would you say is enough for Christmas for a child?

[Glazerblazer]

if every child had to have the same amount spent on them, how much would you say is enough? Would you say less for younger children?

I would say £20 for a stocking and £150 - £200 for main gifts - I spend more that that in mine but I think that would be a nice amount.

You can't just restrict it to Christmas though, for the same reason that "how much are you spending on your children" gets massively varied results
-how old are the children (if you're looking at things like electronic devices, the budget for a teen will be far too big for a pre-school child)
-how many other presents the children get (if parents are the only people that buy, for example)
-whether they get "stuff" at other times of year or it's mostly restricted to Christmas/birthdays
-whether you are buying new or second hand
-whether you think "Christmas presents" are only fun things or also comprise necessities like pyjamas and toiletries

Surprising question. Weird question.
You could easily spend £200 and your 4 years old can't stop crying because only thing he wanted was a chocolate-strawbery cake.
At the same time your 14 years old might want £40 notebook (one made from paper) because it has just right paper for both drawing and writing. It really isn't about money here.
I bought a 'George and the Dragon' book to a teenager. Few months previously we lost it when moving house. There was crying. I was told by that teenager not to get one that it's just a bit overwhelming from moving. There were childhood scribbles. I got it months later for Christmas. It was very well received.
Get what makes them emotionally feel good.
Or cool toys.
Not school toys.
Nothing alive. No rabbits. No turtles.
Drums for any children who's parents you hate, unless they are your neighbours.

£150-200 + 20quid on stockings is a lot more than many families can afford.
Would this be a government provided equal amount 😂🤔

Yes I know. But physically large presents do not necessarily have to cost a lot, do they?

I don't think that makes sense because there's massive differences in how families celebrate Christmas.

Some families might go all out for birthdays but keep Christmas low key. Some kids (mine included) get quite a bit throughout the year and some parents save up all year.

Some don't celebrate birthdays or Christmas and give gifts on other occasions.

I had one child with the intention of spoiling her a bit- why should I be restricted to the same budget per child as someone who had 5 kids? I also know someone with two children and less money than me who spends £1k per child.

There is no "not enough", only "too much" which is, in my opinion, when the family enters January in debt with a load of toys which no-one plays with.

When my daughter was 3, her only requests for Christmas were a yellow bauble and a stick. 😂

Did you get it?

Yes! My Mum bought her a clay bauble and she painted it yellow and added glitter herself, and I took her to the forest to choose her own stick. I don't know what happened to the stick, but the bauble goes on the tree every year.

Honestly, we don't really stick to a formula.

Our 2yo is getting a bike for his 3rd birthday, some educational toys we'd get anyway (telling the time etc), and a few small character toys he likes.

For Christmas there will be another big imaginative play toy and some clothes.

It will really vary by age and need - little kids get a big kick out of things that they need anyway, like a water bottle with their name on. My son's favourite toy right now is a calculator.

We probably do spend significantly more than this on our 2.5 year old, i dont keep track. This year he has 2 large brio train sets (thats £200 spent straight away!), a wooden set of roads to go with this, a few lego sets, a leap pad type book and numerous other books, plus quite a few little bits and pieces for his stocking. But then we don't really have any family to spoil him so everything is from us and father christmas. Whereas I have friends whose children receive from 2 sets of GPs and numerous aunts and uncles. We do try to make sure everything is good quality and will last for a good few years. No plastic tat.