how much do you spend on presents at xmas?

[NordicPrincess]

how old are your children and what do you buy them? how much do you spend?

We usuall about £500 each on the boys.
It's not on toys though it is things like 'young drivers track days' clothes that they like, expensive sports equipment and acessories.
Dh spends bout £500 on me.

I usually spend about £200 between several friends.

We don't buy for the extended family, well bottles of wine and chocolates that sort of thing.

Both children aren't wanters and I have asked DS2 what he wants this year and he said he is OK he doesn't really need anything.
This year we will probably cut down though if they don't want anything.

I always get something great of DH so that is a nice treat.

we spend about £100- 120 on each child ! ...so just the kids come to about £1000.
But this year dd1 will have had her baby so she will get the "adult rate " of £30 and £30 for her fiancee ,the rest of it will be for the baby .
Shes going to get a shock , i think shes expecting the usual amount.
OMG - i sound stingy as hell .

Does it really matter who spends what?

No set amount in this house, just depends whether you are on my naughty list or nice list

at the amount people spend! With getabloodygrip on this one. We spend about £30-£40 each on our 3 dc's - they are 7 and under fgs! What could they possibly need?

If that makes me stingy, so be it!

Pagwatch.... 'If one child genuinely want a presnt costing £20 and the other one wants a present costing £200 would people then spend £180 to make it even'

In our house the answer is yes and it wouldn't have to be Christmas.

About three weeks ago DH and DS1 were in town and DH spent a tenner on DS1
Later that day DH and DS2 were in Tesco and DH bought DS2 some Hotwheels for £6.00

I went away that night with the boys and when I rang home DH said DS had left the Hotwheels and that reminds him, he wants to give DS2 £4.00 so they would have had the same money spent on them.

That's just the way were are I guess.

moogalicious it doesn't make you stingy. You are doing what suits you. It doesn't matter how much anyone else spends or doesn't spend. It is what suits you and your family.

upahill thanks

But I honestly don't understand.

can I ask what makes you do that , if you don't mind?

I don't do tit for tat presents with my Dcs because they are not entitled to a gift - it is a gift. I do not favour one child more than another. But if for example DS2 has been really good at school and we are at the shops I may give him a DVD as a treat. If I then just buy one for DD too - to make it the same- then it negates DS2s treat.

Equally if Ds1 asks for a lap top , as he did last year and that costs £500. And then DD asks for a box of pets in my pocket which costs £20, if I then go out and buy £480 worth of presents I am not only wasteing money that she did not want me to spend, but I am also teaching her that what she asked for was not 'good' enough. Which is rude and a bad lesson.

If what your heart wants is £20 then teaching her that £480 is what she should have seems like a terrible lesson.

I am just explaining my thinking on it. I would genuinely love to hear why you do the 'has to be equal' thing

Do you mind

Hi Pagwatch.
I honestly don't know why I feel this compulsion but I have to say it is more my DH than me.

When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's my mum and dad spent £100 on all three of us. To the penny!!! So in that way I guess the tradition has carried on. I relize back then £100 was a huge amount of money.

With the day to day stuff Ds1 tends to get quite a bit of stuff due to his age(14) I suppose, ....phone top ups, a fiver a time to go to Ramp city, a tenner for the pictures, a few quid for a bite to eat when he is with his mates,£4 a week on the F1 magazine a few quid here and there for hair gel, £60 quid for Nike 6.0's and so on.

DS2 askes for very little and I suppose I don't like the feeling that one gets a lot and the other gets not so much.

I make sure that I buy magazines that he loves such as the New Scientist, Focus and How it works for him.

If I buy one a packet of sweets I then tend to buy two more packets, one for the other DS and the other for DH!!!!!

Thanks

It sounds like a balancing out thing, making sure one does not feel less 'important'. So I can understand that.

Lol at sweeties for DH

He does it for me too and I haven't got the heart to say don't bother because he treats us so nice!!!!!

Pag didn't your eldest make a really thoughtful present for DS2 last year involving a camera / video?

oh yes, scary stalker woman

Blimey , what a memory!

My DS was in the process of getting his dx at the time so it struck me because it was so lovely.

I'm not that much of a stalker, honestly

ok. I am less scared now

Agree with InParis (we're so alike!) some MNers spend so much! Even if I could afford it, which I can't, but even if I could, I wouldn't.

Last Christmas our LO was only 6 months old so we didn't get him much, spent about £40 I think. This year I will do lots of research to find the perfect present for an 18 month old for approximately the same amount, perhaps a little more.

My family agreed years ago to spend no more than £10 on each other and it hasn't increased with inflation. I don't buy for my sister or BIL at all because they have 4 DCs. The oldest neice has her own DD so she won't get anything, but will spend £10 on her DD.

I have a major issue with my sister's DCs, in 22 years I have never received a single thank you note or phone call for a birthday or Christmas present. But I suppose that's another thread...

I also refuse to buy novelty 'straight to landfill' crap so it can be a challenge finding worthwhile gifts for under a tenner if the recipient doesn't like a drink.

Neaesy, I know what you mean about crap novelty stuff. I refuse to buy anything like that and hated it when I worked in an office when we did a secret santa and bought total crap for each other.

When the boys were babies and very small children we hardly spent anything on them for a couple of reasons, the main one was that we were skint!!

I don't spend money on extend family but do on my friends.

I like to have a meal a week or so before Christmas for my girlfriends and give them their presents.

I kind of admire Lucy88 for being brave enough to admit that she spends a grand on her son, even though most people reading that will think she's a fool.

I get that it's lovely to splurge on your DC sometimes, and it can be hard to stop. I think in a way it takes people back to that child-like feeling of being kids with no impulse control, only this time there is no adult to stop you. But there will always be more stuff that your kids would like, it's not like you're proving that you love them any more by spending more.

We don't set a budget, but last year we spent £100 each on main presents and then about another £150 each on stocking fillers, so quite a bit.

Included in the stocking were things I would of bought anyway, clothes, shoes, etc but gave them as stocking presents so they had more to open.

I don't think I could spend a grand on one of my dc if I tried!

What do you buy !!??

I recon I spend about £150 each for Christmas and maybe £80 for birthdays but that's all in and they will both get some really dull presents like clothes and a years worth of socks etc.

I am still think of what I would buy if I had a grand to spend ....

DS wants Harry Potter Lego - 2 boxes of that is £180 and would look nothing wrapped up. I wouldn't spend £1000 or go into huge debt, but could easily spend £300 - £400. We tried to stick to a budget of £150 each, but the pile looked so measly that I bought more and dcs loved their presents and were grateful. Before Christmas we have a clear out and give their toys that are in good condition to charity.

I have always spent about £100 each, last year it was a Wii between them and games etc. I am finding it difficult to get them something for 'under' £100 this year because now, at 13 and 14 years old, they're not interested in toys and all they want is gadgets. The cost of the new Ipod touch is £189!!! And I'd need two! And that would only be a piddly wee parcel to open too.

I am the person who is looking into a pony share for her daughter. She will have to prove herself for two years to get that, it is not a mindless splurge. She has had to daily get up and shovel shit, whatever the weather. She has chores to do every week so she can contribute to her riding lessons everyweek. I am not going to pretend she is not fortunate but there is a big difference between what I am doing for my dd and someone going out and spending 1K on flash gadgets.

We dont have a budget as such but no more than £50 on each, and we give them 1 main thing from us, and smaller stocking bits from "santa".
This year we are buying ds a leapster 2 and dd1 will inherit our "old" ipod pre loaded with her music, so she wont get that + £50 spent, so that will make it cheaper.
Dd2 who will be 18months, will get some second hand toys wrapped up that the older ones have forgotten about, or from bootsales/charity shops.
They have enough toys, they are not into gadgets such as wii, or playstation, so that keeps costs down. :)

I always find threads like this difficult. I am sure most people spend widely differing amounts, largely dependant on their financial situation.

I spend what I think is a fair amount based on our situation. I have friends/ colleagues who spend far more. I have those who spend far less.

I genuinely don't think people spend dependent on their situation. Unless they are all lying to me most of my friends spend very little on Christmas and we all have a comfortable amount of money to live on. I grew up shit poor, my Mum spent a fortune. When I was a single mum and most of my friends had a very limited income they spent a fortune.

Perhaps it is because they buy nothing for the rest of the year. For some they are going to get into debt so why do it for £50 rather when you could do it for £300.