to wonder how much people spend on their kids at Christmas

[donkeyderby]

I noticed on another thread that someone was intending to spend £200 - £250 on their kids at Christmas. I thought it was a shocking amount to spend. I can't begin to afford that sort of money.

Am I being mean and is this a normal amount to fork out?

[happybubblebrain]

I usually spend about £200 to £250 on dd(4). I want her to have really nice things, not rubbish, and I can afford it. I teach her constantly to appreciate what she has. This year she's asked me lots of times what I want for Christmas, I tell her I just want to be thankful - and she really is. We also choose one of her presents to give to Oxfam each birthday and Christmas. I love everything about Christmas, we make a big deal about the decorations, the cards, going to the theatre, seeing friends and family. All of it is special, including the presents.

[anonymosity]

seventy five pounds each. They will get 4 things to open. they have birthdays and they get other new things during the year. I don't want to give them a pile of stuff so that next Christmas the pile looks disappointingly small. My DS actually only wanted ONE thing, but to be fair to him with DD they are getting as I said 4 items each.

[Blackletterday]

Oh and they are not grasping demanding types tbh. All ds1 wants is a bike and a remote controlled car, which I have got. I also bought him a lego city thingy and a lightsabre as a surprise.

I let them loose in toys r us for their birthdays, dd chose a £5 puffle and a wii game. Ds chose a £10 bendy bus which he has barely looked at since

[ilovemyfestivehens]

I don't know where the thread is. It could be anywhere on the site

Perhaps you could post a link?

[mamatomany]

forget it

[Blackletterday]

I don't know how people manage to do christmas cheaply tbh. I have just totted up what we have got/ordered and it comes to £355 already although that includes 2 bikes. Luckily good old tescos have saved us £90, so have got all of ds2's presents for £10 .

Still have a few things to get for dd, outfits, slippers and stockings .

They don't get massive amounts from family, grandad sent £60 between 3, nanna will buy helmets for the bikes and one of my sisters will send pyjamas.

This is actually a toned down christmas tbh, they won't have huge piles, you should have seen the haul dd got when she was a pfb.

[ilovemyfestivehens]

huh?

[mamatomany]

I grew up in care and got nothing but abuse from my foster parents

Can you go on every call social services because the mum gave the kids a funny look thread please ?
I nearly went into care, miss out on that lovely experience because my Birthday came a long in the nick of time and honestly very few children are better off being saved by SS.

[ilovemyfestivehens]

I grew up in care and got nothing but abuse from my foster parents, so I like my dcs to have a nice time at Christmas and birthdays.

ds1 is getting a laptop, some games and books for Christmas. I've probably spent about £500 on him. ds2 is 6 and is getting Dr Who stuff, games and books and I don't know how much we've spent, but it's probably aabout £250.

I save up all year round to pay for things and I don't get into debt. They're not spoilt and don't ask for stuff all the time.

[BelligerentGhoul]

Year One children getting i-pods and i-pads? That is truly bonkers imho.

[BarbieLovesKen]

Oooh dont feel bad, I do understand as think we were like that today, we initially went in to get dd's toys and maybe a soft toy for 11 month old ds (as dd would have wondered why santa hadnt came to him otherwise).

I know hes going to get loads from family as they are always ridiculously generous to our DC still after picking out and being really, really pleased with dds presents, dh felt bad and had to turn back and pick up ds some building blocks and a toy phone.

You really should save your money. There will be very few years you will get away with it!!! enjoy!!

[Woodlands]

I keep feeling bad because we're not planning to buy anything for our DS (5 months). I know he's going to get loads of presents from all our family and friends, and it just seems silly to buy something for us to unwrap for him. I thought about wrapping up some clothes I've just bought for him but that seems silly too. It just seems so ingrained that we should buy presents for people we love. There are going to be plenty of years to buy him all sorts of presents, so I guess we might as well save our money now.

[BarbieLovesKen]

I can understand this mugggletoeandwine, I may be slightly like this too. Myself and DH were just saying today that realistically, how long can we expect Santa to last? I would imagine until about 9-10, so that gives us 4-5 years left with dd1 for the magic and excitment.

Lets face it, Christmas is still lovely but I remember myself, when Santa is coming its so much nicer. Its not about the things as such (before someone sticks that one down my throat) I still got presents when I was past santa, but it was more exciting when I believed.

I love to see her little face on Christmas morning, we dont buy throughout the year either.

[mugggletoeandwine]

My DD will get presents from me only.
She'll get another couple of gifts but that's it and they won't be tailored to her.

I also buy practical stuff-pants/socks/jamas/slippers/new toothbrush etc so she has a huge pile of gifts.

It's the way I do Christmas.

Of course there will be a Mum out there in my exact circumstances who does it differently, and buys less, but I do think many of the folk who think it's too much buy throughout the year, or can afford the lessons and activities I can't, or who buy a new dressing gown just because.
I can't, and don't.

It's like the TV in bedroom argument.
So many of the people saying never, have more than one downstairs room.

We're having three types of stuffing, and there's only two of us.
I go overboard at Christmas, because I want to and because I can.

We love it.

[itsasmallworld]

I know my yr 1 child friends are getting (with what I believe to be the approximate value):

Ipod touch (£200)
Go Kart (£250)
Ipad (£400)
Limited edition WII (£200)
PS3 (£300)

I also know this isn't all they are getting they also get 'smaller' presents and stocking fillers.

But the parents can afford this, so what does it matter?

I spend what I can afford, and save through out the year to buy my dc lots of xmas presents. But they do not get any gifts/treats throughout the year. If they want a dvd for example, they have to still want it by Xmas to have it bought.

[loopylo]

DD will be 4 months old so spent 14 pounds-she has all she needs in life-milk, cuddles, clean bum...

[mummytowillow]

Well its up them really, however, I've spent £85 on my 3 year old, she has about 10 presents which I think is plenty?

[nancydrewrockinaroundxmastree]

matilda in an interesting variation on your experiment my DC (4 & 5) are sometimes taken to Toys R Us and told they can pick any one thing that they want.

The care and attention that goes into picking their toy amazes me. They both start by picking something up and saying "please can I have this" I reply yes and then the say "Oh I'm going to have a think".

They also self regulate - if one of them picks up something (physically) big the other will say "oh no that is too much" (they are at the age where they equate big with expensive) and they chose something else.

[BarbieLovesKen]

Oh and meant to say, my very lucky dc will receive alot from family.

[myleftcrutch]

I've spent about £100 on my two year old and about £70 on the baby.

Had no intention of spending that much on either but the toddler is into so much stuff these days that I kept seeing stuff I'd like to get her. Got more stuff for the baby mainly out of guilt at her sister getting more!

Next year will be tight as I'm being made redundant in the spring so making the most of being able to afford it while we can

[BarbieLovesKen]

I've done Christmas shop for dc today actually.

Spent ?190 on 5 year old dd and ?27 on 10 month old ds.

Very odd how nasty some people have got over how much some spend. Sad.

[Mishy1234]

About £200 between the 2 DC. The main present is a toy box which is for both of them. Not very exciting I know, but they are 6 months and nearly 3, so probably the last time I'll get away with it and they do need somewhere to store all their stuff. The older one is getting another 2 presents amounting to about £50 and the baby is getting 1 present which was about £10.

Other than that I'm making a pirate costume for DS1 (to go with a pirate dinosaurs book he's getting in his stocking) and a bag to store his pyjamas and his choice of bedtime story in (he loves his little rituals atm!).

Any money they get goes into their savings accounts.

[matildarosepink]

I'm not really that interested in how much money people spend, but am interested to hear the variance of opinions on whether they give their DCs everything they want - or not!

I never have a set budget, but usually know when enough's enough. Not everything's brand new, and it's usually a mixture of requested things and things they need (though always try to make these nice!) I do enjoy shopping round for things, getting the best price, etc so I can squeeze as much as possible from what we've got.

My DCs don't watch that much commercial telly (preens) and so don't really have much craving for the latest 'things'. (Yes, folks, am an example to you all! ) All joking aside, I find that really helps. Who knows whether that'll still be working later on? Anyway -

I did an interesting experiment once with the eldest at about the age of 4 or 5. Got so fed up with her asking for absolutely everything in the shop, I decided to say yes to it all. (Fingers crossed that the credit card would go through). She started off by asking politely for this and that, and eventually became more crazed by the second, throwing 'just anything' in the basket. Eventually had the most massive tantrum ever when she couldn't fit anymore in the basket, tried to find another one, went red in the face, etc. Had to be carried out. (Note here: prior to that day, hadn't always said no - I've always thought about reasonable things, and about 30-40% of the time said yes.)Roald Dahl wasn't too far off the mark with the character Veruca Salt.

To this day (nearly 9), we both remember it well. She absolutely freaked when there weren't any boundaries. So from that it became clear that it isn't healthy FOR HER to have everything she wants immediately. And when she's had to save her pocket money for some hugely important thing, which she does now and again, she finds out how much work there can be in acquiring things. Just how much 'stuff' is enough?

I think only you can know if it'll make your child some kind of ungrateful, selfish brat if they get everything on their list every time. I don't think it's up to others to judge..

[KangarooCaught]

A senible amount in relation to income.