To think £150 is a LOT of money?

[SacreLao]

Right a Christmas thread.

I spend £150 each on my children (aged 7 and 9 years old) for Christmas, this to me is a lot of money, it has been slowly raised as they get older and things cost more.

My daughter (9 years old) is getting a netbook this year as she now does a lot of school work that involves using the internet.

I managed to pick one up second hand for £100 and was chatting to a friend saying I am now going to get her lots of small cheap presents to make it look a bit more in her pile of presents as so much of the budget has gone on one present.

She thought £150 was not enough for a 9 year old and that my daughter would not be happy with only having a few presents due to the expensive netbook whereas my 7 year old son will have a lot more presents as his are all cheaper (lego, action figures etc.)

AIBU to think that

a) £150 is a lot of money for a child and they don't need anymore than that?

b) A 9 year old is old enough to understand that some presents cost more money so they are bound to have less in volume?

YANBU on either count. And that is a fact!

a is entirely subjective

b YANBU at all

c your friend should keep her nose out

£150 is a lot of money, let alone more!

What Tenant said.

Is this serious?

£150 is not enough to spend on a 9 year old?

Your friend had better not see the charity shop AIBU - she would be contacting SS!

YANBU at all. She sounds very odd.

YANBU. £150 is plenty. Wish I could bloody stick to a budget

In my defence we only have two and only a very small extended family

what Trills said.

YANBU

a) £150 is a lot of money
b) a 9 yo should be able to understand this
c) it would teach a horrible lesson if you listened to your friend

Why the actual fuck does anyone have an opinion on how much anyone else spends at Christmas.

And why do people have these conversations with anyone they don't know well enough to know they won't judge?

It baffles me. I can't think of anyone I have ever had a conversation with about how much I am spending on anything. Isn't it cringeworthy?
Is it me?

yes

Yes a serious thread Booty

Friend only has the one child but has so far bought her daughter (11 years old) a brand new laptop, a fancy phone and a digital camera!

Children do not NEED all this technology, and most don't really want it until teenage years anyway.

I wouldn't have normally bought a primary age child a netbook except she is forever using mine for school work and I don't like sharing need it for important mumsnetting work.

I felt so bad today, like I was the only person not buying my children all these expensive gadgets, glad to get a more realistic view!

But I think that about just about every thread lately...

I have never understood the obsession with ammount of presents or making things look more.
If your DD really wants the netbook then why would she care if your DS had a whole mountain of Lego.

My budget is £75 a child x 4 so £300. Plus ds1 has his 14th birthday 6 days before Xmas so another £50 for him. They have loads of small presents rather than one big one. So £150 is a lot to me but I have spent that in previous years on each child.

I am old I think. It all eludes me.

Tired of mumsnet, tired of life...

Pag I don't normally discuss money.

It only came up as friend had asked what I had bought for DD so I told her a netbook and she then asked what else I would be getting

Hence I said a few smaller bits to fill it up but that's it really as the netbook took a lot of the budget.

This is a close friend who isn't normally judgey so was

I have no idea what I or anyone else spends. As little as possible is about the extent of it.

It is if you don't have much or the child already has too much stuff. Spending it for the hell of it would be daft.

I'm so glad mine are young and don't want anything at all.

Our budget is about £70 per DC (we have 3). DD1's birthday is on the 28th too so have to budget for that.

YANBU. Small expensive present, or lots of not-so-expensive ones. My 7yo understands that, so why wouldn't a 9yo?

What's wrong with the op saying 'i'm getting my dd a netbook and some other small bits for her to open ' If I found a netbook for £100 too I may well tell my friends as i'd consider it a bargain. It's not as though she was handing her a pile of receipts to scrutinise.

Meh, I really wouldn't worry about it op, people can be weird.

"Friend only has the one child but has so far bought her daughter (11 years old) a brand new laptop, a fancy phone and a digital camera!"

That is ridiculous. DD (11) would get a phone or a digital camera and certainly not a brand new laptop.

You do Hully it's on here every freakin' September to December,

'AIBU I want to spend £20,000 on my newborns first Christmas, DH thinks I'm extravagant.'

'AIBU I knitted tuppence to buy second hand satsumas for my 10 DC to share, MIL thinks I'm stingy.'

No offence OP, tell your friend to mind her own.

Surey its not what you spend but that within reason you buy what they actually want (or need). Whats the point in a huge pile of unwanted presents just for the sake of spending huges amounts of money on them.

YANBU OP. If I were you and you haven't aready got one I'd use the other £50 to get a printer to go with the net book and some printing paper but that's just me