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AIBU?

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151 replies

Justanothermummyof3 · 19/11/2014 14:50

I was wondering what is the average amount a parent spends per child on Christmas presents? Me and dh don't seem to beable to agree on this and children seem to always end up with to much. This year we have cut back a bit and budgeted for £500 main presents and around £75 stocking, is this out of control?????????

OP posts:
NorwaySpruce · 19/11/2014 14:53

No, but your question marks seem to have run away with themselves Xmas Grin

Some people will spend thousands without a second thought, some will spend a tenth of that.

The average is meaningless as it's such a personal thing, and depends on a familys outlook, values, means etc.

iamsofuckingfurious · 19/11/2014 14:54

Spend what you can afford. Everyone on here has different incomes so will spend different amounts. You don't need anyone else to validate your Christmas spending.

Suefla62 · 19/11/2014 14:54

Is this for one child? If so it's way out of control. Mine would be £200 max.

LadyLuck10 · 19/11/2014 14:55

It's up to you but that seems very excessive. But really it's your choice.

DialsMavis · 19/11/2014 14:55

Spend what you like/can afford

NancyRaygun · 19/11/2014 14:57

I think that is about £400 too much to be honest!

Cauliflowersneeze1 · 19/11/2014 14:57

Jesus Christ woman !
£575 per child , you must be made of money

I spend £100 max when they were younger plus a small present on Boxing Day . now that they are both working about £50/80 plus I get the food and drink they want

MrsCosmopilite · 19/11/2014 14:58

It depends how many children you're budgeting for, and whether you can afford it.

I'll likely spend about £40-50 on DD for presents, maybe £10 on a stocking. Her birthday is not that far from Christmas so she'll get another load of presents then.

I have a hoard of nieces and nephews to buy for too, so the adult ones now get nothing, but are invited to any festive things we do. The younger ones get £10-20 each spent on them, depending on how close we are to them. They don't all know each other(different sides of the family), so would not know what we spend on each 'set'.

FelixTitling · 19/11/2014 15:02

Mine will get no more than $150 spent on them.

about $100 for the main present and about $50 for the stocking stuff.

How old are your dc's?

ghostyslovesheep · 19/11/2014 15:02

Well as I said on this exist same post yesterday anywhere between 10p and £366557876 - hth

youbethemummylion · 19/11/2014 15:08

Depends what you've got to spend some years I spend more than others depending on my finances at the time. I never spend what I haven't got.

NorwaySpruce · 19/11/2014 15:09

It's all relative isn't it.

If you have the money, £500 could easily disappear on theatre tickets, a pair of decent boots and a tablet.

A laptop/PC or bile will bump it up quickly too, as will expensive hobby equipment.

If I had it to spare, I'd happily spend thousands on a violin, for example.

As I don't have that kind of money, I spend less.

JustSpeakSense · 19/11/2014 15:10

We spend £100 per child for their main present and then about £30 - £40 on their stockings. (My kids are 10 & 13) when they were younger we spent much less.

We have friends who spend about what you have budgeted on their kids but their children are real brats and every sentence begins with 'I want'

BoomBoomsCousin · 19/11/2014 15:14

I wouldn't dream of spending that much. But we might buy them something like, say, a computer at the start of a school year, or new bikes at the start of the summer holidays and not treat them as presents. Different families do things differently. Some might give less as presents but spend more on holidays. Others might be allocate money to school fees. Some people can't afford to spend much on anything.

I don't think it's a matter of what's the average. It's more a matter of what you can afford and how you want to allocate your budget, both around the family and through the year.

ithoughtofitfirst · 19/11/2014 15:19

Fuck knows op. I'm currently asking myself how much i should spend on my newborn. I'm thinking about £20 and about 50 -100 for my toddler.

curiousgeorgie · 19/11/2014 15:30

This year DD1 is having about £800, because of getting a tablet and the fact we bought her pretty much everything they sold while we were in Florida last month...

DD2 about £300 because of a wooden kitchen and a couple of other bits.

It's more about what they want than how much it costs. If she asked for a bunch of small stuff I'd happily only spend 1-2 hundred or whatever, but it just worked out differently this year.

MonstrousRatbag · 19/11/2014 15:40

I would not even spend £100 each on mine, but then they are small and at their ages 'big' presents are cheaper.

It seems an awful lot to spend, to me. Even for teenagers.

cherrybombxo · 19/11/2014 15:46

£500+ each? That's a bit crazy.

I'd say £100-£150 is reasonable.

nancy75 · 19/11/2014 15:47

About £500 this year, we are buying dd a laptop and printer and then little stuff like books. The thing is I only have 1 and can afford to spend it, if I had less money or more children it wouldn't be as much. Christmas shouldn't be a competition to see who can spend the most ( or as I sometimes see on here who can spend the least) just do what you are happy with and don't worry about everyone else

nancy75 · 19/11/2014 15:49

And I don't agree with anyone saying spending xxx is crazy or too much, if you want to spend it and aren't going on to debt then it is fine to spend any amount

whatadrain · 19/11/2014 15:53

When I had one child I probably spent £200. Then I had my DTs and I probably split that between all three. I could probably afford to spend more but I don't see the point! Christmas isn't about how much you spend. I'd rather spend my money on taking them out and having quality time together.

Wishtoremainunknown · 19/11/2014 15:54

Well it's your money but I'd say you run the risk if your children being extremely spoilt with that amount spent on them.

CheeseAndBeans · 19/11/2014 15:54

I don't think it matters how much you spend, spend what you can afford. It drives me mad seeing some of my friends spending £100's on christmas then being out of pocket for the rest of the year! I have spent about £80 on DD. Things are tight this year. But I know what I have got her she will love.

KitKat1985 · 19/11/2014 15:55

Sounds quite a lot to me, but if you can afford it and it's not going to cause you any financial issues, then why not? x

DuelingFanjo · 19/11/2014 15:57

I think £75 in a stocking is loads but we don't put expensive gifts in the stocking just novelty ones, chocolates, fruit etc.

I do a stocking for everyone who comes so this year it's 4 adults and one four year old. I probably spend about £25 on the lot.

DH and I have a budget for eachother of about £70 and then DS is probably having less than £100 spent on him - we buy stuff throughout the year and stash it away so we aren't spending all that at once.

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