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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask how much you plan on spending on DCs at Christmas?

400 replies

Snowflakes1122 · 28/10/2016 18:35

I ask because dc10 seems to have a lot of friends getting the iPhone 6 or 7 for Christmas. I'm talking 9/10 year old kids!

I was planning on spending £150 per child (we have 3 dcs)

What do you think is an acceptable amount to spend on your children at Christmas?

OP posts:

Philoslothy · 30/10/2016 23:45

Do you have drawers of abandoned phones?

Buttercupsandaisies · 30/10/2016 23:46

Mine won't as its a bday gift and I'm happy to buy new.

People with young kids really can't compare. I could easily spend less than a £100 years ago- you can't get much these days for older kids without spending a bit more

Buttercupsandaisies · 30/10/2016 23:46

I stick old ones on eBay though I admit I rarely upgrade my phone - DD will have the same as me!

gamerwidow · 31/10/2016 08:24

It's true you can't compare older kids with younger ones. I said upthread I'd be spending less than £200 for dd(6) but you can get loads of little bits for that price. For a teenager that wouldn't go anywhere I'd expect to double that when she starts wanting electronics and clothes instead of toys.

kath6144 · 31/10/2016 08:43

where on earth did the 'If you spend £600 then you cant afford to send them to Uni' comment come from? Very PA and very very presumptuous!!!

I can assure that poster that I can afford to do both, thank you, and have change to spare. And my DC are not spoilt in any way, they love all aspects to xmas, even £1 stocking fillers and freeby activities.

there was a relationship thread in the summer about a women trying to decide whether to buy a house with her new partner (both previously married) despite large differences in salary and his savings etc. One poster practically said the DP was a liar, as there was no way he and his ex could have saved so much and have bought a no of properties on their stated joint salary!! I had to reply - pointing out the guy was at an age (late 50s) when he may well have bought property 30+ years ago, therefore affording more at a low price (my first house being 16K) - which then led onto larger disposable income as he got older. Plus he had had inheritances. So perfectly possible for him not to have lied about his savings or property portfolio.

Sorry to derail the thread, but the comment about not affording uni annoyed me as much as that summer comment.

As long as people dont get into debt and can afford to pay bills, no one else can say that they are spending too much or too little. It is all relative. And spending a few hundred also doesn't mean your DC will end up as spoilt brats. My DC have had more spent on them as they have got older, as the items they interested in are more expensive.

catgirl1976 · 31/10/2016 08:45

It depends on what you can afford, what your child wants and what you feel comfortable with.

Lots of people who could afford to spend thousands don't because a) they don't want spoilt children, b) the child wants something that costs £20 and c) it would be ridiculous.

Likewise I know people who really can't afford it getting into debt to lavish hundreds of pounds worth of presents on their child.

There's no right answer It's entirely subjective.

FWIW I have no idea what I will spend on DS (5) as he hasn't said what he would like but I imagine it will be a largish Lego set, some books, maybe a game and some bits so probably around the £100 mark.

Kikibanana86 · 31/10/2016 08:48

I just buy what I think they like. My oldest two want a PS4 this year so they'll get that as a shared gift. I'll get them a tv too as they'll need one to play it on! Along with games , stockings and a few extra toys to open I don't really know what it'll cost. Middle daughter will probably get some sort of console too.younger two mainly playmobil, Lego, arty stuff.

I don't feel the need to spend exactly the same amount on them.

MuseumOfCurry · 31/10/2016 09:52

It's getting a bit late in the day to hang your hat on your child not having an iPhone anymore.

I want my son to have Google Maps and he has a (Firefly?) homework app that he works with continuously and texting has become the standard means of communicating. Things move on, there's no great virtue in your child having an old Nokia brick.

BowieFan · 31/10/2016 10:14

True but a 9 year old doesn't need an iPhone. You can get very good android smartphones for £50 these days that do all the same.

DS1 has an iPhone but DS2 is happy with his android phone - he finds it easier to use. I certainly wouldn't buy a 9 year old an iPhone - too expensive to be carrying around at that age, in my opinion.

altik · 31/10/2016 10:34

True but a 9 year old doesn't need an iPhone. You can get very good android smartphones for £50 these days that do all the same.

My 9 year old daughter has an iPhone. It's a 3GS one, so approx 7 years old and worth £6, if I were to sell it now.

Don't assume all iPhones are £800 phones! They're not. There's no way I'm spending £50 on a smartphone, when she can have a £6 iphone at home!

MuseumOfCurry · 31/10/2016 10:48

Sure, I was referring to secondary school aged children.

JacquesHammer · 31/10/2016 14:49

True but a 9 year old doesn't need an iPhone. You can get very good android smartphones for £50 these days that do all the same

Yup but when parent upgrades and has a spare iPhone knocking around it becomes cheaper than buying a £50 phone.

My 10 year old has had an iphone since she was 8. No damage, no loss, well loved and adored. It costs us £5 a month for her contract.

Re: Christmas I don't go overboard for me and buy things throughout the year on special offer. Her main present is costing £30 this year and I know she will go mad for it

Meadows76 · 31/10/2016 15:06

Do you have drawers of abandoned phones? No, why on earth would I?

Strokethefurrywall · 31/10/2016 16:47

This thread is brilliant - I can really feel the festive love

KondosSecretJunkRoom · 31/10/2016 16:49

Stroke

Kikibanana86 · 31/10/2016 17:53

WHY does a 9 year old need a phone?

JacquesHammer · 31/10/2016 18:25

Kiki

I can't speak for anyone else but when exH and I separated our DD asked for a phone so she could text the other parent.

It's worked brilliantly for us.

She has 10 numbers. All family. And she really enjoys being able to text when she's at the other house.

We felt it was important to make this happen for her as part of her dealing with the separation

altik · 31/10/2016 19:02

Kiki

For us, my almost ten year old goes dancing. We live in a rural market town. My parents collect her from school and drop her at dancing, and then leave her there. She is then collected by her dad, who works in another city 30 miles away. There are no phones in the building of the dance school. If there's an accident on the way home and DH can't get back to DD on time, if DD has not got a phone, then he cannot let her know he will be late, and she'll be left on her own. She's left wondering what time she will be collected.

Or like with my other DD was 9 and for her dance class there was nowhere to park or even to stop., so I used to drop and run. Drove all the way home to find out the class had been cancelled, and DD had been left at an empty hall. Thankfully, she commandeered a stranger's phone that time to phone the house and I drove back to collect her waiting alone.

There have been a number of other incidents like that. When you live rurally and both work in cities some distance away, and you are reliant on other people to pick your children up from school and take them to places... a phone comes in mighty handy when the messages that X class has been cancelled or changed times etc haven't made it back to you!

Stillwishihadabs · 01/11/2016 05:57

We are similar dd(just 10) rides 3 nights a week she is picked up/dropped off by others 3/5 nights a week. She needs her phone. (IPhone 5 £20/month).

multivac · 04/11/2016 21:03

Kiki

I don't know how old your children are, but why do they need a PS4?

Because they want one?

ChubbyMummy12 · 04/11/2016 22:09

Done my online xmas shop tonight, spent 200 on my 5 year old and 80 on my DD who will be 1 at Christmas. I will probably spend another 20 on bits and bobs for the stockings and that's me done.

maggiethemagpie · 05/11/2016 13:33

£50 each but only because they'll get about £200 each spent on them from gps and other family.

We provide the stockings from santa, plus maybe a small present under the tree.

GizmoFrisby · 05/11/2016 13:38

I spend about 250 each on big presents then they get about 150 in small presents each. They get a lot of outside presents from family too.

ElaineVintage · 05/11/2016 19:19

I have DS age 4 and DD age 3. Will most prob spend around £100-150 each incl stocking fillers.

thefraggleontherock · 05/11/2016 21:04

DS1 (4) is getting his first bike so with safety gear it will be about £80 then a few surprises from Santa so around £100. DS2(1) is getting a toot toot animal train that was on offer plus a couple of animals to go with it. That came to around £40 plus surprises will be around £60. I don't like spending for the sake of it so I just buy things I know they will like rather than meeting a particular figure, there will be plenty of years down the line where they want more expensive gifts so might as well save where we can.

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