To ask how much you spend on your kids at Xmas? (AND if you buy clothes as gifts!)

[Zara87]

We are putting together our budget for Xmas this year. I'm on mat leave so it's quite tight plus we have a huge family.
I'm thinking ds age 3 - spend around £200
Ds age 6 months-spend around £100 (And put some in his savings)

So just curious really as to what you budget per child? I'm fully aware as they get older our budget will no doubt have to increase significantly.
Also I was surprised when talking amongst friends that they don't buy clothes for their dc as presents as they see them as a necessity and not a gift (unless it's something the kid wants such as trainers).

I just am trying to get a snap shot of Xmases to come :-)

DS is 3 and I'm budgeting around 100. And that's prob ott as he doesn't need anything and family go nuts. I don't include clothes with Xmas presents.

When dd was 6 months, spent v little . At 3 maybe £100. It doesn't have to get significant more expensive as they get older. Dd does sometimes get clothes as a present, more often pjs. She will have about £200 spent on her this year (12) as she wants something specific, not spent more than that any year yet.

Dd was three months last year and I think I spent about £40 on one keepsake book and one toy.

This year it’ll maybe be £60-75 on something similar.

Not out of any sense of frugality- we just have a small house and I need to limit how many toys we bring in!

We’ll probably spend £200ish on DS(2) for Christmas this year, there really isn’t much he needs - got lots of presents for his birthday in September. It will probably include some clothes but only things I know will be special for him, things like vests, trousers etc just get bought when he needs them but I bought him a top with a digger on for his birthday and his grandma bought him a whole outfit with trains that he loves and would wear every day if he could.

Our are 7&8 and this year we will probably spend £100 tops on each of them. We’ve got some saving and debt paying to do and they don’t really want or need anything. We don’t do clothing as gifts.

At 6 months wasn't very much at all.
Was on a budget and she wouldn't have remembered it. So a few sensory toys and clothes mainly.

Tbh I don't spend a great deal even now. She's 7. But she has masses of family who all buy stuff so she gets a stocking, a santa (non expensive cos he's got loads of kids to buy for) present, and one main "big" present from us.
Maybe £100, maybe £50 all in depending on what the "big" present is, and if anywhere had it on sale previous.

Sounds mean but at Xmas we always have a sea of presents from aunties, uncles, grandparents etc. And I only have so much space in the house! She's definitely not going without though.

£100-150 for my three year old, £50 for the (will then be) 3 month old.

Why do my paragraphs keep disappearing btw?

Sometimes they work, sometimes not!

I don't make a budget as I don't see the point in buying things just to spend to a certain amount. DS is 2yo and we'll be buying him a train set, don't know how much we'll spend on it until we see one we like.

About £50 each which sounds low but...

1. Both have winter birthdays
2. In laws spend £500 on them each plus similar amount for their birthdays
3. I have a huge family who all want to buy stuff for them.

Where possible we ask for theatre tickets, national Trust membership, books, clothes, outdoor stuff like bikes etc to cut down on the amount of toys.

DD(1) we plan to spend about £100 with about £50 on the 'main' gift.

I've seen a lot of this 'want, need, wear, read' around and I disagree with the need bit. I think wear is fine as long as it's something they'll want to wear (not something like a new coat/trainers just because they need that item).

Hmm interesting! I'm now thinking I'm spending too much!
It's older ds bday 2 weeks after Xmas and was thinking of spending another £200 then, but actually I could probably cut my budget in half and do £100 for each event. And take the baby budget down to £50.

About £100 each, but dd had more last year as she had a phone (aged 11)

I buy savvy, and they have a lots of bits and bobs, there is never a 'main' present (other than that phone) a couple of bigger toys (Lego set, playmobil set etc) but the rest are things like books, hair stuff, some clothes, games, toys etc. All presents are in their stockings other than a present under the tree from us which is usually a game each.

Presents are a mixture of new and things from the charity shop, if I am lucky new, otherwise not - ds is having a big lego set I picked up the other day for £5.

I then have Jan/Feb/March birthdays and I generally spend a lot less on that.

Come over to the Christmas bargain thread and you'll get plenty for your budget

Mine are now both 18+ but we’ve never had a set budget and the amount varies year to year , depending on what they want , and we never price match . Some years I’ve only spent £150 other years it’s been £1000 . I’ve only ever bought clothes if they’ve been specifically asked for which is rare with my dc as they are not really that fussed about designer names etc .

Also half of my Xmas/ bday presents as a child were clothes / pants/ socks / quilt covers! I hated getting them but though it was what everyone got! Was genuinely surprised to learn that it isnt the norm to do that

In my family getting socks/clothes/quilt covers is very much the norm as well.

Did get toys etc when younger but always had the other stuff as well. Tbh I didn't mind as my aunt's had better taste than my mum did!

What a stupid thread. "Hey how much money does everyone make??" Is basically what you're asking. I don't think anyone cares what you're spending on your DC and this is really just a show of who can afford what.

For future reference, put this in the Christmas section.

Absolute limit for me per child is £50 but often get bargains and manage to go under.

£200 for a 3 year old? That's mental! They probably won't care about what you get them in a week anyway.

I'd say max £100 per child. I would buy some clothes as gifts when they're older and appreciate clothes/fashion more :)

I always include clothes in my DCs Christmas presents.

Its a rule i have , because i dont want my children to grow up taking new clothes for granted. I believe that they need to be thankful for new clothes as much as any other gifts they receive.

I remember decades ago on a morning programme a child having sent a letter in to Father Christmas and all she wanted for Christmas was a new coat. I have never forgotten that.

@hamburgers good evening to you too, lovely person you appear to be
I have no idea how asking what people spend on Xmas has any relevance to what they make, I am skint at the moment due to mat leave and now realise my budget was probably far too much.
Didn't know there was an Xmas thread but thanks for being so polite when telling me

@adoggymama I agree. It's now cut down to £100 for 3 yo /£50 for baby. Which is good as we agreed to host this Xmas too (agghh) so will need more for food!

What a stupid thread. "Hey how much money does everyone make??" Is basically what you're asking. I don't think anyone cares what you're spending on your DC and this is really just a show of who can afford what.

Nonsense.

I haven’t seen one boastful response. If you don’t like the look of a thread, maybe scroll past instead of coming on and pasting the OP for asking a reasonable question.

Its ok @Zara87 iv reported that poster. No need for that.