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 :-)

@Zara87 I think sometimes budgeting doesn't help. This year for Christmas I have bought £247 worth of toys for £100! (They both have around 17 things each to open)All down to planning and shopping. If you do a budget it can stress you out more. So I have found a site called toysforapound and it's amazing. I have bought so much on there for both kids most stuff a £1 the maximum £5. You'll seen on the site the different caterhoies and then multi price. I bought a chase paint your own kit for £1 (came in the box with a £10 sticker on from the entertainer tou shop.) they have fossil evacuation kits etc. And for my one year old pull along toys for £5, shape sorted £5 plus cars etc for £1 each.

I then went to b and m when it has their sale on and did the two for £16. For my one year old I got to largeiah toys that I am going to put together and wrap up. At his age they don't understand. It's all about looking around for the best deals. Never buy from Argos as there has been reports they are nearly double the prices for some of their items.

Yes I buy clothes because my boy gets so excited especially as character ones and cheap bits from primark bulk it out. All I have left is to get sweets and bath stuff from Asda on my food shop each week £4 a week now up until Christmas so I don't notice it for a stocking each.

Another thought is you can buy a few toys and then when it gets to better weather buy a season ticket for somewhere so you always have a day out even when you have no money :) our families now give the boys money towards that xx

We usually spend £250-300 on our son who is 4. Last Christmas was significantly more though he got a bike £140, tablet £70, a robot toy £80 and a pram £40 plus about 10/12 other medium presents and a stocking. Putting it all under the tree made us feel really foolish and a bit ridiculous to be honest! This year we are scaling things right back and will aim to spend no more than £200!

We wouldn't do clothes as a present ordinarily but as he's getting older we might slip in some pjs and character t-shirts that he would enjoy!

I agree with @Mammykamb. If anything I think there’s an inverse relationship between the amount of money spent st Christmas, and income. If you have money you can typically buy throughout the year, so the massive “got to buy this” is less of an issue, IME.

I was born and raised in a council estate and many of my relatives are still there. I am at the other end of the economic spectrum now (well, Boden rather than Balenciaga, but you get my drift) and the difference in our approach to Christmas is staggering. I make a conscious effort to not buy tat for the sake of it (and certainly not designer clothes, etc. for my kids) whereas my cousins’ kids get designer this, that and the other. It’s very much a source of pride for my cousins that their kids are wearing Nike, Moncrief, etc. because it shows that they can afford it. To me, the fact that your kids wear this screams “council estate” because no-one with money feels the need to show the world they have money.

My cousin and I have had some spirited discussions about this and we’ve both agreed to disagree even though I’m right

Triwarrier your post really rings true so much!
Even when I'm not on mat leave, we shop at places like next, Zara and gap for nice clothes . Nursery clothes come from asda, Matalan usually.
We are both earning enough to live off happily (approx household income of £72,000).
However my sis in law who lives in a council estate and has 5 under the age of 8 makes no secretly the fact she spends around £500 per child at xmas! Last year she bought 3 new Xboxes between them
And her 2yo will never be seen in anything that's not a branded tracksuit/ trainers etc. It baffles me that she'll spend so much.

Usually between £40 and £80 per child.

I have two kids and I spend £130 on each. No idea where I got that figure from but I stick to it every year (oldest now ten). That includes main Santa pressie, 7 pressies under tree and 7 stocking items. I keep to all these numbers exactly, again no idea why!

When I was married DH used to buy Santa pressie. Now I'm divorced I get no help for extra budget but equally they get two christmases which makes me very sure £130 is enough as they a second Christmas at exDh's.

Obviously peoples budget will vary because everyones income various so you can really say if someone is spending too much or too little. It's better to think what your child would actually enjoy and get pleasure out of rather than thinking to much about what it costs (obviously not going over what you can afford). At age 3 little things like having your own special Xmas bubble bath that no one else can use is the Best Thing Ever. For the baby - My First Christmas outfits are a must. You only get your first Christmas once. Pep and Co have got little Christmas baby bodysuits in - they are £1.50 each. I'm going to get some for my daughters dolls!

About 20/30e on the small baby and about 50-80e on 5 year old. We don’t do big presents in my family it’s genuinely the thought that counts and the spending time together. We tend to discuss presents with the wider family and plan in advance so everyone gets what they want. I like to give lots of small thoughtful presents rather than really expensive stuff. My ds has a birthday in October so he gets a big present then

About £400 on 3 dc, in roughly equal amounts. But they have lots of generous relatives so that's not the end of it really.

Our kids are only 2 and 4 so the budget it £40 each. Last year was less. I start buying in September, some of it is new, some from charity shops, hand me downs and eBay. If there's anything else they really want, the grandparents usually spend about £30 on each child and come to us for ideas.

I'm sure as they get older they'll want the latest things and the budget will have to increase. For now, they get a sackful of toys each, plus a stocking and I think that's plenty.

@triwarrior your post is spot on. We are not well off but we are able to save about £3-400 a month, go on 1 foreign holiday a year and food always on the table I would say that makes us living comfortably! We don't spend money on designer tat! Our shoes are vans/Adidas and boots mostly real leather types but our clothes are all supermarket brands! I am really confused when I see friends who I went to school with who had kids at 16, I know are living on a combination of benefits and a minimum wage part time job - I have no idea HOW they afford the designer brands. It must be HUGE credit card debt.

I have spent £40 so far on both and that's the majority of pressies from us (from NCT sale). I will probably spend another £30-40 on both (on a sharing present and top up item each) plus probably £60 between them on stockings (I know what I'm getting, just waiting until next payday to get them) so I guess approx £150 all in, leaving room for paying delivery. They are 4 and 6 so I can get away with second hand

Ah, one of the good things about having older kids - ours want nothing BUT clothes! 🤣

About £100 each per child. DS's birthday is in December as well which is a bit of a nightmare, so we do also get a few clothes as well to pad it out

When they were younger about £40-50 and now probably going nearer to £100 but that does include some useful things like clothes. Usually includes books/DVDs too. We don't have much more cash to spend but tbh they seem to get a massive pile of stuff as we buy for various friends and relatives. A main gift would be something like Fifa 19 or last year they both got an Amazon Echo dot plus some other bits & bobs. They seem to always have plenty & don't go without.

I spend about 250 each on DC. They're into tech and games which is pricey. I don't buy clothes at Xmas as I buy those when needed...

But mine only get presents at birthdays or Xmas. Nothing in between.

To be honest my son's favourite present last Christmas was a pair of Thomas pjs. He is going to have a mix of clothes and a few toys, he doesn't really want much toy wise. In all fairness he gets lots off the extended family and we don't need to go mad.

What do you mean "joint present"?

Around £100 each (3 DC, 12, 11 and 8) to include stockings, main present and a few books/clothes. This year the main present is a (second hand) Xbox One to share which has cost me nearly £150 so that leaves £50 each. I usually try to do the stockings for £20 each and I'm trying to lean towards fewer more expensive fillers rather than 20 pieces of tat that never get looked at after Christmas (but were fun to buy when they were small!). Books £5-10 each. Usually an item of clothing or outfit for £10-20. I also buy new PJs for Christmas Eve, £5-10 each.

We only have one child and his birthday is pretty much halfway into the year
We made a conscientious decision to buy gifts only at Xmas and b/day or rewards if he excelled at school (football stickers etc )
Needless to say we don't have a budget. If he's waited 6mths then I think we owe him the present
So, usually it's around the £3-400 mark all in.
Often less, but never more.

I get clothes for my DC as Christmas gifts amongst other more fun presents.

Socks/pants/t shirt in stockings.

New PJ's as under the tree gifts.

Bulks out the pile and gives them more to open.

I have no idea how much we spend but luckily don't have to worry about money. Could easily be a few hundred each by the time you include the calendars, books (£10), DVDs (£10), sticker books (£7), pyjamas (£10-20), and various activities we do in the run up (£30 each? Maybe more) plus stocking presents (including toothbrush (£3), set pants (£6), tights/socks set (£12), DVD (£3-15), CD (£10), plus a selection of small toys that soon add up (£3-£15 each). Their presents from us tend to be a book (£10), toy (£20-30), clothes (£30) so I'm not splashing out on designer stuff by any stretch and the DDs tell me I'm a mean Mummy who doesn't buy phones and electronic devices. They get a ton of stuff from family as well but it's in the 'books or board game' price range. Think might push for experiences this year though. I think people with money spend the most because we can and do all year round but it's not so conspicuous. An expensive coat with no 'designer' markings could well be more expensive than one with branding all over it, shoes for kids could be between £10 and £60 without going for an obvious brand.

Just to add

We are NC with siblings and parents
Meaning what he gets from us is all he gets full stop

@ottersmum I usually get them something to share that they'll both play with eg Lego, kinex, this year I have my eyes on a play vets kit.