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 :-)

We didn't buy DD anything beyond a stocking until she was 3.She got so much from family that she was often overwhelmed.We concentrated on having a nice tree(and letting her put some of her homemade 'decorations'on),singing Carol's.
As she got older she made a Christmas list for Santa(1 main item as a few other things).We have only ever spend£200 and that was for a lap top and I got her a smart phone 2 years ago.I usually spend less than £50 now she's a teen but she knows I pay for a lot of round the year things too.
She still gets a stocking and we still like a nice tree.

My two are 11 and 15 have always spent around £200 each for Xmas this includes a stocking. Clothes would be a main gift as they often ask for something fancy at this age like the £60 hoodie . I also spend about £100 each per month per child through the year. The £100 covers pocket money, mobile phones and money for activities.

My son is 16. Haven't a clue how much I'll spend this year but it will include a new laptop.

It's true that as they get older the cost goes up.

Last year I spent around £150 ish on DS as he was 7 months old. That included clothes. Spent about 300 on DSD which again included clothes. It was her mums idea initially. This year I'm planning on spending 100 on DS and 200 on DSD as money is very tight. It'll include some clothes though she doesn't need much as we we bought her a lot last month for winter xx

£100 is what I aim to not go over usually and mine are 6 and 9 this year. That includes a main present and then some smaller ones like books, stationary, clothes etc.
I keep an eye out for when the specific thing goes on offer. Don’t have a specific thing this year. Last year eldest got a Nintendo 3DS from the cex second hand shop and some very cheap games for it. It’s what she wanted and had been asking for but I couldn’t stretch to a new package. Glad I didn’t as it hasn’t taken off this year. Their best presents were kindle fires - eldest got hers a few years ago on offer for £40 as we didn’t think she needed the kids one. Youngest got hers a a couple of years ago and I got it down to £70 for the kids one.
I do pick up bits in the year at the bargain shops. This year it’s lol, especially for youngest, so I’ve picked up some knickers in primark and then an annual and colouring book in home bargains. They get plenty from other relatives. I’m also single parent so they do get another set of presents now at dad’s house. We used to share the cost of main things and open at one house but he has a new family now so they do their own thing and his family sends their presents to his house. Means they get smaller piles (well at mine they do) now. Even when we shared the cost we kept to the same budget.
My DD has a friend who got a phone in y2, and 3DS in y3, and laptop in y4. All new. But she’s an only child with 2 working parents. I’ve had to explain we can’t do this. We’ve told them we send the money to Santa and he chooses what to make from the list they send and delivers the presents on Christmas Eve. They understand all children get different things.
When they were 6 months and 3 years they’d get one main present off me (happyland set or something) and then similar priced present off each family member, plus clothes etc.

Last year I went a bit ott and spent around £1000 for both children.

This year I’ve brought it in slightly.

Dd (5), I’ve got her around £350 of toys.

Ds (3) has got about the same.

They will also get a few things off family

Too much really but I always go a bit overboard!

The 20 year old will get £250 into her bank account and will also have around £250 worth of things to open. The 12 year old will have a Nintendo switch and around £250 worth of bits and pieces

However ... I start my buying in August and I am VERY canny. I've picked up a £36 m & s onesie for £8, a set of lip glosses for £7 which are worth £54 (spotted an online price glitch), my eldest loves expensive hair stuff so I add them to my weekly shop well in advance. I put aside 2 for 1s and I buy special offers - I already have the vast majority put aside.

So they get nice big piles of gifts but I've been on the lookout for almost 6 months to make it happen without it costing me an absolute bomb

DS1(5) birthday falls just before Christmas so depending on what we have spent on that/what he needs, anything from £50-£200. We tend to go for one big present (bike, kindle fire, train set etc) plus pjs, selection box, book, dvd and stocking. DS2 will only be 5 months so we may just get him a token gift, or possibly a larger toy we would end up buying anyway, like a jumperoo, so max £70. He'll be getting all DS1's old toys so his budget will probably be smallish until school. I don't see the point of spending for the sake of it.

Ooh what's the Christmas bargain thread....always looking for a bargain? I include clothes (which she never wears) and probs spend about 50 on toys etc - she's 8. I look for preloved stuff on fb for sale sites too

**A question for those who spend less then £50, do your kids not ask for expensive things or do you say no? My daughter is 3, she's only asked for 2 things from Santa but they come to £70 alone before I even start a stocking. Toys are expensive.

How do they know about these things? We don’t watch tellie with adverts, we don’t get any toy catalogues. Oldest asked for a car race track for christmas, he’ll get a hotwheels track for £25.

Yura - we tend to nip expensive things in the bud. “I’m going to ask Father Christmas for an i-pad”. “Father Christmas can’t afford it.” They’re pretty good with it really! And generally perfectly delighted with loads of bits of chocolate and plastic tat on the day that they don’t really mind!

Yura we do watch programmes with adverts, get a toy catalogue, we look at toys in the supermarket etc. I'm trying to suss out what she likes so I know what to get. I also love kids toys so I don't mind.

Penguin Yura was quoting a question I asked

When they were younger it used to be about £200 each. Now they are all late teens, it’s £500-£1000 depending on what is needed. Things for university or horses etc, it adds up. I wish I could spend less but I still have this need to try and recreate the joy of Christmas surprises when they were younger.

Ashamed to say about $1000 each we're in Oz) need to cut back this year.

DD 4 - £150-200

DS 7 and 9 - £250-300

They all get the same number of presents, we spend slightly more on the boys as the older they get the more expensive their pressies are getting so it's hard to get a decent pile for the same price - this year they will get a Nintendo switch between them, a game and some Stocking pressies. DD we might get some playmobile and LOL dolls and little bits like that!

We normally include a pair of PJ's on Xmas eve and for eldest DS we have started including certain clothes as part of a present - so he has normal clothes which we get as and when needed but if he wants a certain thing eg football kit or football boots they go in as a birthday or Xmas pressie as we wouldn't normally spend £70 on football boots or £80 on a branded football kit!

We’ll spend about £50-£60 per child (plus another £10 or so each on stocking fillers). I’m getting a big overtime payment so that will cover Christmas. We have 4 children though so don’t need to spend lots to have a magical Christmas. It’s all about baking and decorating the house and christingle services and watching Christmas movies and sending letters up the chimney.

It must be an Irish thing, but everyone I know spends loads at Christmas (same goes for wedding presents).

I have 2 ds and we'll probably spend about £300-£400 each.

@NeverTalksToStrangers I’m also Irish (well, NI) and it would be normal for us to get plenty at Christmas on the understanding that birthdays are a bit less of a fuss.

It evened out in the end though.

Me and the kids dad spend £100 per child (11&6) for main presents. If we are getting the eldest something more expensive we ask grandparents to contribute.

We'll spend around £10 each on stockings and around £20 for a shared christmas eve box. About another £20 on Christmas craft/baking and the same again on a trip to see Father Christmas.

I sometimes buy clothing for presents but it would be something 'special' like a nice Christmas dress for my daughter or character pjs or a sports brand hoodie for my son.

Those of you who spend a fair amount, do you mind me asking how you do it? Do you save throughout the year or do you just have a lot left over each month? DH and I both work FT (teacher and police officer) but have very little left over each month. I wish we could afford a bit more!

I normally start buying in sept/October time to spread the cost over 3/4 months, my DH gets paid weekly so in Sept and December there are normally two 5 week months so we have an extra weeks pay for each of those months that covers It for us and he also get an xmas bonus. If we didn't get this we would save a little each month most probably.

Those who spend a lot, what do you even buy? And aren’t they overwhelmed? And where do you put it all? We have a large 5 bed house and even with the amount we spend it feels like we are drowning in toys! It’s not a judgy question, I just honestly find that half the reason we keep spending low (we could spend more) is not because we are trying to be frugal but because we can’t imagine what else they would need, or where we would put it!

I usually start shopping in September. I donate last years spare loot to the preschool, charity shop . We don't have lots of money either and do not get away for holidays, So I like to spend Christmas well and see a few cheap shows etc.

NeverTwerkNaked I’m thinking the same! We have a large house, the DC’s have their own rooms and they have a separate large playroom. I genuinely can’t imagine where we’d put, or what they would do with another £300-£400 worth of toys!