Is 400 enough for two dc?

[Lipperfromchipper]

Just a Christmas question, dc are 6 and 4,
I have spent about 320 so far and was thinking if I spent another 80 between them on stocking fillers that would be plenty?? But I’m getting cold feet about that!!? How much have you spent on two dc of similar ages??

I wish I'd only spent that sad DS wants a nintendo switch (quick £300) , daughter wants an old silver cross pram (£150) ...bought second hand bikes for both of them (£120 in total

Your choice to do that. If my dc wanted a games console, that would be their main gift, they certainly wouldn't be getting a bike as well.

Spend what you can afford, right? We have a budget but i'm also mindful that I dont want our children to have ridiculous amounts of presents

Anyone who's spending only £35 per child - HOW??!!!

I think if anyone's genuinely doing that, it's because their DC generally receive things as and when throughout the year.

DS pretty much only gets things on his birthday or Christmas. So he'll get a reasonable amount on those two occasions.

If he got things frequently throughout the year, naturally he'd get much less in December.

Yes, spend what you can afford. It's not rocket science.

Anyone who's spending only £35 per child - HOW??!!!

If you only have £35 spare between now and Christmas... that's how

I see over and over from those who are frugal "They don't want or need anything else"
That's nice. Mrs Browne style
Some children do need extra stuff at Christmas. DD will get a nice winter coat for Christmas day and shoes, those will be used for the year until next Christmas. It is a good time year for bargains, the same cost would have been double in October, same with crafts, play dough, colouring sets, it looks lots though it lasts a few months.
What is the issue.

if you're going to buy expensive presents for your kids, please make sure they know they're from you and not Santa
Good point.
Santa only brings the one toy in this house.

Yup. Santa brings a small thing which he knows they like. For us, it's modeling clay for one kid and a paper plane kit for the other.

wanted to say if you're going to buy expensive presents for your kids, please make sure they know they're from you and not Santa, otherwise the kids who get a £10 budget spent on their stocking will wonder why Santa doesn't love them as much as the kids who got the latest phone / computer / etc...

What the heck? Its your choice to fill your kids heads with santa nonsense! Nobody else's responsibility

Santa brings a sack of bigger gifts and the stocking in this house. He must like us more.

@Tvstar
It's just etiquette. Kids talk, and in primary 2 and 2 they stiĺ believe in Santa. If one kid from a family with money tells his friend's that santa brought him a Nintendo switch and another kid is standing there thinking "santa only brought me a book" then that's just shit.
Kids understand finances and that some people have more money than others. They don't understand that the magical being they believe in would bring a huge gift to their friend and only give them a book. It's cruel, and totally unecessry.

When I was growing up, literally every kid I went to school with got one small gift from Santa. Everything else as from named people. I've moved to a different town, my kids are in primary school and it's the same. They all get one gift from Santa and everything else is from names people. Apart from the few kids who know Santa isn't real because their parents never did the Santa thing.

It's just courtesy to the wider society. But some people, as I've learned from mumsnet, will give their kid a gigantic pile all from Santa.

This is where you get lots of people who say - you started the Santa myth so you suffer it. Which I don’t agree with, we have a mix from FC and from us.

I've done 450 on 5 year old, consists of 12 presents and stocking fillers, all things he will use and most of them will get years out of.

I've done 300 on 2 year old..... which again is about 12 presents, most of which he will get years out of.

I didn't have a set amount and I do think I over spent. We never pay outright for presents, they are usually put on a card in october time and then between october and january/feb we pay off in segments as it seems less of a drainer on the accounts.
We don't have a massive income but we do sacrifice certain things at this time of year to give the boys a nice, biggish christmas. They only really get toys etc on their birthday, never any other time throughout the year. So birthdays and christmas I do like to splurge and treat them.
I never have a set budget as such, next year could be 200 each instead.... just whatever it takes really.

Each to their own, I think I follow my own upbringing of waking up with quite a lot to open, not all necessarily expensive.

I find it hard to have a budget of say 100 on christmas because most toys are so expensive now and it would mean waking up to one present. Most children do get more than one present so I would feel bad if my DS was the only person in his family and class who got one present when everyone else got more. Especially when he believes in Santa, he would certainly wonder why santa brought him one present but his cousins got 8 or 9.

@CoastalWave
Anyone who's spending only £35 per child - HOW??!!!

My dd is getting a balancebike from us (£25) and santa is getting her a toy story toy (£15) so £40 total

Santa only brings one gift here each and then one between them (the crayola set) .I’m not letting him take all the credit 🤣🤣

@Lipperfromchipper I'm confused, your original post asked whether you should spend €80 on stocking fillers?

@Lipperfromchipper Pressed send too early, sorry! Are the stockings not from Santa?

Stockings don’t have to be from Father Christmas do they?

I’m confused about stockings too.

Also I’m confused by people saying that they buy coats and shoes as a Christmas present. They are a necessity. If a child needs a new coat then buy them a coat rather than waiting for an arbitrary date

The whole point of a stocking is that it is from Santa

I am going to be honest i am the kind of mom that buys the kids everything they dont need, i want them to wake up to loads of presents and i will love every minute of it! I will never judge somebody that buys their children one or 2 presents, i just feel i could not do that, i honestly feel my children would be dissapointed waking up christmas day to a few presents. Yes my children are probably spoilt brats

The stocking can be whatever you like. We’ve never once defined who it’s from.

Santa brings all the gifts here. Presents from family and friends are the only exception those are from them.

Dailygrind22
I am with you on that one. Although maybe not too much of what they dont need lol

@HobbyUnenthusiast no, one main gift from Santa and the rest from us including stocking. That’s how it was done when I was a child so that’s how I do it now.