To ask how much you spend on your children for Christmas?

[chubbycheeks26]

I imagine this has been done to death.

I am sick and tired of my mum telling me that I've spent too much on my 2 year old daughter, around £600. However, she's my only one and if she had siblings my budget would still be the same, just between them. I can afford it, so AIBU to spend this kind of money? Or am I being ridiculous?

@PTW1234 my daughter is the only child full stop in my family, next youngest is 22!

I think it is a huge amount just to spend on 'toys', but I've never been into spending lots of money on presents, my DS is a teenager now and the present budget is around £100. We have always preferred to save and invest for his future, that's our choice ...... people make different decisions. I made the choice to get a mortgage and my own home years before I had a child ... We are all different, but I would feel the same as your mother if £600 worth of toys for a two year old ended up in my house. . £600 would be a nice start towards furnishing your eventual home.

[quote chubbycheeks26]@BarbaraofSeville why are you assuming I'm on a low income? I don't usually live here! I live here as I sort of moved in with the pandemic and as I was here all of the time, I saw no point in paying rent so I gave up my privately rented flat after a month, there are people that need homes and it was sitting empty. The money that would be used for rent is actually being put away and I now have just over 5% deposit of a house. I also make a decent contribution to the household. I will either move out early next year or maybe stay a bit longer and buy somewhere.[/quote]
Er, you said yourself you 'don't have a high income', so if your income is not high, then it is low.

5% for a house deposit isn't much these days, you'll get a much better rate and a more affordable mortgage if you aim for at least 10 or even 20% and in any case, a 2YO has no idea how much presents are worth, has no concept of Christmas, takes no measure of how much you love her from the size of her Christmas present pile and there are endless better ways to spend most of your £600 Christmas present budget than on stuff for your DD that she won't care whether she has or not.

My children (1 & rising 4) get a stocking with little bits in (chocolate money, Christmas socks, a silly wind up toy, a cuddly key ring etc). Then from me & DH they get a present downstairs. This year DS was more expensive (it's a bike), DDs is a play tent that cost £40.

They will then get one present from each grandparents which will cost between £20 & £40.my siblings will get them a present each costing £10-15.

We could comfortably afford 10 times this but why would we? They are tiny children, they just get overwhelmed if you buy too much and half of it does not get played with.

chubbycheeks26 I should be good at this, had her at 18 so only 38 myself!

So far I have got her PJ's, perfume, a £30 Amazon voucher, a money box with £30 cash in it, an air balloon retro Christmas cookie tin with £20 attached, a scalf, a vegetarian cook-book, new bedding, a big bottle of gin with her name on, candles, and rather randomly a neck-rest (optimistic for travel next yr!).

Also the usual stocking fillers, chocs and other little bits. I thought about clothes, but our tastes our different. She plays both the guitar and Piano, so I though maybe some sheet music?

Would love her to have that 'wow' factor like when she was little :)

We at £100-£150 each for a 9 and 4 year old
That’s actually more than usual
But they didn’t need bikes, scooters, tablets etc

£600 for a 2 year old is insane

@thecakebadge I do put away for her over the year but I'm definitely going to more mindful over what I spend next year and put the difference away.

I know 5 year olds still playing with their peppa stuff so I don't see her growing out of it yet, never know though!

@Mintjulia

It's your money, spend it how you wish.

Anyway it isn't the cost that counts. Last year DS wanted a vr headset which was very expensive but I had the money so I stretched to it. This year DS wants a free standing mic so he can do better voiceovers. It was less than £30. He will be just as thrilled and he will get just as much use.

Brilliant point. £1 to £1000 it doesn't matter as long as you can afford it. It only becomes a waste/silly if they won't enjoy it.

This year about £150. Last year about £70. When they were toddlers we spent £20 one year. They are 9&7.

There are several factors for the low spends...
a) they are close in age. They share most stuff- any big items are shared presents
b) over indulgent grandparents
c) we have no objection to second hand... And sell on outgrown stuff or donate.

The triangle thing and Grimm's stuff... I'm guessing they have good resale value. So in acouple of years you will get a portion of that £600 back.

The higher spend this year was due to hobby equipment. But it should last several years. DD2s main present should last 10years at least- perhaps longer as it's adult size now (she needed something better than her junior version. DD1s about 5years based on previous experience of the piece of equipment.

I just dont see why she needed multiple peppa pig sets? A child doesnt need to own every single toy they might possibly like.

You could have just chosen one set. She is two years old and she's at nursery 5 days a week so is only going to be playing with these things when she is at home

Each to his own I guess - but £600 on a 2 year old seems utterly crazy to me. She will be surrounded with so many packages that she will not know what to do with it all.

Better to buy her individual things throughout the year and let her enjoy them for a while, then put them away and bring something else out - I found it was good to cycle toys in that way, so they got the new pleasure from them each time they were brought out.

I can see that a tech present for a teenager might be expensive and that makes sense. But one main present is enough for any child as generally they will get presents from other people too.

Ours used to get a main present, and then silly things in a stocking. That was it. They seem OK on it! And grateful. And enjoyed what they were given.

To be really frank, I think you are in danger of spoiling her with material goods.

I spend a lot, my 2 year old probably around what you have, I dont count. I also have a 16 year old, ps5 alone is 450, 5 games is around 300 and then everything else on top. Spend what you want or what you can afford. Everyone is always going to be different.
I spend like my parents did, I guess we just do with our kids what we were used to growing up because that is our normal.

At that age especially with popular toys like Peppa second hand is the way to go especially if you have a local FB selling site.

Last year I got DD a popular doll for a fraction of the cost new and she doesn't know the difference. This year I've mostly bought new but found a few bits for all DC in the charity shops.

I'm not low income but why spend unnecessarily? I also have friends who overspend IMO and obviously I don't say anything but one I know is definitely overcompensating for other things.

surely the question is less about how much people spend on their kids but why you feel the need to compensate for her life. it sounds like you are a lovely mum and you don't have to give her lots just because her dad isn't around. in reality - such gifts won't make up the fact he isn't there or his present isn't there but she might not even notice it.

little kids really dont care what you get there plus it's very hard to judge what htey will like. sometimes it will be something that cost £200 and sometimes it will be £5. One of my kids got given a scooter and a bike last year....didnt use either of them, but he loved loved his play foam and that got used the most.

just have a lovely day with her and am sure she will love whatever you do for her

£600 for a 2yr old is a bit crazy! I thought I was bad too for spending too much lol. My 3yr old we've spent about £300ish. 1yr old about half that. If our extended family didn't spend as much I probably would buy more but both sets of grandparents spend about £150 on each child and aunts n uncles about £50-£60 so we get swamped with a ridiculous amount of stuff 🙈

I’ve spent about £100 on my 2yo but her main present is my old dolls house so that would probably be about £50 bought new.

My parents spent a LOT on my sister and I at Christmas and looking back, it was too much, especially when we were little. It could be overwhelming, the day was dominated by presents and it just feels too materialistic in retrospect. I also think things sometimes feel more special when you don’t have loads of them?

As long as you're not getting yourself into debt then I don't see an issue.

If it makes you feel any better, pikler triangles have really good re-sale value. Also, I spent about £900 on DS's second birthday, his main present was something he will use for about 8 years, I don't see myself spending so much in future.

We have spent a fortune on th this year. Eldest around 800 pounds, haven't counted youngest yet.
Yabu yo spend that amount if it gets you into debt and if it means you will have divide that amount if any siblings come along. Hardly fair if she has been getting 600 spent on her and then jt goes down to 300 if she has a sibling.

This year it's been around £350-500 on each child I have three.
However birthdays are a bit more less wild and my DD loves all that Lol surprise stuff so the plane and the clubhouse alone was £150+.
I'm excited and I buy all year round, I think it's okay.

It seems a lot to me. Mine are grown up but I recall at 2 DS was bought a sit in plastic car that was amazing, at 3 a starter train set (Thomas the Tank Engine) that was added to over the next few years. At 6 a Game Boy and I thought that v expensive. DD followed suit and had a dolls house at three and various sets in the few years afterwards. Between us and grandparents probably no more than £150 each although as they got bigger things like bikes and Xboxes came along. But they also had things throughout the year when needed such as: trainers, pyjamas, panto, theatre trips and then the school trips and laptops so whilst Christmas was never a huge present fest, they never went without. Added complication here because DS's birthday is also Christmas day!

And where do you put all this 'stuff' - fine if you have your own space in your DM's house but I would hate to have my home cluttered up with toys,
.
I remember visiting a relative who's DD and DGD had moved in ... the sitting room was overwhelmed with toys and other plastic crap stuff, it was an obscene amount of toys and really dominated the room so it just wasn't a pleasant sitting room anymore for my relative, I just wouldn't put up with that even if it makes me mean .

I have a household income of about £140k and would spend £50 on a 2 Yr old!

This year were spending more than usual I. DD, 7, total about £200 and DP and I both feel slightly uncomfortable it's that much, but eg the books we want for her we can't get second hand so they're £20 for 3 rather than our usual £5 for 3. And we've got a few things at £40+ each whereas we'd normally get the same number at £15+

DS is 3 and we've spent under £100 on him, not sure exactly but possibly closer to £50.

We buy a lot second hand, mainly for environmental / waste reasons. We do treat them to stuff throughout the year, eg bought £200 of Lego at the beginning of lockdown to keep us all going.

I'm not stingy in my every day life, if anything I'm know for frittering money away, but I can't stomach spending that much on a young child. But that's my choice for my family, I wouldn't tell anyone else how to live their life though I would judge inside my head, sorry!

If you're fully paying your way while living with your mum and haven't gone into debt then what you spend is your choice. My son is 2 and my daughter 7 and we've spent about £100 on each of them including their gifts from Father Christmas. They've got 2 bigger items, things like Lego and Brio plus practical stuff like new slippers and socks and quite a few books plus a very strange and specific request from my daughter to Father Christmas that couldn't be ignored

@Ragwort no I have my own space and my mother would not put up with it either 😁. The living room is certainly overwhelmed with toys and we won't be here much longer, it would have been incredibly lonely for both of us being on our own over the lockdowns and restrictions so I moved temporarily 😊

Think of all that packaging on Christmas Day? I remember it well from when dc’s were small, I’m shocked at how much packaging there is with toys, especially the tv branded toys such as peppa pig. Now the dc’s are older I try and buy things that are not covered in packaging and not made from a ton of plastic unless it’s something like Lego that lasts forever. A child does not need ‘all the Peppa pig play sets’, what’s wrong with buying just one or even 2?

I think a lot of people are spending more this year due to having a rubbish year and wanting to cheer their kids up (or themselves) and to keep their kids entertained whilst in a possible lockdown in the new year but buying a toddler £600 worth of toys is probably going to overwhelm them more than covid has 🤣