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?

About £60ish each on my two I would guess but I haven't been counting. Mostly second hand though.
4yo is getting a microscooter which would be over £100 but it's a barely used second hand one off gumtree for £35.
1yo is getting puppets and a doll's pram, all like new but from second hand shops and eBay.
Stocking fillers are a mix of new stuff (play food, stickers, comics, hair clips etc) and charity shop stuff (toy cars, my little ponies).

We’ve got a 4 year old and a 6 year old. I think we’ve spent something like £500 each on them in the end between advent calendar, stockings & main gifts. Some stuff is things we would have bought regardless - 2 wheel micro scooters (Black Friday deal we saw for something we planned to get in the spring), clothes (character socks/pants, sparkly tights, new pjs etc), art & craft materials (I buy stuff quarterly but December is for Christmas and July for birthdays). The rest is mainly Lego & board games with an assortment of silly things like bubbles, hair slides, sweets & stickers

Maybe your DM is commenting because all these toys will be in her house?

This year I've spent about £130 each on both dcs. I do get over half of their presents in the sales during the year so worth about £200

I am a bit agog at the amounts I see quoted on this site but my DPs weren't high earners so growing up it was probably between £50-100 as we got older but I guess it's all relative. Depends what your income is etc.

I’ve got three kids, ages 10, 10 and 8. I reckon we’ve spent about £300 per child, which is probably more than usual. I’ve been a bit “fuck it” and gone wild as it’s been a shit year! But we can afford it and it’s all stuff they’ll love and use.

I have a DD 2.5 and I’ve spent around 2/300, i bought a lot of toys in bundles and on offer so I’ve saved a lot and she has a HUGE pile. I may end up getting her one more larger gift but that will be it. I started buying months ago so feel like I’ve done pretty well. We then have about a 100 budget for other family member gifts. None of it is on credit either and we aren’t mega wealthy, bog standard income of around 3.5k a month. Due DC2 next year so I will probably spend 500 between two kids. I think 250 is a really decent amount for younger children, but I can see how you can go overboard especially when they are older.

People spending less are buying one thing rather than multiple. Eg one peppy pig play set as opposed to the 3/4 that you are mentioning buying.

I honestly don’t know anyone who would buy more than one branded character thing ( because grow out of it in a year or two) and because of space.

Just thinking about the hundred play dates I’ve been on over the years and no household has the full set of a play set even super wealthy parents

I spent around £150 on my DD5 this year, up from £100 in previous years. I think I’ve spoilt her a bit but we have all had a terrible year, children in particular have missed out on so much. She is an only child too which makes a big difference as we only have her to buy for.

I always try to buy lots of smaller things so that she will have the perception of lots of things to open (more exciting at this age I think as opposed to one or two ‘big’ presents’).

I don’t judge anyone for how much they spend though, as long as they can afford it and are not putting themselves in debt. Each to their own.

@dayslikethese1 that's not why, we have our own space/rooms and she commented on her birthday and Christmas last year when I didn't live with her.

Wow that's crazy money to me, but if you can afford it then go for it.
DD is 3 and I've got her some books (£6 from Lidl) , a frozen puzzle set (£1 from a charity shop), a playmobil set (£20) and a lady and the tramp bedding set from Asda (£16). She has specifically requested dresses as she loves to dress up so will probably get her a couple of dresses from Primark at some point, and her stocking has hair clips, kids jewellery and stickers from Home Bargains. So probably will have spent £50-60 by the time we're done.

@Lovemusic33 but there isn't actually THAT many, it includes her advent calendars, Christmas Eve stuff, personlised santa tray etc. It's not ALL Peppa and her main present which costs a 3rd of what she has had spent, is a pikler triangle and will last quite a while! Even some toy cars by Grimm's were £50 with a discount code!

I’ve got teens. Usually around 800-1000. If we couldn’t afford it we wouldn’t do it.

It was a lot less when they were younger.

Never tell anyone how much you spend! So about this, YABU.

As everybody else said: as long as you can afford it!

I would only be careful not to overdo it, because you a child won't understand why they have so many gifts one year, but much less the next one. With a 2 year old you are pretty safe, but be mindful of that in the next years.

Once they are teens, they can understand an iphone or computer is blowing the budget and they can't expect much else, it's a bit cruel to do the same for a younger one.

@whatkatydid2013 yep pretty much the same idea!

I have ds14 and ds7, I try and keep it quite equal spending wise each year personally as wouldn’t feel right spending much more on one then the other. Some years are more than others depending on if they need new tech so the budget does change. This year ds14 asked for a graphics card for his pc which was £140 and a coffee machine, on top of that we have bought him lord of the rings and game of thrones book sets, a drone and a sweet subscription, for his stocking he has an iPad case, magnetic charging cables, usb with large storage, spiky dastards game and some chocolates.
Ds7 asked for vbucks 😩 he isn’t that into toys so has got £100 of vbuck vouchers, a drone, Roald Dahl and goosebumps book sets, fortnite bedding, light and oodie, a couple of board games and a cable guy to hold his ps controller, in his stocking is a Pokemon teddy he asked for, a notebook that has a lock and key, colour changing pens, tamagotchi and some chocolates.
They have had around £300 each, they don’t get things throughout the year and I like to get what I think they will enjoy. They do tend to get quite a lot from relatives as well but mainly cash or vouchers, ds7 has got the let’s explore virtual reality headset this year from my brother which looks amazing.
I do honestly wonder if those that spend under £100 when they could afford much more buy more through the year as although it sounds a lot it really doesn’t go far, the older they get the smaller the pile of presents gets

I personally haven't got a budget for Christmas, but try to spend more on lasting presents, and less on ones that will be outgrown quickly.

If you tell people you spend £600, they react.

If you tell them you bought an (expensive) playhouse/treehouse, or a big trampoline, no one bats an eyelid.

Keep the amount private!

@LM20 you rent though so I wouldn't say thats a brilliant position to be in? If you’re on a good income like you say, surely your money would be better spent trying to own your own home?

@Ragwort she gets money in her savings account every month, I don't need to furnish a new home as I have nice furniture in a storage unit and isn't all toys . However, I do see that the money would be more useful in a savings account for her so I will be mindful of that in future years and put the difference away.

@HitthatroadJack I didn't tell her, she has just seen what I've bought and doesn't know the actual figure but it isn't hard to tell 😂

@HitthatroadJack I think I will be more mindful as the years go on as she'll begin to understand what she's getting. She doesn't even know it's Christmas so I suppose I have felt safe spoiling her without the expectation for it every year!

@SendHelp30 I intend to buy somewhere but not everyone wants to own their own home, maintenance issues, being made to sell when you're old and need care. Can see why a lot of people don't want to bother.

It's much harder this year, as most experience and days out are not an option! So instead you buy "stuff" for your children.

Each to their own, I am just a bit puzzled by people who could easily afford anything, but chose to spend no more than £20 at Christmas. Good toys are not cheap, and it's hardly spoiling the kids to buy them duplos/legos etc.. Their choice, I am not even judging but I don't understand it.

@SendHelp30 Firstly I’ve never said I was on a good wage - I said my partner and I work hard, regular overtime and due to having no debt and cheap rent we have quite a bit disposable income. There’s a difference.

I don’t see what relevance renting has to this thread? I stated I rented to take in to account the fact that our outgoings are relatively low compared to some people’s. But for your information our hard earned cash is going toward a house, the site we’ve been waiting for is due to be released April 21. We (like the majority in the UK) have had to save whilst living in rented. The fact you feel people who live in rented puts them in a poor position is astounding.

I honestly don’t know why people feel the need to pick apart peoples answers and make people feel inadequate 🙄

@SendHelp30 I’d also like to state that there may be many people who are in ‘better positions’ because they own their own home but up to their eyeballs in debt, car finance and struggle to maintain their home. Surely this is actually not a better position?! Don’t make assumptions