To ask what you got your child for their 18th birthday?

[shuz1980]

Step daughter has asked for a mac book pro for her 18th (around £1200) i understand its a special birthday but it just so much for a single present. Just interested to see what others have bought for their children's 18th birthday? Did you go ott? Was there one main present?

We bought our daughter a lovely big fish tank which was expensive setting up then we wanted her to have something to keep so we bought her a vintage diamond platinum ring I guess it all depends on your budget but it’s nice to buy them a keepsake x

I got a MacBook pro for mine (I’m nearly 26 and still use it). I also got a car worth £2000, 1st year of insurance and driving lessons paid for the subsequent year when it became essential I learnt to drive. My parents were not wealthy and had nothing in the way of a child savings account for me as they had no means to be able to save especially when I was younger. They inherited a small amount in my teens which they kept by for this, otherwise I can imagine I probably would have got about £200 or so for a night out.

I think it’s all relative really. My OH had a nice amount in his savings which he could access when he became an adult (so could have brought a car / laptop etc with that) and I think he got about £300 for his 18th.

Just make sure whatever you do decide to spend this time around, you would be able to match for subsequent children

I got mine a giant paddling pool, 2 really nice bikinis, a cocktail shaker and two cocktail glasses. She spent a lot of that summer in that pool sipping cocktails - happy days! :)

Could you go half's with her dm?

£150, meal and cake for younger two. Eldest got an outfit and my family helped with cost of restaurant, cake, balloons.

I got my son a nice watch , but it was only a few hundred pounds, and had it engraved as wanted him to have something to keep , I personally wouldn't buy an electrical item for an 18th !

I wanted to buy dd1 something special for her 18th - e.g. a really nice piece of jewellery to keep, but she said she’d only lose or break it (sadly all too true) - she wanted ‘experiences’ as in travel, so it was just cash.
She’s much older now and has still never really been into ‘stuff’.

If she’d wanted a MacBook at the time, and I’d have thought she’d really get a lot of use out of it, I dare say I’d have bought it, though.

Rayban sunglasses and money for a lads holiday to Zante which unfortunately didn't happen due to Covid so he has that money to spend on another holiday or something else.

I got a gold chain for my 18th

My son is 18 this year and he's going to be given the same chain (worth around 2.5k so hoping he keeps it safe!) and an iPad Pro which he wants

£££'s worth of driving lessons I think about £900, we had been saving this for years in an account that he knew nothing about.

An iphone

A UE mega boom.

Lunch in Cote.

He is an only child and we are not strapped, we have been but we are not anymore, not rich, just as the user name states Fluid.

DS is turning 18 this year and wants a weekend trip to London to visit some music store and a get Fender Stratocaster. He also wants a 2nd hand car. He'll probably get both but we won't be paying for all of it ourselves - my parents and siblings want to chip in for the car.

@diamondpony80

Wants or hopes for ?

The only thing that DC knew about from his gifts was the UE mega boom.

Do people really include the cost of a birthday party in the budget for the presents?

I got a Louis Vuitton bag for my 18th. 10 years ago, bless my mum. It was around £470 then. I think. Now it retails at over £950.

I feel quite cheeky now because she skinted herself, but I still wear it most days!

When I was 18 (early 90s) it was common to be given a piece of jewellery. Always hold (yellow gold), I got a locket. And a gold watch fo my 21st. It was expected that I would want jewellery like this, I don’t think I ever really thought about whether I really wanted it or not.

I never wear them now. I don’t actually like yellow gold and it doesn’t suit me!

So I think that maybe it is best for her to have what she wants.

[quote FinallyFluid]@diamondpony80

Wants or hopes for ?

The only thing that DC knew about from his gifts was the UE mega boom.[/quote]
The guitar has been hinted about for a long time so he's hoping I've been listening! He wants a car because most of his friends got one as soon as they turned 17 but he doesn't know he's going to get one for his birthday. He's actually saving up for a car himself but my Dad and sister want to contribute towards a car so we'll buy him a small cheap one to get him started. He can keep his own money towards university.

Are there other close relatives that would want to contribute to a big present? It’s a bit of a tradition in our family for all birthdays and christmases, ever since they were very small and the family pooled resources to got them a playhouse from all of us, so they are used to getting one big present, instead of lots of small ones...

Ah that makes more sense, I love it, when they are not expecting gifts but you ace them.

DH said on Christmas day how did you know to buy that and DS said Mum is generally on receive all year round and stashes the information in a different part of her brain.

@FinallyFluid

Ah that makes more sense, I love it, when they are not expecting gifts but you ace them.

DH said on Christmas day how did you know to buy that and DS said Mum is generally on receive all year round and stashes the information in a different part of her brain.

Love this! Dh said his mum was exactly like this and I follow in that tradition.

Some trainers, clothes and a really nice pen.

@Martinisarebetterdirty

I got an expensive watch for mine, I’ll probably do the same for my children when they are 18 (if we still wear watches ). I think that’s a lot of money for a special present that won’t last - 20 years on I still wear my watch.

I dunno, I've had my Mac Air for 10 years and it's still good as new.

OP why not look for an older modelled or refurbished one? They still come with guarantee and can take chunks off the cost.

My parents gave me a Tiffany and Co diamond necklace, 2300 AUD so about 1,282 (GBP) - my first diamonds . We had our last "family" holiday with me as a "kid". They also paid for a really lovely 18th party for me. Overall, probably a few thousand? I was very lucky.

I still have this necklace and continue to wear it into my 30s. I have more expensive jewellery now but this necklace is special to me. Not sure with the Mac given it's only going to last a certain time.

A bass guitar. Hopefully he will get many many years out of it

We did the obligatory driving lessons for 17th and then cars for 18th for two oldest, and will do the same for the younger two when the time comes.

For his 18th, I took my DS for a long weekend to Madrid. Front row seats to the evening Real vs Atletico derby match at the Bernabeu and a business class flight home. Nice hotel suite for the three days. Weather was fabulous