I know some hate these threads but how much have you spent

[Brighteyedtriangle]

Finally finished my christmas shopping and have added up everything ive spent on presents. 1 child, dont buy for siblings but plenty of neice and nephews and buy for some adults, partner, parents etc.. and its come to just under £900. I cant do that again next year. I need to plan better.

My child has accounted for 1/3 of the costs but i dont buy toys other than christmas birthdays.

Im sure it was around 600 last year. Has everyone elses christmas budgets took a hit

AIBU - too much and ridiculous
YANBU - its my money i can spend what i want

About £350

As long as you can afford it, it's fine.

I personally wouldn't want to spend that much. I spend about £350 each year. No kids but I buy for two nephews. That's £350 on everyone, not on the nephews.

We have two kids and have spent about £600 but no nieces/nephews etc. It's totally dependent on your income and priorities surely?!

Should add that £600 includes husband, in laws, parents, sister, a couple of friends and some extra food for Xmas...not just the kids. Younger one is only 22 months so have only got him a train set, some blocks and a rug with roads etc printed on it.

Spend what you want. Literally nobody cares. Everyone has different budgets and incomes.

Getting into debt is stupid. But spend £6, £60 or £6000 - irrelevant to me.

Yes true. I have 12 neice and nephews so all the 15-20 pounds rack up a fair bit of it. I spent abit extra on my mum too this year. Nothing is on credit at least but im still abit shocked how it all adds up so quickly.

I hate these threads

I spent 40 on my 3 year old. 50 on my OH and 20 on my parents. Nothing for anyone else cos well, we're adults and pointless gifting is getting old now. There have been plenty of similar threads, people need to stop wasting money and pandering to wishlists. I'm mid 30s and if my mum couldn't afford XY or Z then that would have been it but nowadays people just get into debt. Daft.

For those of us that hate these threads, at least we have the option of hiding the Christmas topic so that they don't come up.

Except that this isn't posted in the Christmas topic so yes, YABVVVU

About £50 on each of my children - they're small though (4 and 1) so don't have expensive tastes!

About £50 on DH

About £150-200 on other people. I don't know how much exactly. I've managed to get lots of things on special offers by following the Christmas Bargains thread on Mumsnet, so although most people got a present worth £25 or so, many cost me far less (under £15 in some cases).

@Brighteyedtriangle

Yes true. I have 12 neice and nephews so all the 15-20 pounds rack up a fair bit of it. I spent abit extra on my mum too this year. Nothing is on credit at least but im still abit shocked how it all adds up so quickly.

You can spend less on your nephews and nieces, or shop smart to get them gifts of that value for less. For example, the Argos 2 for £15 section often has toys worth £12 or £13. Get 2 of those plus £5 token each and you've only spent £25 but got £30+ worth of gifts. Even better when argos had 20% off on top of the 2 for £15!

@daimbarsatemydogsbone

I hate these threads

Why open it then? Ifs fairly obvious from the title...

More than you but less than others. As long as you can afford it crack on.

About £200 total on my 2 boys 9 and 12, £120 on DH but that’s birthday and Xmas as his birthday is the 21st.

Planning £35 on voucher for parents and £10 on siblings. We buy selection boxes for the kids from each other. Try to keep it cheap and simple and avoid tonnes of plastic crap.

Far too much...

Hadn’t added it all up until now but about the same as you OP. Around £900, 1/3 on the two children, 1/3 on DH, 1/3 on everyone else. I spread it out over about 3 months salary. DH will spend about another £200 on gifts for his side.

Spend what you can afford, it's really simple.

Probably about £600 in total for family and DH. However we are both on good salaries with no children so I like to spoil my parents and sibling a bit at Christmas. I also only need to take the dessert to Christmas dinner so no costs around that.

An absolute fuckton but I save all year and have a great time blowing it all :)

I actually don't know. Which isn't good. If you just count presents... maybe £400? Christmas events/ activities.... probably £200? Maybe more... then food banks and charity cash donations I think £60-£70. Christmas decorations and tree.... £70-£80. Then there is food still to come....

Actually, adding up in my head presents must be £500 - £600. 2 kids, husband, 2 sets of parents and a few family gifts plus friends' kids and secret Santa and I think 6 charity appeal gifts. Really need to keep count next year.

Although one thing I would say is I never get into debt over Christmas. And I took on an extra job and earned and extra £400 in October.

150 so far. Will probably spend another 100, less if we can get away with it. Then the food, which is only going to feed 5 of us, will come from the farm shop, Tesco and Iceland.

There’s no point comparing though. The best thing is to sit down, write out the figures and see where there’s room to cut back. When it’s out in front of you in black and white it’s very different to when it’s rattling round your head.

Set your budget based on what you can afford and how that aligns with your values. I was a bit shocked looking at mine to see how much of our budget went on gifts for my dc, dh and myself when I had a woolly justification in my head about “a time of giving” and “friends and family” to excuse the big bills.

It’s ok to decide to pull back from the big spending if that is what feels right to you; and equally ok to spend a lot if you want.