To ask how much you spend on DC at Christmas?

[Iggleshmiggle]

My DC are 5 and 2 and, my DD has a huge list which adds up to about £400, just wondering how much you spent, although I’m guessing it varies depending on what they want.

I spend about £1500-£1700.

But mine are 24 and 16 and I start in September to spread it out.

@Iggleshmiggle where does your DD get her ideas from? Seems like a lot! Just say Santa won't be able to bring them all and hopefully she'll get some of them.

My DC is same age and will have one or two presents on his list (I appreciate this will change at some point!).

We probably spend about £100 each but they will receive presents from cousins etc. Piles still feel quite overwhelming in the morning.

Always makes me laugh when people who choose not to buy or don't buy much describe the things that others do choose to buy as 'tat'! I don't buy tat, I do however buy things that are quality and will be loved!

I wish you were my mum 🤣. My parents stopped buying for me when I turned 18, just get a £20 note in a card. I think it’s lovely that you want too and can afford to spend that amount on them.

I've spent about £400 on dd (13) she hasn't got loads to open though.
They really do get more expensive as they get older 😂

@Lovemusic33 oh my husband says every single year - since she turned 18! - that it's time to just give her some money and a couple of gifts. Err not on my watch! And she moved out a year ago and has her own house now!

I've always made a huge deal of Christmas and I love buying them things and planning it all - and there why I plan for it - maybe a little like others plan a holiday if that makes sense

But I've had some years in the past where I was not very well off and I just cut my cloth accordingly.

In short / I love Christmas! 😝

I love Christmas too 😄
DD1 turned 18 this year and went away to uni, I have still spent a similar amount on her as I always spend, I love buying her things she will love even though she has her own money now, it’s just nice to get gifts and surprises. I will continue as long as I can afford too.

£150-200 for my 15 and 12 year old. They both have decent laptops and phones and have school trips abroad coming up so not prepared to spend more. They don’t get everything they ask for. They don’t have designer tastes and are grateful for everything. We’ve also done main gifts from us and pillowcases from Santa of about £40 worth of bits to open including one of the cheaper items on their wish list. This works well for us. No way do they get everything they ask for and they don’t expect to.

About £400 but we only have one child and he’s a teenager now. We don’t buy him tat at all, for example he’s asked for a watch (not a smart watch as they’ve been banned from school and now he never knows what time it is!) and I’d rather buy him a decent one that’ll last into adulthood than a cheap one that’ll break sooner.

@Freshstarts22 it not about who can spend the least many cannot afford £3-400

Have spent £3k ( new pony ) & have spent £200ish, just dependent really.

At 4, about £120. Even the big presents are cheaper then. By 15 and 17 about £400-450 (now). I also have DS10 who’s around £390 this year and DS9 who is more into toys (but more expensive toys than when little) so around £300.
id advise against £400 at this age- by the time they’re in their teens that quantity of stuff would be about £1400! Don’t set the bar so high!

17!& 19'year old about £200'each
£250 each been the most I have spent and £20 the least i have spent
Because we do what we can afford and mine get a lot bought from family but we have a few family to buy as well and won't go into debt for xmas
Kids have always been happy with what they get though and do get bits when needed through out the year

DD is only young and doesn’t get Christmas yet so I’m getting her a scooter, helmet and one or two little activity toys to open. Probably £150.

I’m sure it will gradually go up year on year.

We have generally spent around the £100 mark for our older DC, increasing gradually to about £150 last year (he’s 7 this year). This still seemed to result in quite a pile without being so much as to overwhelm, and DC also get gifts from very generous DGPs and family on my side. DC2 (almost 3) has generally had less than £100 worth of gifts as they have loads of toys from DC1. DC2 also has a January birthday so we have to think quite carefully about gifts.

I do sometimes use clothes to pad out the pile but tend to be things I know the DC will like, eg character pyjamas.

We maybe could afford to spend a bit more but probably not a huge amount more and I’d say we have a pretty good household income (although we’re not MN High Earners 😂). DC1 had a more expensive birthday than usual this year and that felt like a real stretch so I wouldn’t want to repeat that x 2 at Christmas. We also have family to buy for and travel expenses as we visit family over Christmas so have to pay for extras like pet sitters.

I have no idea how much we spend on DD. We just buy what feels like the right amount.

We have fairly limited space, so can't go too wild. We are grateful not to be budgetarily constrained (though did decline buying DD(6) a diamond ring).

About £100. And not because I’m in any ‘competition’ to spend the least, but because that’s what I can afford. It’s really shit when you are doing your best to buy nice things for your children and people on here accuse you of being in competitive frugality, or the like. I wish I could spend more.

My DC's are 8 and 4. We spend around £100 at a guess. However, it will go up in the future when they wants computers/bikes/branded stuff.

£4-500. It's not that I want to spoil her, just that everything she wants is so expensive! Fortunately she's my only child so I can afford to spend it.

I think I've spent about 150 on each child but they haven't asked for anything 🤷‍♀️.
They're to be pleased with whatever they get though.

Under £100. Usually about £60. He has a main pressie from us. One from Santa. A stocking. And then a few bits like new PJs (that he needs anyway, but these are 'cool' ones).

My daughter is almost 2 and I have spent £250 on her. I don't know why because she's not going to realise, but I got carried away.

£100 can get some truly lovely stuff.

Don't let others knock you.

At 18 a tenner and that was it, one year a pair of slippers. Of woman who brought me up.

Totally depends.
DS1 wanted (needed?) a laptop last year, so got one.
DS2 has been told he will get one when he needs one, but it's pointless buying one now for it not to be used for 18 months.

It's generally much more even than that, and I'd guess £200 or so each. We are fortunate that we don't need to budget acuratly for it.