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.

We'll probably spend about 200 this year

£100 on the 1 year old and £200 on the 8 year old.

I was thinking about the lady in the news who couldn’t afford to buy anything for her four children and wanted to tell them the truth about Santa. I think it would be good to be really creative and buy cheap and cheerful craft type presents…I am sure there are ways to buy lots of presents without spending too much …things the kiddies can create/colour/build, etc

Exactly. £200 is a lot for me this year. It's not a competition.

Yes, I absolutely hate those thoughtless accusations too. Or the assumption that those who spend less are middle class and randomly buy tablets and new bikes through the year instead.

We've spent around £400 each on our two children, however, we're fairly strict in not buying them toys etc at other times of the year (except on their birthday). In the past, we've spent far less depending on what they've asked for.

About £125 for each of my two (10&8). They gets loads from generous grandparents and Uncles/Aunts so even what I buy seems too much under the tree. We do however go on 2-3 holidays a year so they get extra there I guess.

I’m sure they will ask for more £££ things in the teen years…

It really does depend, on what they want & how much we have saved. Normally around £150 on a main present(s) and £50-70 on a stocking I buy during the year for their stockings.

both of mine know that dh & I buy the main presents the stocking comes from Santa 🎅

if you can’t afford it don’t buy it.

We have never had a set budget , ours are now adults and we’ve also never price matched although when they were smaller we tried to make it roughly the same amount of things to open . Over the years we’ve spent anything from £100- £1200 ish .

I've not added up as I buy small stuff through the year but this year bug gifts have been £230 between 2 kids so I estimate maybe £200 each although that's much more than I intended to spend. My aim is £150 per child for Christmas all in so stockings and advent and Christmas eve box but I've gone a bit mad this year as I couldn't get their main gifts from Christmas lists and have been worried they'll be disappointed.

1 DS age 16, we spend around £600-£700 on him.

Mine are 5 and 10. I have thankfully never been in a position of worrying about keeping a roof over our heads, but I've also rarely been in a position to save (other than my pension) since having them. Some of the sums on this thread feel unimaginable to me, but I did splash over £2k on a holiday this year so I appreciate there's an element of different priorities there too.

This year I've spent about £50 each on a present from me, and about another £50 each on the stocking (sounds a lot to me! - but includes useful stuff like new pants, and otherwise is mainly a smaller number of not super cheap stuff - 5yo has a small lego set, they both have sewing kits etc). There are years it's been more like £200-£300 eg if a bike (but they're now on bikeclub bikes which arrived for no reason other than that they'd outgrown their old ones, so I guess in a sense actually receiving more!), but I think this year is pretty typical.

I start buying early so I can grab a bargain - eg DS main gift is a lego set which retails at more like £80 normally.

We don't have a huge family and those we do have don't give loads, which tbh I prefer - my flat is not big and I don't like waste, so I'm grateful for less stressful volumes of presents.

Just to add, most of my annual spend is on Christmas. So, if they need a bike, or a laptop for school, or have their eye on expensive trainers, that’s when they get it. The rest of the year it’s just necessary clothes, and books really.

Yeah, they're still living at home though, maybe things will scale back once they've all left home... maybe

They are good kids though, who don't actually ask for anything. We haven't always been in the position to spend a lot, so it's nice to spoil them a bit now we can.

I have spent around £200 so far on my DS13. He needs a new scooter as his other one is on its last legs and he likes to do stunts etc at the skate park so he needs a decent one.

He hasn’t asked for much other than that so I have got him the other cheap things he asked for and a couple of other bits that I know he’ll like.

I am thinking I might let his have some trainers too. He needs a new pair and I’d usually just get him the cheapest adidas ones I can find (as he has wide feet and they’re the only brand that he finds comfortable) but I might let him choose what he wants and spend a little bit more. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone.

I also stopped doing a stocking last year and let him have £20 worth of Roblox, as I’d rather him have something he wants rather than the tat in the stocking.

In our house, the stocking was always from Santa and the rest of the gifts from us. Easier to explain then why some kids get more or less for Christmas than him. I also didn’t want Santa to get the bloody credit when it was actually us that had put the effort in to get him his gifts!!!

I would say mine varied according to how much money we had, but probably about £150 on presents and another 20-30 on stocking stuff. That's per child. I have 2 adults daughters and a teen, and it's probably about the same!

About £200 this year (mostly on books and boardgames as all our old ones have been played to death).

We were going to get him a Nintendo Switch but it’s absolutely not happening now because he smashed my 3ds this evening.

I don't really budget but I think it's about £300 each for 7 and 9 year old, but I buy stuff throughout the year when I see something I think they will like not all in one go. I spend less on birthdays usually. I don't give mine clothes as gifts (although I expect when their teens I will if they want more expensive items) I know some people spend loads but some of it is stuff I would just buy as and when they need it.

We will spend probably £50-£70 on our 4 Yr old. We haven't budgeted for more and she has plenty of toys already!

I don't have a budget as such (realise this is a luxury in itself) and tend to just get most of what they ask for, plus a couple of surprises - I make sure that they have the same number of things to open rather than spend the same amount on each of them. I think I probably spend and average of £750 - £1000 in total for 3 dc. They are teens now.

I would love to say £150 on each off mine like many people on here do but there lists are as long as my arm. I normally just get the main thing they have asked for which can be atleast £150/200 alone then other bits so probably about £450ish each. I never get into debt for it tho if I can't afford it they can't have it.

I’m not sure it’s helpful to compare. It puts pressure on to deliver more than you can really afford. Its why spreading Christmas out so far is so hard on so many families.

Children have very little understanding of costs and quality. Most little ones are happy with cheap,things wrapped up to make them exciting. Stockings are exciting whatever is in them - useful, needed items like pretty underwear or new pants can be very exciting.

What you spend should be linked to what you can afford, what the children might get from others and what might be needed. Rarely is it enormously valuable presents that make happy memories.

About £1000 on my (only) child.

I spread it out from Jan - dec

It's not spent on plastic crap

We have a limit of £150 per child (we have 3 under 3) but a gift limit of 5 gifts each, and at least 1 of them will be something they need/ is practical (DS is getting foam arm bands for Christmas so he can be more independent in his swimming lessons). if we don't spend all the money allocated to each one then that's a saving for us. We decided on a gift limit to stop us buying random crap that just gets forgotten about, and we only get them things we actually think they'll love. Same rule applies to their birthdays too. And they get so much from grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends that they couldn't possibly remember/ play with everything.

4dc, sole parent, £50 each