To ask how much you would normally spend on christmas per child?

[UpInSmoke]

Back when money was ok I would spend around £300 each on my children at christmas. 70% of the stuff they would never bother with again after christmas day and another 10% of what was left would be broken/bits missing within 6 months. But yet I felt I had to spend a lot because it was christmas.

Then money got shit. I had to dramatically reduce how much I spent on them for around 2 years and it came down to around £100 each.

Now money is good(ish) again and I'm left wondering how much SHOULD you spend for christmas??

Already I have spent £120 each and it seems I havn't got much. £70 of that is just two tiny xbox games.

How much do you spent on yours and if you could spend more, would you?

We tend to spend much more at Christmas. Birthdays are smaller affairs with a day out and about £30 in presents.

I love Christmas!

£300 for Christmas and £100 on his birthday.

Oakmaiden yes I think family does make a difference - there are no high expectations in our wider family, though they still don't get loads of gifts - grandparents probably only spend 15 on each child, and we don't really buy them much extra throughout the year - but we're happy with it that way tbh.

I guess it will get more difficult as they get bigger and think that they need more to be like their friends ; whilst there are some children at school whose parents spend a fortune on them, we also have friends who spend similarly little.

I think you can always find people who spend more than you, and always find people who spend less! So it just depends who you compare yourself with (at least, this is what my mother always told me)

My budget is £200 unless I can find any of the things he's getting on offer :)

i don't get how people spend £30 on dc for xmas, that would not buy hardly anything, don't get me wrong xmas is not all about what the kids get but £30!!!! unless you really are short, but then i would go round carboots and ebay, because what can you buy for £30 new, my kids really don't ask for much, but what they do ask for is over that just for one item [apart from dd4, but she knows thats all she will get]
even my sis spends more than that

Ds is 12 , dd is 15.
Will spend about £200 each on them plus a stocking costing about £20.
They only get presents from my brother (£25) and grandpa ( 15).

Probably £50 - £100 each normally. Will be less this year. Also I looked at what they play with mostly at home. They are 6 and 2. They watch DVDs, they read books, they like games & puzzles. They occasionally do Just Dance and USing on the Wii. They play out in the garden with a ball and scooter/bikes etc. They play with dolls & teddies & prams. They will sit for hours drawing and making things (a mess usually). They like 'helping' me in the kitchen. Other than that the spend hours just using the things around them to make things up. The window ledge & chair become a 'car'. The hall is fairyland, the living room is the beach. The kitchen is a theatre. A big stick from the garden is a magic wand or a horse (!). A cardboard box is a home for a stuffed toy guinea pig. A blanket and two chairs is a tent.

What I'm trying to say is a lot of toys that have been bought for them don't get touched, or not often. You can spend all this money then all they want is a big cardboard box and a wooden spoon!

depends what dd needs/wants some times we have bought large things like playhouse and swing slide sets that cost hundereds, then other times we have bought things liek a rupunzel tower for 20 quid.

i think it s silly to set a price limit

I guarantee someone will be along soon to tell us all off to spending too much and turning our children into materialistic, spoilt brats.

Do some people really only get them one or two gifts each??

pramsgalore I'm the opposite, I can't understand how any parent could spend hundreds, especially knowing that the child will probably be bored of most of the presents within a month or two. Is that all on one present, or lots of £30 - £50 presents?

It must be a family thing as we've only ever had one main present each, with a stocking when we were youngsters, not because of financial constraints as my family earn enough to get by, but because that's the way we did things.

Strangely, it's not the big or expensive presents that I remember with fondness, but the little things like the sugar mice, those are the things that bring back sweet childhood memories for me. That's the magic I want to impart to my little girl.

I think it depends on the age of the child. I spent a lot less on dc when they were babies, but now they are older I spend more.

I tend to say about £100 to £150 at ch

I think it depends on the age of the child. I spent a lot less on dc when they were babies, but now they are older I spend more.

I tend to say about £100 to £150 at christmas and upto £100 on birthday's. Although I have to say whatever I spend Dh will suddenly decide to spend more just before christmas, as I tend to have everything by the end of November.

PS ds posted before I had finished.

MumblingRagDoll yes, that's us.

(Or lots of things that just come to around 20 in total).

If you haven't got the cash, then you haven't got the cash. Simple as that.

I try and spend wisely, like pramsgalore says, and notice what they like and use.

DS got a scooter for his birthday (10 pounds on amazon I think). He loves it to bits. Our trampoline was secondhand and cost 20 - they think it's great and use it all the time. So it's not about the cost so much as trying to choose what they will like and use.

Does dd not get toys? Arf. Of course she does. She's 4yo, people are programmed to want to buy toys for her it would seem. I buy her something she asks for. Last year she asked for a toy. This year she wants an alarm clock, for it to snow and for her Dad to have the day off work. 2/3 I think we'll manage.

Bearing in mind she has 2 grandmothers, 4 great grandmothers, 1 great great grandmother, 2 grandfathers, 2 great grandfathers, 4 uncles, 3 aunts, a handful of godparents and quite a few other interested parties around her, she doesn't go without. In fact I think one present from each of them and you're looking at quite an excessive amount.

DD adores Christmas. Utterly adores it. And not the present opening above anything else. Of course she enjoys it but she likes the magic and the stories, the baking, the seeing family, the walks outside listening for sleigh bells, Christmas music, making decorations, carolling etc etc. The presents are a very small part of it.

And say I set a limit of £20. Well £7.99 for the main thing she's picked leaves a good £12 for stocking presents. Flannel, bubble bath, socks, nuts, an orange, couple of fripperies etc. Perfectly possible.

But I maintain that it's not about the amount you spend but the value of the gift and how it's received.

And I make stuff as I said. So dd will get a couple of outfits, maybe a blanket, warm jumper, some clothes for her dolls, some fudge/peppermint creams, I made her a wall hanging last year etc. She really, really doesn't go without.

I think it entirely depends on what they want and will appreciate (within what you can afford). Last year I spent £35 each (kiddizoom) and about the same on stockings, the year before it was about £8 each(an easel and bits to go with it to share) and about £20 on stockings. I don't buy stuff for the sake of it, but do get a bit carried away on the little bits for in stockings!

This year will be a maximum of £50 each per child or less. DPs children may notice the difference but last year there was such ungrateness we arent doing it again. They arent toy children anyway- it gets shoved in a box
when they get home and they play on DS or watch DVd or play outside. Not worth wasting the money!

The new baby will have £10 max spent on it.

This year I am not spending anything on DD just going to put money in her savings. I will just rely on family buying gifts else otherwise it just gets silly and she is too spoilt.

I have no idea how much I am going to spend on DS and DD. Have no idea how many of us there will be here on Christmas day (fairly recently separated from H) and tbh I would rather spend a bit more if it is just DD, DS and me on Christmas Day than us sit there with not many presents. They will obviously get things from H and from aunts, uncles and grandparents but tbh there won't be loads of stuff in total.

Don't know how much Father Christmas spends on stockings but they always seem to bulge nicely :) And he does tend to be v good at finding bargains :)

I set budgets for different bits, it doesnt sound so bad then
DS 4yrs, DD 3yrs
Christmas Eve Hamper - £50
Stockings each- £20
Main Present between them - £50
(bought a secondhand play kitchen from friend)
Clothes each - £40
Other bits each - £50
(Toys, books, games, dvds, dress up etc)

So thats £300 between them so quite reasonable imo, Im quite a canny shopper so will get a lot for that too.

I have really reigned it in this year. Im going homemade for friends and relatives as skint beyond belief :(

If i had more i would spend more, on everyone though, not just my two, I would love to have the cash to really spoil my wonderful DH :)

Right well i have been known to go overboard...last year DS was 2, and we spent £110

This year, it will probably be around the same, and i spend £50 on DH and £20 for my mother and MIL and and i have budgeted £10-£15 on the children we buy for so £60!

It's my dd's Birthday just before Christmas so we try to spend £40-£60 for each occasion. My parents and MIL go really overboard and she also had a Birthday party last year so got a fair few presents from that and by Christmas she didnt seem excited which was a shame.

I think about £150/child. Sometimes a bit more. We only buy for birthday and Christmas tho, which seems highly unusual in our circle of friends.

wow, I feel tight now! We spend about £25 -£30 on each DC for one present for Christmas and similar for birthdays. At Christmas, they also get a stocking which probably cost around £15 in total, depending on what they need. they get presents from family, usually around £20-£25 from grandparents, 15 to 20 from other relatives. we spend around £15 per person on Christmas gofts, £20 on birthdays, but often, I shop in the sales so it really costs less.