Approx how much £ do you spend on dc for Xmas?

[Makingmama]

Just wondering really. We usually have a budget of approx £50, but always go over it They are only young 2, 3 and 4yo. Hoping to get a more realistic budget and stick to it this year! So many temting

Tbh I don't add it up. We do a 'big' present - £30-50ish, stockings with around 12 items in including crayons/pencils and chocolate coins plus books, small toys, hair bobbles etc and an outfit each.
What people buy seems to vary a lot. I think you just need to decide what's normal for you and spend what you can afford. I get a lot of pleasure out of doing Christmas for my kids

You will probably get replies from people who do Christmas on much less. Each to their own imo.

Thanks, that's helpful and sounds like a good amount to me. My parents always went way over the top with us and there's no way I could do the same. But then when out I see so many lovely things and have to hold back! I could go absolutely mad if I had the means

probably quite a lot. DS is getting a DS XL this year which is close to £200. I have picked up a few second hand bits totalling about £50 since July. He will also have his stocking.

We will be sent cash from Australian family which will contribute to some but that is all. We don't have aunts, uncles, grandparents left for extra gifts so we do spend a fair bit ourselves.

About 150 to 200 per child.

12, 7 and nearly 3.

mines only nearly 4 so can still be cheap, it'll probably come to about £50/£60 by the time I do stockings, christmas jammas etc

santa: one big thing that can be laid out in the lounge, that'll be either the second hand bike or the farm set from boot sale
& a stocking (chocolate, socks, orange, lego (last year the free starwars packs that came with a newspaper) and some boot sale dinosaurs
& books (book people - bargain)

form mum and dad: one wrapped present, that'll be either the bike or farm set, whichever we don't use for santa

for christmas eve: new PJs

For christmas day: new outfit, but my mum has started buying that

Ds this year has had about £30, but we've been given his main present by a friend (that includes stocking). Dd is about £50 for everything. They will be 6 and 8 respectively at Xmas.

I try not to go mad as thei birthdays are end oct/beginning of nov. they also have lots of family who spoil them (me and their dad are divorced and both have new partners so theoretically they have 4 sets of grandparents!) and we have limited space.

It really varies (but sadly seems to be more for less as they get bigger!).

Titchy kids were very happy with a Fisher-Price farm plus new hat, plus stocking, maybe £40 in all. Bigger ones tend to have 'bike' or 'PS2' as their opening gambit, drat them.

Never befriend the kind of family who put iPhones in the Christmas stocking, is my advice...

I rarely (ok never) add it up and buy it during the year anyway. For my 5 year old I have already got a star wars advent calender (£24) and about £30 worth of lego. For my nearly 3 year old I have a playmobil advent calendar (£12) and nothing else yet, because he's blinking hard to buy for. Probably a knights outfit up to about £15. They get so much from grandmothers I dont want to get them loads. I spread out present opening because they cannot cope with more than one big thing and pretty much ignore anything else.

Also about £200 ...& his bday is v close to then too aaaargh!

We spend around £30 on main gift for them and then probably £20-£30 in bits for them. They are 12 and 9.

They don't get things like iPads for Christmas, but if they really want one they ask for cash and save up for it. My 12yo did that with her iPod touch a couple of years ago.

Their birthdays follow quite soon after Christmas so they tend to get a similar amount then too.

I have traditionally spent £150 each but am scaling it back to £100 this year. They are getting the main thing they've asked for and I have been squirrelling away bargains all year.

I started to write out the 'Christmas lists' today...

DS will be around £300 as he is looking for an x box
DD around £200 for a tablet and a few toys
DD2 around £60 for wooden toys and a few treats.

I miss when they were little.

DD is 4yo and I have got her an Innotab this year. It was £60 down from £80 and I used money in my paypal account to pay for it, from ebay selling.

That will be her present from Father Christmas.

I have also bought bits and pieces for her stocking, mainly from Poundland, toiletries, or crafty stuff.

Then from myself, I will give her some pyjamas and a pretty dress and a book. So it will probably total £100, but I have bought it all cheap, using ebay money as I am now a single parent.

'Under the tree' presents about £50-60 each.
Plus about £30 per stocking.
They are 3 and 5yo.

Dont really count but probably far too much!

Already got 99% of the girls presents already so a quick rough tot up is

DD1 £ 75
DD2 £ 80
plus another 10/15 pound for stocking presents each.

Not too bad actually. Alot of the presents have been bargins from the sales etc. :)

I guess it depends how old they are and what they want. Mine are only 2 and 4 so no idea about costs etc.. but ive been told to expect smaller presents with bigger price tags as they get older!!

£150 each child max, that's all in. However up to the age of 10 about £30.

I only want to do 5 presents each this year plus stockings. They have enough toys and gadgets already. ATM dd has Barbie hair extensions where she can do her own on pc and print, scrap book box, makeup set, crystal tattoos and her main present will be iPod speakers. Ds has transformer car, puzzle, connect 4, nerf gun, his main present will be remote controlled tarantula.

My nan has bought them each a wii and ds game, a magic set a joke set and money

My sister is getting dd a make up doll and ds some car thing

My mum will go mad and buy lots including a big main shared present

My brother will buy them a decent £10/£15 present.

I was actually considering the other day that that won't be enough!

About £50 each.

We dont have a budget as such, we get the children what they would like/need.

This year DS1 wants a pair of converse and new headphones. DS2 wants nothing but he is getting a new ninky nonk and some brio trucks for his wooden train track, and DD wants the Rapunzel Doll which I got from the Disney store.

It depends on their age and your budget.

I wouldn't necessarily expect to spend as much on the 2 year old as the 4 year old. Fairness isn't always about making sure they have exactly the same amount spent on them. As a rule the presents get smaller and more expensive as they get older. If you tried to spend on a 2 year old what you spend on a ten year old they'd be lucky to have dug their way out of the pile of plastic tat by New Year.

As yours are close together I'd do some joint gifts - £3 DVDs, games they will play together (that one that shoots out butterflies is good if you don't have ornaments) - and cut the individual present budgets. If you've got family and friends buying for them too you can get to the stage where you've cleared out the age appropriate section of the ELC!

And I have adopted my mother's practice of Pretending New Underwear And Pyjamas Are Christmas Presents

you spend the same on a 16 year old and a 2 year old?

I have two (6 and 3) and spend about £100 on each. I spend about the same on 17 yo step-daughter.