Help with Budget per child

[whylie]

Hi all....

So as we all know, the fat man on his sleigh is on his way to do his rounds again!

Honestly I have never! budgeted for Christmas for DC (I have 4, ages; 11,10,9,8)
This year however my finances have changed and I seriously need to budget!

Please could you help me? As I have no idea, how much to limit per child, as normally I would get them what they asked for(main present e.g; bike, laptop etc) along with clothes and other presents, I tend not to bother with stocking fillers as they never get used and end up giving them away to charity or binning them!

What would you think is a reasonable budget per child ?

( I'm worried that it will look like they have hardly nothing just at how expensive most things are!)

Thanks look forward to all your responses 😊

Last year I spent around £600 on DS aged 4. Will admit this was alot of filler presents to make the pile look bigger. I'm going to try and not do that this year as most of it never gets played with.

I think it’s really important not to obsess over the ‘size of the pile’ which is a term I hear on MN a lot. Maybe out everything under the tree mixed together and then the children distribute the gifts, which puts the focus on how many presents there are collectively under the tree.

Another tip I read on here which stopped me going overboard last year is to create a secret Pinterest board for each child with images of what you have bought. Things can often look inadequate on a list but seeing images of everything together makes you realise that you have bought more than enough already and stops last minute panic buying.

That must have been a huge pile Morgan12!

I'd spend more money on experiences like trip to the panto, grotto, markets and cinema rather than on a pile of plastic that eventually ends up in landfill. If my budget is £400 per child than £150 would automatically be taken out to buy premium bonds with as a gift. I don't believe in buying loads of toys for kids, I like to spread it around on different things.

It depends on.your finances op and what you can afford. I never worry about what others think regarding the Christmas budget. I spend what I feel is right for each of my children based on affordability.

I prefer to spend on giving the children Christmas experiences rather than lots of plastic that they do not need.

It doesn’t entirely depend on finances, we could technically afford to spend a lot more on ours than we do, but I don’t see the point in piles and piles of stuff for 4 and 3 year olds! They got plenty last year, and still enjoy playing with all of it (spent £100 per child ish) so will do the same this year.

I roughly budget around £200 per child (I only have 2) including stocking bits. I’ve gone a bit over this year as buying a Nintendo switch for DS cost a bit more. It’s all he asked for though and had asked for it last year and for his birthday. Dd wants a bike so will top up hers with dolls and such.

You need to decide how much you actually want to spend. We stick to a budget - originally because finances were very tight, but now more because we don't want to overload the DC. DS will be almost 6 this Christmas and DD 3.5. This year we've had some good fortune, so we're getting a Switch as a family gift which we wouldn't normally do, and then we'll stick to £50-60 per DC as we have done before. We normally get them a "big" present that costs about £25-35, and then smaller bits that we pick up on special offer, or second hand depending on the item. They get presents from both sets of GPs too, as well as family friends. Last year I think they had 7 presents each, plus a stocking with about £5 of chocolate coins/hotwheels cars/new toothbrush sort of thing. For their first/second Christmases we only spent about £30 total on them, because we could get away with it. I take probably an unhealthy amount of pleasure out of getting something good for a ridiculous price - like last year I found a hot wheels track set for DS that I had seen at £35 for £12, and it gets played with loads.

You need to work out how much you have and go from them.
I only have one DC, but I always spend over £1000 Christmas presents (not just for him but everyone). My family all have 2 or 3 DC which is annoying haha. I've set a budget of £600 this year. Considerably less than usual and am determined to stick to it.
Good luck

When I was a similar age to your kids my parents have me a budget when looking at main presents to ask Santa for.

If they like stationery tesco, home bargains and morrisons do smiggle style but much cheaper.

Schools are just back in Scotland and all the Morrisons stuff is on sale just now. (Tesco etc may be the same not been in)

My budget is £250 for 7 year and about £150 on my 2 year old but 2 year old turns 3 Christmas Eve so I'll spend another £100 on birthday presents. Then I'll most likely buy the odd small thing if I see something when out and about. Already started buying things.

We have four

10, 9, 5 and 22m

Budget is £250 per child but wont spend that much on dc4 and unlikely to spend it on dc3 either

We spend £500 each on our 3 eldest and our youngest who is now 2 will prob have around £150. I've already bought some stocking fillers and ask for the children's lists in September , Il buy a few things each week

I am 😮 at this thread - not at how high some of the figures are, more how few lower figures there are iyswim on a thread asking about cutting costs. Is this typical, or is it more that it’s mostly Christmas enthusiasts who post on Christmas threads? (Our DS is only 1 so we don’t really do presents for him yet.)

EgremontRusset my twins were 7 months for their first Christmas. I cashed in some long held boots points and got them some Fisher Price baby toys on the 3-4-2 deal.

Now they are 11/I am still bargain hunting. I refuse to put anything on a credit card. I like the season but I don't want it haunting me throughout the year. I too, am aghast at some of the budgets for 4 kids or more but it's their money.

I spend about £30 when they are under 2. It increases as they get older. I will spend about £100 on my 6 year old and £150 on my oldest who is 8.

Your budget is what you can afford to save between now and Christmas. What you then need to do is break it down into the following categories:

• Presents (itemise each person)
• Food
• Activities
• Tree/decorations
• Wrapping paper/cards/postage costs
• Unexpected costs

Personally for our children we split as follows:

Tree presents: 7yo £100, 2yo £70, newborn £30
Stocking presents: 7yo £35, 2yo £25, newborn £15
Hamper £25

The latter two have smaller budgets because most things will come from marketplace or be cheaper in price. I think though that with older children and close in age I would be spending the same on each of them - likely around £125 each but really what you can afford (not everyone else) is important here.

My budget tends to be £20-30 for a main present from me, £20-30 for a main present from Santa (max £50 total per child)
Stocking £15ish - small toys from toys for a pound, sweets etc - buy out of summer pay packet
PJs for Christmas Eve £10-15 buy in September
Books for Christmas Eve £10 buy in October
So about £75-90 total per child

But the main thing is to stick to whatever you decide as a budget. I find it easier to split it out as above rather than say I Will spend £75 a child without thinking how, as when I used to do that I Would overspend massively as keep seeing extra things one would like and then have to buy another present for other boys to balance it out.

I don't really have a set budget but having done a preliminary look for stuff for the kids I'd say my 4 year old will be about £150 and £300-£400 for the 15 year old. I know some people might say that's not fair but young kids toys are a whole lot cheaper than the gadgets/clothes etc. a teenager wants. My budget is small though compared to my son's friends though - most get new iphones and other super expensive stuff. I said if he wants a top of the range phone he'll have to save up for it!