I only have £50 to spend on DS age 3.5 from us & Santa

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My DS is 3.5 yrs and I'm so stuck what to buy as our Christmas budget is limited to £50. He's into his vehicles, emergency services, paw patrol. Should I get one present from us and a few bits from Santa ? Sweets to pad it out from Santa? Please help with some ideas

I really wouldn't worry at all, that's plenty.

I'd probably go with:

£20-£25 on a main present from you, either something bigger like a garage/play set second hand or a middle sized set new

£10 on a present from father Christmas under the tree- a figure he loves/little set

£15-£20 on his stocking, a new book, a couple of chocolate things, a colouring set, one small toy and then something like PJ's/hand and gloves.

He will honestly be wildly excited with whatever he gets, your budget is plenty and the best thing about Christmas is a day with your family.

Phew. He doesn't really have expectations regarding Santa, he didn't really get understand it much last year. I did however get him lots of Santa presents, but I just can't overspend again this year as it makes the rest of the year so tight.

So far he's not asked for anything. He does wants a Barbie dream house, he's seen the advert and keeps saying Santa buy it. It's £279 so I told him he'd have to save up for that, as Santa doesn't bring Barbie dream houses and then he counted out his money box, so only another £272 to go

I'm probably a bit tight but £50 is quite a healthy budget for a 3.5 year old. My DD is the same age and I've spent about that and she has loads. We do main present from us, then a small present and stocking from father christmas. Anything extra from us. I only buy plastic/character stuff second hand as I think its over priced and bad for the environment. She usually gets a something nice new too (e.g this year wooden dentist set) Stocking is mainly crafts and a bag of sweets from poundland/works, not a lot needed

I got masses of toot toot stuff in a big bundle last year for £20 - best present ever!

I bet you could find a 2nd hand Barbie dream house easily enough! That would make his day!

Is £50 considered not much? They will presumably get gifts from other family members. At that age one small item is plenty and as PPs have said. Also as PPs have said, a good age to establish that 'stuff' isn't that important. At that age I got the kids one thing each costing no more than £15 - £20 each. Also agree re second hand.

Facebook market place and ebay. 100%

The shops with good deals atm are Entertainer and Smyths...

Start looking in the charity shops. You can get some really decent almost new stuff and he won't know the difference. If there's no decent ones near you try the next town along.

Mine are 5and 8 and I still get approx 50% of their Christmas presents second hand.

Smyths I was in earlier had a £10 and under section. Had quite a few vehicles . Got my four year old a police car with flashing lights etc for a fiver

Oh and groupon and eBay

I just checked the completed listings on ebay for barbie dream houses. They sell for as little as £5 and as much as £90 second hand. See if you can get a bargain!

You can get plenty for £50 for one 3 year old. As other people have suggested, going second hand will get you more for your money and your child won't care where it came from.
With the benefit of hindsight, I'd say don't give your son big expectations. A main present and a couple of small ones under the tree plus a small stocking is enough. Focus more on experiences and building traditions. You really don't need to bankrupt yourself to give your child a good Christmas. It gets more expensive as they get older, so don't give them expectations that you will struggle to meet.
Even as teenagers, mine got and were content with no more than about £ 1o0 worth of stuff in total, and that included stockings with new underwear and toiletries, sweets, a book or two and usually a PlayStation game. The younger they are the more you can fob them off with second hand things . Jumble sales in schools are great, as are boot sales- better than charity shops.

There are a couple of Barbie dreamhouses on eBay at the moment currently bid at around £20-£30. I bet you could get a bargain if you can collect in person- worth seeing if there are any near you.

He’s just the right age for £50 to be plenty . Look on eBay , facebook etc for some second hand bits . Poundshop, b and m and home bargains do really good bits and pieces as well .

Hold £5 back for Christmas stocking: Chocolate coins pound shop bits and pieces. Think of something he would really like for £40. Leaves £5 to buy a book painting set and maybe a soft toy to go under the tree with the main present. I got a great soft toy dog one year in the £1 shop which was wanted at bedtime for years. Wrap everything up ...takes longer to open. If you are not seeing some of your relatives over Christmas try to get them to give you their presents ahead of time to put around the tree. All kids need pyjamas. socks ext replenished from time to time if you have to get anything like that at all wrap as well. Kids of 3.5 are not counting the cost of their gifts and are not looking for expensive technology ext. Enjoy planning your £50 and have a great time. Don't get into comparisons with other mums ext. Half of the expensive stuff isn't looked at again after Christmas day and by sticking to your budget you won't have the misery of extra debt in the new year. Bear in mind that some who are spending a fortune are hammering their credit cards to do it even though they won't be tell you that. Have fun on your own budget op. Happy bargain hunting.

If you keep an eye out in the supermarkets, I often see the Playmobil fire truck around £20.00 and it's fab.

I agree you can get plenty for a 3.5 year old for £50. I don’t think there’s any need to pad things out with sweets (although there are plenty of tubes of sweets/chocolate coins/santas pretty cheap in all the supermarkets if you want to include some).

You’ll very likely get a “main gift” paw patrol playset second hand and Smyths, Argos etc tend to have good bargains.

You did ask for some help with ideas so:

Paw Patrol 3 puzzles in wooden tray £5.

construction vehicles £8.

This Transporter with 8 cars is in the 2 for £15 offer at Argos as is Kid knex, also medical cases, crayola sets, cash registers, some lego, tool box, play doh and so on.

You can definitely buy a nice assortment of toys, games, crafts etc with your budget and you’ll have a very happy little boy on Christmas morning .

I agree with PP's that now is the time to set your standard.
£50 can go really far.
My DS loves emergency vehicles, Asda have some really big chunky ones for cheap (so maybe get him the ambulance) Then look for own brand cars (Tesco/ Smyths version of hot wheels) they are super cheap.

The supermarkets copy the brands so well now too.

If you put a bulky (yet only cost £5) toy in his stocking with a book & some choc coins that would be ace to find.

Then from you I am sure you could get a Paw Patrol toy for a reasonable price either second hand or on offer. Though I would be tempted to keep the branded style toys smaller as your money will go further

Things like this just need flipping on their head. Have fun with this, turn it into a challenge.

Best present was a Punch-a-present I made (of an old box), with 5 separate gifts inside. The child don’t really remember the presents (even though they were good) just the fun experience.. Pinterest has good suggestions.

I've spent £20 on three second hand Happyland Fairy sets for 2 year old DD (£100+ new). Plus she'll get lots of little things like packets of felt pens, puzzles, bath foam soap and rubber ducks, slippers, books that are new. I've spent less then £50 I think and she's going to have loads to open.

Aldi have their wooden toy event this week! What about bike? Could pick a second hand one up for next to nothing from fb or schpock x

Do an interesting fun stocking from Santa for the foot of his bed, and spend the rest on presents from you. Things like games you can play together, jigsaws, and paints to keep him occupied.

£50 is ample to spend on a small child, they have no concept of the value of items at all. Many parents will tell you that their child spent Christmas Day playing with the packaging of their expensive gifts!!

Definitely check out home bargains and B&M... you could look at Poundland too for stocking fillers. Maybe check out some family you tube channels to get inspiration from those stores.. people like Ashley Bailie. Good luck!