When did Christmas start becoming more expensive?

[Betty94]

Hi all,

I have a baby due in January (so he's not getting anything this Christmas well not in the traditional sense anyway) but it got me thinking when does the cost really hit?

He'll be 11 months next Christmas so wasn't thinking of getting him too much as they don't really understand and don't really need that much anyway IMO.

I'm probably over thinking it but was just wondering how it changed over time and what people thought about it?
I know obviously the more kids you have the more it costs but he's an only at the moment (and thinking of staying that way).

This has kinda been inspired by someone on Facebook posting a mountain of presents for her 2 year old and I thought I'd have more time before I really need to dish out the cash

Also, to make it more fun if you want to post your Christmas list below and ages of children then go ahead. Might give people some good ideas x

Hopefully without boasting, we have never spent what we “could” spend. So it has never felt like a strain or a worry.
If they were disappointed with what they got I’d be most sad about their expectations/ focus, not what I spent.

I had loads of presents as a kid and it was amazing.
We get ours loads too but we don’t post it on FB. And we didn’t really start until they were 3/4.
By age 9/10 they want fewer more expensive presents so it’s only a few short years of masses of presents.
In my view, they are only young once

My DS1 first Christmas he got a new car seat and about three plastic cheapie noisy toys. I don’t agree with spending hundreds on babies and toddlers. I don’t think they ask for expensive toys until they start school and hear what others want.

We’re trying to the something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read thing too. As well as a stocking but that will mainly be things like craft items, character socks/pants so practical things that we would probably buy anyway.

Similar to coffeandaride we have managed to keep it fairly cheap so far. Up to about 40-50 pound on their main present and buying something like playmobil secondhand.

This year my son (6) has asked for a Nintendo switch (costs like a million pounds) which I am still considering but uncertain about. Luckily we ask the children to write a few options on their list to Santa so he wrote other options too.

I know lots of people but things like switches but I struggle to justify that level of cost to myself....it could be a cheap holiday or weekend away. I don’t know if I’m just adjusting to the inevitable increase that will happen as kids get older.

I think the whole magical Santa things makes it harder to say no to gifts. I mean how do I justify Santa not buying a switch if the kids thing he can just bash one together in his elf factory 😂

My children have a budget of £100 each this year and they are 7 and 2. The 7 year old gets less for the money, simply because he likes video games now and clothing but will still be happy with everything he will be getting. I shop in sales and have a hobby of doing competitions so will sometimes win things for them both for Christmas. There are other costs though admittedly like stockings, Santa visits, festive clothing etc but these are all optional and even all of that I try and do cheaply. Both my sons Christmas jumpers this year were bought in the Boxing Day sales last year for half price. One of my ds2 Christmas jumpers belonged to ds1 and was bought from a charity shop for £1.50. He wore it for two years, it was worn by my nephew for two years and this will be ds2 second year wearing it so pretty good value!

When my eldest son was one, we got him a massive box of second hand happyland for £30. It was played with for years. Christmas can be done cheaply.

@AIMD we have always said Santa does not do electronics, which has worked really well because my son has never then put expensive video games on the Santa list. I agree it does add pressure when they put gifts on the Santa list.

My son got a Nintendo switch lite last year when he was 6 but we said he has to use his birthday money from September towards it and understand it was an expensive present. He was actually really good, we used £100 from his birthday money and he was very good leading up to Christmas in not asking for magazines and things like that because he wanted the money to go towards his Nintendo. His relatives then bought him games, protective case etc.

Never... if anything you get wiser and better at xmas so it gets cheaper.

for oldests first xmas most was 2nd hand charity shop stuff, for all his early xmas I didnt keep track so honestly dont know if I spent £50 or £500.

Around 5 years old I started buying more 'new' gifts, I did it in stores (like argos etc...) I probably spend £300 easily but no real rhyme or reason to things, I would try to keep track but forget what I spent on thing and misplace things etc...

Now with 2 kids and 12 years experiance everything is nicely ballenced - theres set numbers, traditions emerged, stuff is bought online, earlier, much cheaper and I only spend about £110 each but the get more stuff that just 'winging it' in the shops.

It pays to have a plan, keep track and learn from each mistake.

I think it also depends how you use Xmas.
Some families won’t spend a lot on actual Xmas but will spend money on things like bikes, computer games etc throughout the year. Others will spend a lot buying things like bikes at Xmas but then kids won’t get much throughout the year.

I do think it’s important to focus on things other than gifts at Xmas. Otherwise it all becomes about getting things....and I hate that. We’ve made a few traditions around Xmas so we can focus on those as well as gifts.

[quote EsmeeMerlin]@AIMD we have always said Santa does not do electronics, which has worked really well because my son has never then put expensive video games on the Santa list. I agree it does add pressure when they put gifts on the Santa list.

My son got a Nintendo switch lite last year when he was 6 but we said he has to use his birthday money from September towards it and understand it was an expensive present. He was actually really good, we used £100 from his birthday money and he was very good leading up to Christmas in not asking for magazines and things like that because he wanted the money to go towards his Nintendo. His relatives then bought him games, protective case etc.[/quote]
Damn I shoulda start a no electronics from Santa thing. That was clever thinking!

I think part of it is if it comes from Santa he won’t appreciate how much it is. Whereas if it’s from us we can do what you did and explain how much it is and keeping it safe etc.

You absolutely do not have to spend a fortune, especially when they're small. Set their expectations low at a young age and you can always go up but its much harder to go down!
By the time they're old enough to start asking for expensive things, theyre old enough to understand they cant always have everything they want, or that they might have to wait and save up for it, or get it as a joint present.

Remember that family members will also want to buy them things so save some ideas for them too!

Until DD was 4 we only gave her 2-3 carefully chosen presents, since she got overwhelmed if there were more.

From about 5 she no longer got overwhelmed - I noticed the change when she had a whole-class party in reception and absolutely loved the million gifts she got!

She's almost 8 now, and Christmas gifts are still pretty reasonable - she's very happy with what we get, and no pressure to 'keep up'. Bit worried about that changing in the teen years!

@AlyssaJ12

My children always want more and more. Now my elder one is asking me to buy a coffee machine. She really likes coffee, and wants to learn how to make coffee with plant milk by herself. Now I am thinking about buying a coffee machine on Christmas…but seriously? One day I think that it is too much, and the other day I can do everything my children ask to make them feel good. May be somebody has a coffemachine in the house and can recommend me a cheaper one, because the ones I came across are really expensive www.coffee-statistics.com/best-bunn-coffee-maker/. Or may be I should hold myself under control and not to get crazy trying to please me children…

I'd get her a milk frother rather than a coffee machine. Mine was a cheap aldi special buy, but does the same as my mums krups one. It heats and/or frothy milk. We've used plant milk in it and that works fine too.

We're lucky in that both sets of grandparents are really generous. We had a year or two stressing that the grandparents were overdoing it and tried to reign them in. Then we relaxed and went with it, saves us money. They always ask what the kids want which is good.

However I don't ever tell friends what DC get. Will just mention the favourite thing. No one I known posts photos of presents and I really wouldn't pay attention to those who do.

I can say that throughout primary school my children don't seem to have ever been aware of who gets what or how many presents etc.

Definitely before primary school just do what works for you. They won't have any expectations at all.

Expensive as you want to make it, I went completely overboard with presents for my DS first Christmas. Silly really when I look back at the photos however, my DS is 13 now and I haven't changed. I never put up our Christmas photos on social media, that's for our eyes only. Makes me cringe when the first thing people can't wait to do on Christmas day is to upload their photos!

Tech can be expensive but you can share the cost with family and a tablet is a once every five or more years expense. Bikes can be bought second hand. Other than that I would spend £50 on my 14 year old, less when he was younger. He's more interested in food at Christmas!

Set a budget and it never becomes more expensive. If my DC wants a ps5 for example, then they would have to combine 2 Christmases worth of present money and a birthday. If they have wanted a phone then it has been secondhand to get a better model for the money.

I think maybe towards mid to end of primary school when they start wanting games consoles etc? I went overboard on my 2 year old last year and this year I’m scaling back so that she doesn’t start to expect so much

Ours got a bike at 4, before that v cheap presents!

We've always given a lot at Christmas, but that's on the basis that they don't get that much for birthdays and they don't get stuff any other time of year. That's what we had when growing up and it made the anticipation all the better and made Xmas really magical. If kids are used to getting stuff throughout the year, what's special about Xmas?

Having said that, it's not that expensive until they are teens. Before then, you can get away with stuff from cheaper shops to pad out their sacks and as a pp said they don't mind second hand. I also used to split packs and wrap separately and I used to wrap essentials that they would have had anyway, like pants and pyjamas. They used to love the big pile.

I think kids are more spoilt if they get stuff more regularly.

I don’t know anyone who does piles of presents but they do spend money on doing things around Christmas.
We’ve only ever done a couple of presents and a stocking but that’s because we buy stuff all year round and make sure that Dcs know that the theatre trips, ice skating and whatever else, costs quite a bit too.

I try to buy large and/or expensive presents for birthdays, rather than Christmas, so while I've found costs escalated as we approached teen years for birthdays, Christmas has stayed roughly the same.

I only get Christmas presents that can physically fit under the tree (or in the stockings) and we don't do piles, we just have everything mixed up under there.

It can be as expensive as you make it, before school age its easier to rein it in, once they go to school its harder because they are more aware, influenced by adverts and friends and think father Christmas can bring it if you cant afford it!
The older they get the more expensive it is, games consoles or laptops for uni etc cost hundreds .
I agree with setting your stall out early, if you start with a sack of presents from father Christmas at the bottom of the bed and a pile of presents from you under the tree its harder to scale it back in subsequent years.

It’s only as expensive as you want it to be.
I admit I overspend at Christmas and my children (age 11&8) do get a lot but when asked what they are looking forward to it’s never the presents or the day trips.

Their favourite parts of the festive period are:
Going to the farm and choosing the Christmas trees and decorating them
Making gingerbread biscuits
Playing a board game as a family after lunch on Christmas Day
Visiting family and friends and being allowed to stay up late.
Making hot chocolate and being allowed a ton of cream and marshmallows
Making paper chains

My DD is a January baby. She's nearly 4 and this is the first year she has asked for things rather than us being able to choose for her

(Posted too soon) she's not getting everything she wants - we'd be bankrupt! It's easy to go overboard but we try and spend only on what she'll really play with. When she's older and wants high cost things like bikes and consoles we'll have to have another think