How much do you spend on your DC

[whattodo2019]

How much do you spend on their stocking?
How much on presents?

[quote newnamenancy]@spagbog5

I can absolutely appreciate that as they get older gifts will get more expensive, I can see this happening already as mine get older. However if we take the £500 iPad as an example, I'm just not sure I'd ever spend that on an iPad for a child/teenager. I don't see the value in the gift, how would they use it to get the value? Watching YouTube videos etc? Will it last for years and years, prob not.

So if they asked for something like that they might get it if it had educational/added value, or perhaps I would link the gift to them doing something such as solid studying and exam results, or if they helped with a large specific task at home.

Otherwise I think they'd prob get some vouchers/money to go towards the item and they'd have to save the rest themselves from birthday money or a part time job.

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I have paid £320 for a ipad, dd is a teen and needs it for homework, it will be used daily for her A level work, ideally she could have done with one when doing her GCSE’s. I think the iPad is one of the few things worth spending money on, they last much longer than other tablets, I have had mine for 5 years and it’s as good as new. Dd has had other tablets and they are rubbish compared to the iPad. I feel lucky that I can get dd1 this year, she has no idea she’s getting one and has been struggling to do her school work in her old iPhone.

And that would be a perfectly reasonable decision @oneglassandpuzzled however the disapproval of anyone spending more than tuppence ha’penny on the Christmas threads is never because how will you help them through university

Rather it’s about making ridiculous judgments about other people’s values and parenting, based only on a snippet of information, in order to feel superior. It’s often disingenuous because many of those posters leave out the fact that their dc are getting a lot more than just what their parents are paying for, while declaring other children spoiled and grabby and making dire predictions about how they’ll be as adults because on one day of the year they got a nice pile of gifts!

@spagbog5

Fair enough, clearly lots of value in it and sounds like it will be well appreciated. And everyone likes a stocking, even when they're old like me! Hope you all have a lovely Christmas.

Ds about £800. Believe it or not that’s only 3 items. Ps5, Nike tech tracksuit and Nike trainers. That’s teens for you.

Younger dc 12 will be less as things less expensive. So whatever on her list. Prob 350 max. But for that I can get a lot

I think some middle class parents are pretty good at dressing up their reluctance to spend money as a parenting decision! When pressed, many of the I could afford more but why on earth would I?? brigade will concede that their dc do own things that cost more than £20 or £50, it’s just that they’re bought by GPs or other family. So sometimes it’s less about not wanting their dc to have these things and more to do with who’s paying..

Not sure about what class I am but my parents wouldn't spend that on them either. Sometimes it's a culture thing too, I was expected to get a Saturday job as a teenager, work around uni etc even though my parents were/are very comfortable.

Does anyone question if you buy dc 2k worth of stuff will it be hard for them if they can't afford it later on in life? I'm not saying that this is the case but I guess I just do the same as my parents.

More this year than normal because we've been lucky to still be working and spending less. So £500 each roughly but we have only 3 or 4 other people we buy for.

However my parents do still do a stocking for my siblings & I 😆

These threads never go well. Anything more than an orange and chocolate coin and the child is spoilt

Christmas spending will always vary. Some go big, others go small. Some get little or nothing from extended family and others get a huge amount.

I did point out to a friend when she commented on the price of a gift I had bought that she spent more on alcohol and takeaways in a week. The gift would last a whole lot longer than those did.

I had mc parents and we were pretty well off but I don't remember extravagant Christmas presents...I'd get nice presents but wasn't spoiled at all.

I find it verging on obnoxious to see teens who've never done a days work in their life have every expensive bit of tech that's available...headphones worth hundreds, latest consoles, expensive phones. I wouldn't buy that for them even if I was millionaire. I'd give them a ten quid set of headphones and they can buy themselves the ones which cost hundreds when they're an adult and have a job.

Aim for around £50 main present, £30 stocking - ages 14, 12 and 8 ....some years it's more eg if a bike or tablet...this year they literally can't think of anything they want so I really don't like the thought of buying for the sake of it , they get decent presents from grandparents, aunties and uncles as well
My oldest discovered a bag of opened but not used presents a few weeks ago- they really don't need much !!
I'm making a conscious effort this year to avoid buying pointless crap as well - one good thing about having to do online shopping there's less chance of panic buying random tatt in tiger etc (I do like tiger but often end up buying naff stocking filler type things there that are never used close to xmas)

@formerbabe that's exactly what my mum is like! I'm clearly becoming her.

My iphone is proper old but it still works & barely costs me anything so why change it. The ear pod things are way too expensive for me. Obviously I'm quite tight but I just wouldn't be buying that for my dc.

It varies year on year. Depends upon their age, what they have asked for, what is affordable/ reasonable based on what they’ve asked for.

DS1 is in the process of building a computer, so he has said categorically money only please so he can put it to good use. Fair enough, I’ll probably think of a few cheap things for him to open as well, just sweets, a T-shirt,etc.

DS2 has a list which looking at it so far is spot on. Enough for us to spend our budget and other ideas for family.

I’m aiming for. £250 per child. I always go over, probably will this year too. But it’s never been more than another £50 on top of that.

Feeling very lucky that neither of them have asked for the PS5! Given they’re both game obsessed.

Usually around £400 each. They're teens.

We try to stick to €250 per child but usually go a bit over. This year ds1's main pressie (bike) was €260 alone, and we've bought a few small bits extra too so that he has a pile so that's pushed it up.

£10ish for stocking fillers & £20 main for my 3yo and nothing for my soon to be 8 month old. My baby is getting the things his brother has outgrown rewrapped. My eldest is getting second hand things that I got off Facebook as his main present and some colouring books, dot-to-dots and craft bits, choc coins & a satsuma for his stocking. He will be thrilled.

Things will obviously change when my children are older, but there is so much time in the future for them to want expensive things, so while they are young and will enjoy playing with the box more than the present, I don't see the need to spend a fortune.

I will put some money into their savings accounts for the future as I think that will be better for them in the long run.

some of these amounts are obscene. 800 pound on an 18 month old???

My children are grown now but when they were young, I would only spend around £20-25 for a gift. It was always a board game and craft supplies. Their stockings always had sweets but no gifts.

I didn't buy them much because most people give each other gifts at Christmas and we would concentrate on buying gifts for others. My children's birthdays were a different matter all together. I would happily spend £200 (if not a bit more, especially when they got older) on their birthday gifts because it's their special day.

It depends... I've often managed to coincide Christmas with my teens' phone contracts being due, so those years it's less up front, but then obviously paying over the 12-24 months. When I've bought something like a console then that's maybe 2-300, but then just a few other bits and bobs. Or when I buy clothes or trainers, they might get more spent for a gift than every day stuff, but there's still a cross over of the gift budget / clothes budget. Stockings are normally smaller, cheaper things like snacks, socks, shower gel, etc.
When they're toddlers you can spend less and it still seems like a lot of stuff! I think it's down to the individual though. So long as you're not getting into debt and your dc appreciate it.

£600 each this year on Santa presents . Stockings are not included in that those are £50 .

DS is 2. Spent roughly £150.
As he gets older he'll get what he puts on his list depending on what we can afford, I'll never get in debt for Christmas but if he wants an expensive present and we can afford it we will get it. Me and DH spoil each other rotten at Christmas so I imagine as DS gets older he'll be very spoilt too.

@UntilYourNextHairBrainedScheme

I don't think present value and parental income correlate. I used to teach in a school in a deprived area and the monetary value of Christmas presents was astronomical, but half the poor kids had their presents taken back and returned (as they were being paid for in installments their parents couldn't meet) or sold by the end of January.

A lot of middle class parents don't think its a healthy idea to give children everything they ask for plus stuff they didn't and actually buy quite modest presents.

I completely agree. I was born and raised in a council house (on an estate where many of my family still live) but now we are very comfortable financially. My cousins spend hundreds on their kids at Christmas - piles under the tree - whereas we spend maybe £150 per child. So much of it is about appearances, though. There's nothing worse than being thought of as skint. Whereas the circles I live and move in, extravagance like that seems a bit try-hard. No one feels the need to show how much money they have. Tell people the neighborhood you live in and that's all they need to know...

About £150 each including stockings

I used to teach in a school in a deprived area and the monetary value of Christmas presents was astronomical, but half the poor kids had their presents taken back and returned (as they were being paid for in installments their parents couldn't meet) or sold by the end of January

That is so cruel. Poor kids getting stuff taken back off them.

I don’t know why it’s the parents who spend more that get the flack every year.
Not talking about the ones that can not afford it ( there was many years when DC1 was young when we couldn’t )
But the ones who think they can tell us it’s wrong what we spend on our kids when they have the choice but don’t annoys me, also they class situation annoys me to.
On paper I had a DS at 15 years old, 2 kids at 21 a single mum by 22.
However I own my own house, I have worked hard for 13 years and got my degree and moved from my original council house with DS in to our own home.
My kids know what hard work are and are not over indulged or spoilt. They know the only reason we have nice things is because I worked hard their whole lives.
They do not get things through the year, I hate the whole 1.00 machines in supermarkets etc
So once a year as born their birthdays are close to Xmas I splash out on them.
They also are aware of lots of charities as we work along side many of them. We donate to the hospital, local church ( food bank ) and do metro present gifting every year.
We are not rich to any extent but we live frugally most of the year and have a modest house with a modest home.