Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Christmas

From present ideas to party food, find all your Christmas inspiration here.

Original poster

What's it like to be properly well off at Christmas?

254 replies

ImJustNotMeAnymore · 20/12/2021 15:31

Just that really. We're not poor but not able to throw money around. There are things our children would like, such as new pc, gaming equipment, horse, car and so forth, that are out of the budget this year but they won't have nothing.

My question is for those who have bigger incomes and no money worries. What is it really like especially at Christmas?

OP posts:
Hippychicken1 · 20/12/2021 22:09

We are reasonably well off

Present wise I buy for my sister partner nieces nephews my son and his partner & my DH
One year I bought my DH a 5k Watch but it was combined 50 birthday present as well

BendicksBittermints4Breakfast · 20/12/2021 22:14

@crazyjinglist

Most rich people seem to say they don't give much at Christmas to their kids. Its a kind of sneering on the working class who do.

Or, you know, maybe they're just telling the truth. It seems a bit off to call it sneering when people are just factually responding to questions about what they spend. Who says they give massive expensive presents all year round anyway?

We're definitely not rich and not poor either, but I think we spend a considerably smaller amount on Christmas and birthday presents proportionate to our income than lots of people we know. It's not 'sneering', it's just that neither dh nor I grew up in families who spent loads on presents! We don't spend much on our dc the rest of the year either tbh!

Wow, the inverted snobbery's out there today! It's a statement of fact if someone states that they don't spend a lot on their children at Christmas, it's not a sneer at all. We had our children when we were working abroad and had more disposable income but we decided not to set a precedent of big presents that we may not be able to afford when we were back in the UK.
MrsChuckBass · 20/12/2021 22:19

We have a good income
We've spent about £50 each on our DDs (age 6&7). As others have said they both do lots of out of school activities and we have a few holidays
Christmas food and drink wise we order what we fancy with no worry for the cost, food and drink is our big extravagance
My friends household income is less than half of ours, she told me she's spent £400 EACH on her 5&6 year olds!

TheHoptimist · 20/12/2021 22:26

@Bambi7

We will be spending Christmas in Mayfair at a cost of several thousand pounds.

I have spent approx £500 on DC. I don't aim to spend what I spend we just buy what we think DC will like.

It's funny how the conversation has gone towards kids and whether they're spoilt or not. The question was about what Christmas is like for people with money.

Why a few thousand pounds? Dont you have a London home?
TheHoptimist · 20/12/2021 22:34

Why a few thousand pounds? Dont you have a London home?

That didn't read how I meant it. Dont you have friends who have somewhere you can stay? Most people I know just swap homes/holiday homes- never pay to stay in London for anything other than an odd night.

HeyupitsChristmas · 20/12/2021 22:37

We aren't massively high earners - roughly 80k between us and we budget around 1k for Christmas, and that's for everything - gifts for DD, family and friends, food, bits of decor, and Christmas activities.

It's always felt like a manageable and reasonable amount for us, and we manage to do loads of fun things for that amount of money, and it's lovely not having to worry about where the money is coming from.

It's a fairly even three way split of presents, activities and food.

peboh · 20/12/2021 22:38

Dh and I are financially comfortable. Same as others on the thread we buy things throughout the year as needed, so christmas isn't necessarily any different than people who have less income than we do. We don't buy excessive amounts, because there's no point. DD (3) will be just as excited over £2 poppers as she would a £50 singing toy.
It's about how you raise your children. I don't want my daughter to get everything for christmas just because we could afford it, I want her to get items that are well thought and and she'll really enjoy and appreciate. That isn't necessarily what your kids would ask for, but you know them enough to know what else you could buy that they'd love!

MatildaIThink · 20/12/2021 22:48

I earn good money, so does my husband (both six figures), but we don't go crazy at all. Our kids are 2 and 5, we could afford to spend thousands if we wanted to but we don't, because they don't need it. My brother earns close to half a million a year and he doesn't go crazy with gifts either, but neither does anyone expect him to.

Winceybincey · 20/12/2021 22:49

Our income varies but it averages around 6k a month after deductions - not rich but certainly not living month to month.

I don’t live any different to when I was a skint single mum other than not having to worry. That’s a big thing for me. I’ve spent £200 on my baby and toddler each, more on my teenage daughter but it’s mostly Pandora, boots star gifts, clothes in the Black Friday sale and some Nike blazers that were half price. Nothing extravagant. I’ve spent £30 on each family member and me and hubby have spent £100 on each other.

I don’t see the point in going crazy. I hate consumerism and waste. I bought my 2 year old a little truck from the pound shop last week and he’s crazy about it. My baby will play with anything he can grab.

I don’t spoil them through the year either. Their clothes I buy in the winter and summer sales for the following year and second hand ones off eBay if I notice their wardrobe is shrinking due to ruining clothes (holes, bad stains etc). My sons winter coat was a fiver off eBay! Second hand but In good condition.

Food shop is £80 a week at Asda, even at Christmas. (We eat out with family Christmas Day). I don’t change our food shop.

Oh and our tree is half decorated! I couldn’t find all the decorations and was so busy I didn’t get round to buying more and now I don’t see the point as Christmas is almost over.

I know i sound like a grinch but I’m really not. I love Christmas and the only thing I love about being well off is not having to worry.

Mellowyellow222 · 20/12/2021 22:59

I notice a lot of the people reporting they don’t spend much have young children.

When adult sized bikes, laptops, mobile phones and other gadgets become popular this might change.

Although as someone unthread has said, if these are bought when they are needed rather than as gifts then Christmas and birthdays really can be about lower cost items.

I don’t think it’s spoiling a child to get large gifts for Christmas. My parents were not wealthy, but we got bikes, computers, electric keyboards, sound systems etc in the 80s and 90s. Most of my peer group received a largish present at Christmas.

RosesAndHellebores · 20/12/2021 23:01

Christmas hasn't even started yet. 12th night is 5th January.

DaphneDeloresMoorhead · 20/12/2021 23:06

@WallaceinAnderland

A horse! Why are people asking for a horse for Christmas? That's way over the top.

We're not actually buying any present this year as we don't actually need anything so not spending money for the sake of it.

Cos they have no clue about the relentless and expensive nature of actually housing and looking after it 😂
elbea · 20/12/2021 23:07

My husbands family are hugely well off, they buy each other a book or a little novelty gift at Christmas and that’s it. They buy things they want or need at the time.

DaphneDeloresMoorhead · 20/12/2021 23:11

@peboh I think maybe you might get into trouble if you give your 3 year old poppers for Christmas 😁

Ballcactus · 20/12/2021 23:12

Money and richness really is relative isn’t it, wow

Mellowyellow222 · 20/12/2021 23:15

@Ballcactus

Money and richness really is relative isn’t it, wow
Yes, I though as a single person op with an annual salary of c. £90k I was doing okay until I read some of the lifestyles on here😂. No live in staff at my house (however my cat would probably argue that’s me!).
whattodo2019 · 20/12/2021 23:21

I think families on lower incomes seem to go more over board on Christmas presents than families with higher disposable incomes.
We would be classes as high income earners and we buy our kids large stockingsie a pillow case full of presents-
DD 16- Charlotte Tilbury makeup, Hat, scarf, books, shower gel, Victoria Secret bras and pants, Games, phone case, Oliver Bonas bits ie inscent stick holder, The White Company eye mask, slippers and hair bands, Sand and Sky face mask and scrub, silk pillow case, Hair turban,Personalised makeup bag, shampoo PJ shorts....

DS14- lots of socks, boxers, books, Guiness Book records.. shooting socks and tassels,
gloves, hat, fleece snood, shower gel, shampoo, cocktail shaker, chocolate bombs, ....

DD's main presents under the tree- new jeans and trousers from Jaded, top, handbag from zara, (not to mention the dress, black trousers and two pairs of shoes i bought her last week to wear to parties over the weekend..)

DS - all he wants ins money so he is getting £300 towards annee bike which he is saving for plus £50 as his socking is smaller than his sisters

Now i've typed it up, god it sounds an awful lot!!!!

PegasusReturns · 20/12/2021 23:27

Re the buying cars comment, when my eldest was learning to drive we didn’t have a car suitable for her to learn so we needed to buy one.

Given I was doing that I wasn’t about to buy her a big birthday gift too. So car for her birthday. It’s not uncommon in her peer group.

beenthereboughtthetshirt · 20/12/2021 23:30

@aliceca you cannot compensate for the one gift you received as a child from your mum by overcompensating on your own kids.

berberry · 20/12/2021 23:58

So car for her birthday. It’s not uncommon in her peer group.

Yes cars for birthday but i've never heard of someone buying their child one for xmas.

Snowisfallinghere · 21/12/2021 00:02

My working class parents were on a very low income but my dad would always be excited to save up and buy the latest consumer electronics when I was a kid in the 90s: think PlayStation, VHS, TV for the bedroom, fiber optic lamps, cordless phones etc.

My DH has pretty well-off parents and they had the same old crap TV for decades, they still use a clock radio from the 80s in their kitchen now, DH told me they didn't have a VHS player in 90s and he never had a single film on video back then whereas I had a whole collection of Disney VHS. However they did spend their money on other things like fine wines, staying in luxury hotels etc. I noticed that their Christmas gift giving is much less extravagant than my family's and they probably earn at least four times as much as my parents!

I don't think one way is better, I prefer somewhere in between the two. With our kids at Christmas I aim for slightly less rampant consumerism and tat than I grew up with, but slightly more fun toys and treats than my DH grew up with!

MummingAlong · 21/12/2021 00:05

I received a pony for Christmas when I was 10 and was completely delighted! Little did I know he had been expelled from the riding school for all sorts of naughtiness first...Privileged enough to be able to keep and fund said pony and I would never class myself as spoiled! Grew up on a falling down farm in Wales, but we luckily never had to worry about money and that pony was the best gift I ever had! I’d be delighted if my boys put a pony on their Christmas lists but it’s all about the football here!

Nowayoutonlydown · 21/12/2021 00:10

The richer you are, generally the less people tend to buy their kids for Christmas, cos there's often nothing they don't have!

I know DD had shed loads of gifts when I had less, I'd save gifts for months and months, wrapping up all sorts of stuff.

For example, this year, DD has a total of about 10 gifts from me. I can't think of anything else to get her (infact I've not even bought her anything for her birthday- I wouldn't know where to start! Just bunged £200 in a card)

But this is because there's always a trade off, for me to have earned the money to be better off, I've missed out on things, I've worked evenings, I've worked weekends, so when I've been off we've gone shopping and bought nice things.
So whilst the gifts she has are lovely, I can't reasonably buy her anything else without feeling like I've just thrown money away in stuff she will never use

Doodar · 21/12/2021 00:37

its the ability to buy everything at once if you like, I bought everything, except food, last month, sat for ages ordering stuff and not worry how to pay for it.
I spend about £300 each on the kids, they don't ask for much as they get, within reason, what they want throughout the year.

CharSiu · 21/12/2021 01:02

We are well off and the point is we don’t have to have a budget, we can buy what we like when we like within reason, we aren’t flash. We never discuss money with people in real life. The cheapest gift we ever got DS was £20 and the most expensive was 1.5k.