Page 4 | Lower budget parents (£150 ish per child) - what are you buying?

AllYearsAround · 2024-11-17T20:07:35+00:00

We tend to spend around £150 per child, not a strict budget but feels about the right amount for us. Interested to know what others with a similar budget buy! It always seems like very much on the low side by Mumsnet standards. Mine: Teen - a couple of Star Wars lego sets Jeans and a shirt Dressing gown An under 16s driving lesson Stocking with sweets, toiletries etc £20 cash Tween - squishmallow Beyblade set A fitness/activity tracker Top and trousers Ticket to a theatre show Sewing kit Comic subscription Stocking with sweets, hair bobbles, earrings Kiddo - squishmallow Art set Baby doll Board game Ticket to a theatre show Teddy Dress Book Stocking with sweets, bath stuff

elrider · 17/11/2024 22:14

Oh, and I don't plan on getting a phone until well into the teen years and I know the budget will be going up then anyway. It would still be a fairly basic one though. We can't afford iPhones for ourselves so certainly won't be getting top of the line for a teenager! If it was really expensive, they could get money towards it from other family in lieu of presents, but yes I do understand we'll be spending more than £50 when they're teenagers.

Snugglemonkey · 17/11/2024 22:15

NeedSomeComfy · 17/11/2024 20:28

I am ASTONISHED that £150 is considered low budget! And I consider myself to be comfortably off. We will spend about £50 at most.

I am ASTONISHED at this. We are not that comfortable and both come from very poor backgrounds. We are doing OK, but we have outgoings our parents would be totally terrified by. We are not at all rich. But I just don't understand how someone comfortably off is spending £50 at most.

I budget £50 per stocking and £100 for each wee present sack. It is v low in comparison to other children around here. We sometimes fold and just blow the budget entirely. But most kids here are getting games consoles, bikes, tvs etc.

What are you buying with £50?

okayhescereal · 17/11/2024 22:18

NeedSomeComfy · 17/11/2024 22:12

Yes, and it's each family will make their own normal (and they need to get that in place before the peer pressure starts building too much!). I do remember growing up and having some friends who always got way more at Christmas than me. I suppose I was a bit jealous at the time, but actually not much because we had our own family traditions which didn't revolve so much around presents so it didn't feel like there was a huge lack. I suppose I can't have been too scarred since I seem to be replicating that with my own DC by the looks of it!
Some of the lists of presents on here just look insanely large to me. I would be totally overwhelmed to receive that much as an adult, so I can't imagine it as a child (or even teen).

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Yeah it absolutely can be overwhelming! I feel like I've gone ott this year (have spent more than double my highest previous budget) as we're at home and won't have all the additional family gifts under the tree. So can see how it can happen easily.

I don't remember anything about other people's Christmases. Feel like it was more of a 'good Christmas?'...'yeah, you?', 'yeah' and then move on 😂

Though saying that I remember a friend one year got a TV with a built in video tape player FOR HER BEDROOM and oh my green was not my colour!

mitogoshigg · 17/11/2024 22:19

I've never spent that much, in fact I aimed for £100 though mine are adults now (2019 was the last year they got that sort of level as I split from their dad that year, we did joint presents one last time).

This year it's £50 ikea voucher each and some stocking stuffers as they have their own homes now

User364837 · 17/11/2024 22:21

I don’t consider £150 low budget, I do £100 plus few stocking bits.

doodleschnoodle · 17/11/2024 22:25

But I doubt everyone posting on here about £50 has a 2yo? Of course it's possible to spend £50 on a baby or 2yo, but I'm interested to know what people are buying for 6/7/8yo etc children for under £50 for all their Christmas gifts and stockings, Santa gift etc. A

Flibbertyflo · 17/11/2024 22:26

Juliagreeneyes · 17/11/2024 21:31

DD is 12 and whereas I used to spend around £120-150 all in on her eight to ten years ago, it’s much more difficult now.

When she was small I did a stocking for around £15-20, plus one big present (eg wooden train set, play kitchen etc) for around £60; then around another £40 in smaller things - a few bath toys, books, Happyland things, novelties and so on. I’d also usually get some Christmas pyjamas, some advent/Christmas Eve things and probably a Christmas dress from eBay within that budget, too.

Around 5 years ago it got much more difficult to come in at that budget. It’s not just that older kids want more expensive stuff and little kid stuff is cheaper, though of course there is that too. It’s that there’s been significant inflation since then; I reckon I’d find it a lot harder to spend the same amounts even if DD was still little and still liked little kid toys.

We notice food prices/cost of living going up, but there’s been a lot of inflation generally as well. Ten years ago £150 was a generous amount, I always felt DD got a good amount of nice things, and I used to be bang in the middle of the ranges of the “Christmas spend” threads. In the last few years I’ve noticed that £150 is getting towards the bottom end of the spending ranges on these threads.

I can’t help thinking that the competitive underspend posters are really missing the point. £50 would buy you hardly anything these days at current prices. Unless you are really struggling for money, to actively decide to spend £50 is a bit Scroogey IMO. Even £150, a perfectly fine amount, is still not exactly wondrous piles of stuff in the current financial climate. I find it difficult to keep the spend below £200 these days, and Christmas clothes, etc. are certainly not included in that any more. And I really have never been a big spender on DD at Christmas - most other parents I know seem to spend far far more! My sisters have always spent more like £350-500 on each of their kids, and they aren’t especially well off (not sure how they do it tbh..)

Maybe the "Scroogey" ones can't actually afford to spend money on "wondrous piles" and instead are just doing their best with what they have available to spend. A great Christmas doesn't depend on how much is spent or the size of the pile.

doodleschnoodle · 17/11/2024 22:27

@okayhescereal I got one of those TVs with a video player in it when I was a teenager! I felt so grown up.

cinders222 · 17/11/2024 22:29

It's interesting how all kids and families are different. I have heard people say that there kids get overwhelmed if get more than a few gifts. Even when she was tiny my daughter loved a big pile of presents lol.
I think it's harder as they get older as piles look smaller but way more expensive. My mil is getting my daughter a new iPad this year and that's £800 straight of bat (luckily we are not paying for that one) But even clothes as they get older, they want certain brands. couple of t shirts and hoodies and some shoes and your £300. And skincare, makeup perfume , phones, headphones, consoles etc. All mega bucks.
Only thing she asked for this year was some glue sticks. I should maybe have stuck to that and saved myself some cash.

Do people also spend in a way similar to when they were children. Both me and husband came from very working class families but both had big piles of presents on Christmas morning so wonder if people do Christmas in a similar way to their parents.

Invisimamma · 17/11/2024 22:31

NeedSomeComfy · 17/11/2024 20:28

I am ASTONISHED that £150 is considered low budget! And I consider myself to be comfortably off. We will spend about £50 at most.

Are you buying for teen though? If that's all you can afford then that's okay, but I'd love to know what you can get for £50 for teens.

So far I've bought ds14 socks, boxers and a lynx set, that's come to over £50 and that's just for his stocking!

I can't spend hundreds but £50 doesn't go far at all.

Juliagreeneyes · 17/11/2024 22:35

okayhescereal · 17/11/2024 22:05

I think it all depends on what your level of normal is too right? We're cherishing being in the narrow window before potentially people start comparing their Christmas loot with school friends. Up until now each kid has had a gift from FC, a gift from us, a gift from my mum, dad, nephew, DH's parents, my sister, my grandmother, DH's brother and their godparents..so that's already more than 10 each. Plus a stocking! It feels like loads to us (oldest is 5) but it's certainly not been a lot financially. Checked my spreadsheet and last year I spent £40 per kid (so that's the gift from us, FC and the stocking), the year before as I mentioned it was more like £20 in total between the 2. We have been known to open things a few days before and after the big day so it's not all too much on the one morning. But that's us. Other people are welcome to do more, and as wishlists develop the budget will likely move up as the years go on. But think being called a scrooge is a bit harsh. The pile of presents under the tree certainly doesn't look like it belongs in a Dickens novel in my opinion.

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Isn’t the entire point that many families can’t rely on relatives and godparents giving up to 10 gifts as well? No wonder you can spend a small amount if the child is getting a lot of other gifts from family. (I notice some others of the posters who say they don’t spend much, are also saying they have lots of toys already from older children).

If £50 represented the only gifts the child was getting, then, assuming you are okay financially, yes, it would be a bit Scrooge-like. If you can rely on generous gifts from family then that makes all the difference as your child is clearly not going to be just opening a couple of small gifts (but not everyone has so many relatives!)

Another thing that makes a difference in these threads is that some families have a culture of only giving children toys or gifts at Christmas and birthdays, and none the rest of the year. I was aware that I could spend a modest amount on DD because she also had things all year round when she needed them, including bikes, additional toys and craft sets, and so on. Some families don’t have the money to do this, so they “treat” the children at Christmas and save up (or, sadly, go into debt for it) instead. There are a lot of different ways that families do presents!

okayhescereal · 17/11/2024 22:39

doodleschnoodle · 17/11/2024 22:25

But I doubt everyone posting on here about £50 has a 2yo? Of course it's possible to spend £50 on a baby or 2yo, but I'm interested to know what people are buying for 6/7/8yo etc children for under £50 for all their Christmas gifts and stockings, Santa gift etc. A

DS is 6 in Jan

I've bought:
Wheres wally find it game - £2 in the charity shop, brand new still in wrapping
Math board game - £5 new on vinted
Lego - £15 on ebay
famous five yoto cards - £26 (but used points so they were essentially free)
Guinness book of records - £3 from the science museum second hand book shop
Book - £2 at the school fair
Airplane launcher - £11
Numberblocks board game - £8

Stocking
hot wheels car - £1.99 from aldi
bath bomb - £1
chocolate snowballs - £1
phlat ball - £2
Robofish for bath - £3
Christmas decoration (homemade)
Satsuma

That's £55 ish

He's also getting a magazine subscription and hot wheels track from family that I know about, plus a few gifts I won't know the contents of till he opens them.

TiredEyesToday · 17/11/2024 22:46

DS8

book about dragons
book of Viking myths
tickets to an event in Feb (cheap event but he’ll love it)
A mid size Lego set (£50 in the sale)
A board game
a Dr who toy (second hand)
a soft toy he’s asked for

he’ll also get a stocking with a bath bomb, chocolate, badges and other bits and bobs

My mum spoils him massively, and his dad will probably get him a big Lego set, so he won’t go without!

TheFlyingHorse · 17/11/2024 22:48

I think £150 seems like quite a lot. When our kids we're small their main present was around £50 plus stocking fillers - perhaps 10 small items costing a total of £50.

They're older now 18, 19 and 21 but we don't spend a set amount on them and we tend to get them something they need. DS1 is at uni, has a 10 year old iphone and wants an upgrade but it will almost certainly be second hand - we rarely buy new tech. Partly due to cost but also environmental impact.

DS2 never wants anything - he's not really interested in stuff and has never been able to think of anything he wants for Christmas or birthday even when he was a kid - he's pretty hard to buy presents for. He'd like new pair of football boots but he doesn't want anything fancy and I doubt they'll cost more than £50. I don't worry about spending the same amount on each of them. If someone needs something more expensive one year (like a phone or laptop) they'll get it and another time they'll get something cheaper. I really don't think Christmas needs to be spend-fest. Mostly we enjoy spending time togther, watching films and playing games. More than anything I don't want to contribute to the mountains of waste accumuating on our planet by buying needless crap and rasing children who equate owning stuff with happiness.

okayhescereal · 17/11/2024 22:49

Juliagreeneyes · 17/11/2024 22:35

Isn’t the entire point that many families can’t rely on relatives and godparents giving up to 10 gifts as well? No wonder you can spend a small amount if the child is getting a lot of other gifts from family. (I notice some others of the posters who say they don’t spend much, are also saying they have lots of toys already from older children).

If £50 represented the only gifts the child was getting, then, assuming you are okay financially, yes, it would be a bit Scrooge-like. If you can rely on generous gifts from family then that makes all the difference as your child is clearly not going to be just opening a couple of small gifts (but not everyone has so many relatives!)

Another thing that makes a difference in these threads is that some families have a culture of only giving children toys or gifts at Christmas and birthdays, and none the rest of the year. I was aware that I could spend a modest amount on DD because she also had things all year round when she needed them, including bikes, additional toys and craft sets, and so on. Some families don’t have the money to do this, so they “treat” the children at Christmas and save up (or, sadly, go into debt for it) instead. There are a lot of different ways that families do presents!

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I didn't think that was the point but it's certainly a point. I have said in a subsequent comment that if you're the ones solely responsible for Christmas you'd likely spend more.

But seriously you do you. If someone does a few little gifts each or a massive mountain, and either of those comes to either £50 or £5000 or anywhere in between but it works for you and your household is happy with it then what does it matter? My sister would always spend £500 per child. She thinks I'm awful that I don't go into triple figures as a rule. But that's her way and I do it mine.

This year we're not spending time with family so just us for Christmas and the number of presents I've bought has gone up considerably. Out of interest after this thread I've gone through and accurately tracked it rather than just ballparking and can see I've spent £55 on the oldest and just over £100 on the little one. But she is having a yoto player this year whereas DS already has one. Big difference in finances, but the piles will look the same which feels more important than the value being the same at this age.

Juliagreeneyes · 17/11/2024 22:49

Flibbertyflo · 17/11/2024 22:26

Maybe the "Scroogey" ones can't actually afford to spend money on "wondrous piles" and instead are just doing their best with what they have available to spend. A great Christmas doesn't depend on how much is spent or the size of the pile.

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I did say, if you are not struggling for money; —and several posters who were saying they spent much less, were also saying that they could afford more if they wanted, but chose not to. (Some because their child already received lots of presents from family.)

That’s not at all the same as not being able to afford anything more.

I’ve been on MN for yonks, and there have always been people who come on these threads and do the stretch-one’s-eyes thing about how other people spend so much unnecessary money on children at Christmas. We used to call it “competitive satsumas” on MN back in the day (i.e., “my kid only gets a satsuma I knitted myself from muesli, and they still have a wonderful non-commercial Christmas!”) There’s always a bit of sanctimony from middle class parents of under-5s on MN about what other people spend, because they don’t yet see how d cheap small kid toys are in comparison to those for older kids.

Fair enough, I too am a bit eye-rolly at kids who get given £500+ of tech and so on - of course I think that’s ridiculous. But for people with no significant money troubles? They have to know that £100-150 is not blowing the budget on a kid at Christmas these days. My own parents used to spend about that on each of us in the 80s and 90s, and honestly we forget that actually toys and clothes used to be comparatively much more expensive then, before Asian manufacturing deflation brought commodity prices down so that we all got so used to cheap goods.

Inflation is taking the prices back up, and so the days of cheap toy deals and cheap clothes and so on are starting to disappear.

Superworm24 · 17/11/2024 22:50

Mine is a baby so will be getting some bits off FB marketplace or vinted. I might buy a few shares for their JISA.

As for the shock about the amount I think it's very normal for teenagers to get far more spent on them. In our extended family phones, laptops, perfumes and trainers seem to be common gifts.

Birchlarch · 17/11/2024 22:51

We spend about this per child. I think it's less than people where we live, even though we probably earn more than the average. I've always been amazed at what the dcs friends get. Our dc have 2 aunties, so they get about 50 quid from them. Otherwise, it's just us.

Original poster

AllYearsAround · 17/11/2024 22:53

TheFlyingHorse · 17/11/2024 22:48

I think £150 seems like quite a lot. When our kids we're small their main present was around £50 plus stocking fillers - perhaps 10 small items costing a total of £50.

They're older now 18, 19 and 21 but we don't spend a set amount on them and we tend to get them something they need. DS1 is at uni, has a 10 year old iphone and wants an upgrade but it will almost certainly be second hand - we rarely buy new tech. Partly due to cost but also environmental impact.

DS2 never wants anything - he's not really interested in stuff and has never been able to think of anything he wants for Christmas or birthday even when he was a kid - he's pretty hard to buy presents for. He'd like new pair of football boots but he doesn't want anything fancy and I doubt they'll cost more than £50. I don't worry about spending the same amount on each of them. If someone needs something more expensive one year (like a phone or laptop) they'll get it and another time they'll get something cheaper. I really don't think Christmas needs to be spend-fest. Mostly we enjoy spending time togther, watching films and playing games. More than anything I don't want to contribute to the mountains of waste accumuating on our planet by buying needless crap and rasing children who equate owning stuff with happiness.

£150 isn't a lot if you were spending £100 10-15 years ago 😂

OP posts:

RareMaker · 17/11/2024 22:54

We do 100 each. Eldest 2 are in 20s now lol but keeps it fair. Younger 2 are 6 and 11

Elizo · 17/11/2024 22:55

NeedSomeComfy · 17/11/2024 20:28

I am ASTONISHED that £150 is considered low budget! And I consider myself to be comfortably off. We will spend about £50 at most.

Same. It is a lot by any standard.

Borris · 17/11/2024 22:56

Gifts for a teen that are £50 or under:
Ice cream maker
Waffle maker
Earbuds (unbranded)
Band poster
Band T-shirts
2 vinyls
Boots/item of clothing from asos or similar
Books
Crafts stuff
Incense burner
Make up
Beanbag
Venus fly trap
Nike pro leggings

... I would probably pick 2 things from the list from me and then suggest other things for the 4 or 5 family members that also buy for her.

I think it depends what your teen has come to expect tbh.

I am comfortably off and so buy things like phones, bikes, musical tickets etc during the year if they are needed. I know others would save these for Christmas

okayhescereal · 17/11/2024 22:58

@Juliagreeneyes also though, I really don't think there's a problem with a small pile of gifts. Remember speaking with my nan about Christmas and she could list the gifts she was given when she was a kid because they were so treasured. She genuinely would remember the red patent shoes she got when she was five. She still had book she received when she was 8 and she lived till 80! I used to get an absolute mountain of stuff and other than the year I got a doll where you could feed her and then she used the potty I really couldn't list you many of the presents I received over the course of my childhood. Stuff like that makes me wonder about there being something to the less is more mentality. Especially with all the environmentalism and the cost of living stuff going on. Don't think anyone should be feeling scrooge like if it's working for them.

So overall I'm gonna stick with the 'you do you' on this one.

Original poster

AllYearsAround · 17/11/2024 23:03

Elizo · 17/11/2024 22:55

Same. It is a lot by any standard.

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If you have a 13 year old who has asked for a MarioKart Switch game, a Nike hoodie and an Air Up bottle for Christmas (not a crazy wish list in my opinion!) that's already over £100 and you probably want to get them a stocking and maybe Christmas PJs too.
It's not going to make the huge pile of presents like many families do.

OP posts:

bridesmaid1024 · 17/11/2024 23:06

DD13 - £150
Elf make up bits
Vanity table with Hollywood mirror
2 x perfume
Pyjamas
Silk pillow case & bonnet

DD 3 - £130
Disney princess clip dolls & dresses
Barbie & Chelsea doll play set bundle
Paint your own bear
Bath toys
Vending machine
Colouring, stickers & pens
Wooden garage & cars

The Barbie bits & Disney bits came from Facebook marketplace and were such a bargain!