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

[AllYearsAround]

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

We are going to see Hamilton in February, and we had a very £££ for us summer holiday.

We have two teens. Won't spend more than £100 I don't think.
DD (13) wants some red Converse hi tops and had asked her GPs for some music stuff (she's a percussionist, there's always stuff). I'm looking for Black Friday deals for the Cons.
DS (16) wants some Adidas track pants and for GCSEs to be over.
They'll both get stockings, largely edible stuff. Weird flavour kitkats, Pringles, chocolate orange. DD's will probably have stationery and toiletries too. I love buying for her. Both will have a polished rock sample or fossil - it's just a family tradition (dh and I both geologists).

I have to agree with many posters. £150 is plenty until they get to about 10/11. Once that age is becomes harder. We don't spend tons as I've already said but there are very few teens that are not into technology at all. Games consoles(£190 minimum), computers, mobile phones and even clothes are expensive designer ones, as they become so fussy. You can get away with it cheaper for the odd year maybe but not every year.

DD 11 having theatre tickets, slippers, new crocs and jibbitz (got half price!), necklace, hairdryer and wireless karaoke

DD16 having broken planet hoody (from vinted), pandora charm (from vinted), perfume (duty free!) and gig tickets. She's the expensive one so I've saved money wherever possible. She'll probably get a bundle of Nike socks too.

DD17 having bracelet charms for her Italian charm bracelet, some clothes, paintbrushes and expensive curl shampoo etc. she's hard to buy for so short of ideas!!

They all have a stocking with stuff like Smellies, fidgets, sleep mask, make up wipes etc.

Well this thread has been educational! Will start saving up for the teen years. Sounds 'spensive!

My kids are young (under 7), we don't have many family members who give 'unwrappable gifts' and we're still in the <£50. I'm not doing aiming for this amount, there's just a very active second hand market where I live and I always try and do second hand first for environmental reasons. You can get 4 yoto cards for a tenner, dressing up clothes, or a massive box of dulpo/Lego/wooden train track, or a baby Annabel bundle that includes bottles and clothes and a stroller and stuff, books, puzzles, electronic toys, kids digital cameras, scooters, bikes...all for £10-20 per item. The wishlists are ticked off pretty quickly. We do a gift from us, a gift from FC, the kids get eachother a gift and then the stocking. So I'm buying 3 gifts and the stocking per kid. It's not a lot financially at the moment. Have one grandparent who buys a gift to unwrap as well, so 4 pressies each under the tree. Some of those a bigger, some smaller, but that's just how it is.

I think we're on about £150 per child here too - dd (almost 3) I can do in a fraction of that usually as we have an excellent toy charity shop nearby, but this year she is getting a yoto (prime day deal) and cards etc. She's going to love being able to stick on her own music, and I'm saving money by using mainly make your own cards.

Dd (3) is getting
Yoto&cards
Anna costume
Sylvanian figures
Skye hooded blanket
Book
Big squishmallow
Doctor set
Squishmallow stationary set

Ds (6) is getting
A switch game (only thing he wants)
Big squishmallow
Minecraft magnetic building blocks
Sonic hooded blanket
Minecraft onesie
Minecraft light blocks thing
Sonic stationary set
Book
Kids smart watch for taking photos and videos

Stockings contain mini stuffy, chocolates, bubble bath, candy canes, loom band mini kits, foam Minecraft swords, mario hot wheels car, Chocolate coins, a mini fake lego set.
They also have a special advent - minecraft activity books for ds, usborne magic painting books for dd. Will keep them busy!

I don't think it's loads, and they won't really get much else. But it's also their birthdays in January, which will be much cheaper. Probably about £50 for dd as I've already found the scooter she desperately wanted for £30 :)

You're doing very well to fulfil those lists on £150! I'd like to know where you shop!

Something else to remember £150 doesn't go as far as it did 10 years ago.
I think £150 is low budget.

The second they ask for a bike, stunt scooter, console, or tablet your £150 won't really go far.

I think it really must be a location/culture/family thing. The normal where I live and when I was growing up was at least a small pile of presents, so those saying their DC are just getting 1 or 2 presents is really surprising! I'm from a working class background too, a lot of my presents growing up were second hand but we always had quite a few to open.

For my own DC I actually do a lot less than most people I know. DC are almost 4 and 2. We're spending about 250-300 for both of them (slightly more on eldest, less on younger but also a lot of joint presents). However they also get approx 300 each spent on them from extended family, so I guess they get around 450 each all in for Christmas however this does include some clothes/pjs. We've also bought a lot second hand and still don't think they have a huge amount compared to people we know! Really interesting to see the variation on this. However we don't get them a ton of presents for birthdays, that's usually around 50 on presents then a day out/trip etc.

@MrsSunshine2b Is that to me? I use vinted for some bits and shop year round for bargains. I have a gravitrax starter set for £9 instead of £60 odd from our local charity shop, still sealed up! That's for next year for ds - he loves his marble run and building things, but he's not quite ready for gravitrax and I don't want the tears! His switch game this year is also mario maker 2 (again, he loves building) - not a new release, £20 second hand on ebay. I've already tested it out and deleted it again :)

A lot of it comes down to luck for me. Our kids charity shop is on my school walk so I go most days with an ongoing list on mind, they price obscenely low and have a huge turnover, crates delivered 5 days a week. My son knows we get more bang for our buck buying second hand and loves going there with pocket money, and his school is very heavy on teaching about the environment and reusing things, but if they start to object, that's fine too. May as well save while we can though!

Anyone else feel like a gigantic twat after reading this?

I think we may be over-doing it a tad. And then some, 😬

I don't think there's anything wrong with your budget I'm just impressed with how much you've got!

A couple of Star Wars lego sets- most are £40+ on Amazon and in my experience they hold their value so not cheaper on Vinted
Jeans and a shirt- £20 jeans + £10 shirt seems the minimum you could pay, maybe you could get cheaper on Vinted.
Dressing gown- wouldn't fancy second hand, £20 at least but could go up to £40 for a good quality one
An under 16s driving lesson- I assumed this would be at least £70 but just seen you can get a Wowcher for £20.
Stocking with sweets, toiletries etc- Can't see how you'd fill a stocking for less than £15 unless it's literally a bar of soap and a toothbrush?
£20 cash

Which comes to £185 already. I've managed to spend £250 on DD4 and am trying to stop there, she wants everything she sees 😳

DSD's budget is more reasonable as she barely wants anything except for super cheap novelty junk off the Chinese site I'm not allowed to mention on here. I give her pocket money throughout the year unlike DD, and her Mum is the type to immediately buy her anything she asks for, unless it's from the Chinese site which she won't use, so she's very hard to buy for. So DSD's £150 is going on:

£50 random tat from the site which can't be named
£75 cash
£25 board game

@MrsSunshine2b Oh I know, sorry if my tone was wrong! I work really hard to find special/useful things the kids will love, I have full time working mum guilt 😔

Everything is so bloody expensive now, and people are so time poor, it's hard. I think mine would get half as much/would cost twice the amount if I didn't spread the time and bargain hunting out!

I'm quite impressed that £150 is considered extravaggant, usually I see threads like this where £250+ seems to be the norm, and £150 would be considered mean.

I've tried to keep spends low but also get them things they have asked for too. Stockings are between £10-£12. I've shopped all year and made the most of vouchers/codes/cashback and sales.

DD13 (£150)
Air Jordan 1 Mid Trainers in Action Grape and Navy
LEGO Minecraft The Crafting Box 4.0 2in1 Set 21249
LEGO Minecraft The Sword Outpost Building Toy 21244
Minecraft Figural Diorama Light
Minecraft Pig Light with Sound
Aphmau Memeows Cat Plush Toy Angel Cat
Aphmau Memeows Cat Plush Toy Cheeseburger Cat
Aphmau Memeows Cat Plush Toy Dragon Cat
Aphmau Tee Cat Logo t shirt
Aphmau Tee Apmau girl t shirt
AphmauFashion Doll & Accessories Sparkle Edition
Bubble Panda Christmas Fruit Bubble Tea Kits
Naked Marshmallow Toasted Marshmallow Kit
Flavour 5 Variety Pod Pack Vol. 2
Oreo Skillet
The Swifts by Beth Lincoln Book
STUDIO Pick N Mix Stand Including Sweets
Kinetic Sand Squish N' Create Playset
Aphmau MeeMeows Gold Figure Collection
Minecraft Mount Enderwood Yeti Scare Figure Pack

DD6 (£100)
Bookeez Craft Kit
Polly Pocket Soccer Squad Set
Disney Princess Kids Smartwatch
LEGO Creator 3in1 Magical Unicorn
My Little Pony Standing Izzy Plush
Build Your Own Unicorn Plush
STUDIO Pick N Mix Stand Including Sweets
Ten Little Unicorns Book
We're Going on a Sleigh Ride Book
LEGO Julian Birthday Party Set
Kinetic Sand Squish N' Create Playset
Squishmallow Squish Alongs 24 Pack
Rainbow High Fashion Doll - Amaya Raine
Rainbow High Fashion Doll with Slime & Pet - Amaya (Rainbow)
KidzMaker-Unicorn Origami Room Light
TY Beanie Boos Fantasia the Unicorn
TY Beanie Boos Pixy the Unicorn

DS3 (£88)
Squeakee the Balloon Dog
VTech 556503 Toot Drivers 4-in-1 Raceway
Heroes of Goo Jit Zu Stretch And Strike Thrash Mobile Playset
PJ Masks Animal Power Charge and Roar Power Cat Preschool Toy
Sega Sonic The Hedgehog Smartwatch
STUDIO Pick N Mix Stand Including Sweets
Kinetic Sand Squish N' Create Playset
Nightmare Before Christmas Busy Book
Squishmallow Beetlejuice toy
Na Na Na Surprise 2-in-1 Fashion Doll
Squishmallow Squish Along 24 Pack
Peppa Pig Book
What the Ladybird Heard at Christmas Book

The meaning of Christmas is a joyful celebration with friends and family to light up the winter months including gift giving and feasting.

Yes, it's lower budget - hence the thread title.

Christmas was always a big thing in our family. I was an only child with separated parents and only two cousins, so I did get a lot of stuff! I don't think I grew up to be entitled - it takes much more than a lot of presents on Christmas Day to make an entitled child. I was also really grateful for my gifts. And I like lots of presents under the tree on Christmas morning, lots of stuff to open, we take our time opening stuff one by one, it's just us so we can go to our own schedule, take a break for food, etc. The gifting is a big part of the day for us, I suppose it's just our 'love language', to sound like a bit of a twat. And given DC are off school/nursery for two weeks, I want them to have plenty of new stuff to keep them occupied

I'm foreign (eu) so we have different (cheaper) traditions.
When I was little we got gifts for saint nicholas (6/12), just one main gift plus sweets and chocolates. Nothing for Christmas amd pj's for the new year.

Married to another EU nationality and now in UK our kids get one main present plus two smaller ones for Xmas. Average spend generally aimed at around £100 although one year an ipad may have made it under the tree.

Tbh I'm fairly shocked at the sheer quantity of gifts you all give, even apart from the cost. Where do you even house all those things afterwards??

@psuedocream3 I got DD1's pal a Bookeez set last Xmas and she made this amazing little book for us! I was really impressed with it. Such a clever little idea.

8 year old:
Scooter £60
Fave Football team boot bag £11
Bodyboard £27
Heated chicken nugget snuggly £12
Book £6
Branded Hoody £20-30

2 year old:
Toy kitchen and play food £20 from marketplace
Toy doll and accessories £20
Couple of books £10
Doctors kit, toy till, magnetic tiles and toy vacuum all eldest's cast offs wrapped up

Both will have stockings.

If it helps OP, I consider £150 to be a lower budget

It's around £150 a child rather than strictly and one might be more, one less.
The teen one though:
Lego sets were from the lego store, one was £35 one was £17 I think
The jeans were £17 from Next and shirt was £15 from Very
Driving lesson was £47
The stocking is very cheap and cheerful in our house, like bits from Poundland, chocolate coins £1, flump cereal £1, can of fizzy drink 75p, Lynx set £4, novelty socks £1.25 - a few little things no more than a tenner.
With the £20 in a card it's already slightly over at £159 and I haven't bought the dressing gown yet but expecting to pay about £18.

I think I've only spent £120 on my youngest so far though so it evens out!

I like the driving lessons idea, might look into it for DSD!

Oh no, I wasn't reading any tone, just reading the list and wondering if I was short-changing my kids considering the same or a bigger budget but not as good gifts! At the same age I'd have been absolutely disappointed with the stuff I've ordered for DSD, the quality is rubbish and it's so useless (e.g. plastic things that you attach to the back of your shoes, she almost definitely won't wear them as she has sensory issues, they will fall off, knock into things and someone will probably step on them) but these are the things she desperately wants apparently. :/ For the same price as the bag of badly made cosplay rubbish which will fall apart after one wear, she could have had the driving lesson!

There is a weird cultural divide on this.

I spend a more than £150. I grew up in a working class background, where things might be tight all year, but christmas was the one time where we would be amazed at our pile of gifts. My mum worked hard in low paid jobs, but paid a small amount of money into a scheme every week so that she would get vouchers at xmas to make it happen. She saw this as an essential.

I see birthdays as much more low key. Growing up, I would get a single, often low value, present for birthdays. So for me, christmas is of high importance.

My in-laws have a very different attitude. Their background is more middle class. They seem to view gifting as almost distasteful, and really dislike my kids getting "things". I think they have a deep routed believe that it is a moral failure to part with money. It honestly just makes me want to give my DH a massive pile of presents too.

I'm another one who is amazed that £150 is considered low budget. I budget £100 per child. They are getting:
DS7
Main: Nat Geo Earth Science Set (£23) with Anthology of Earth Book (£15)
From Sibling: hobby related item (£10)
Santa: Small lego set (£8)
Stocking (also from Santa):
Lego polybag
Book x2
Sweets/choc
Glider
DVD
Stickers
Yoto cards

DD5
Main: baby doll with extra clothes £33)
From sibling: Craft kit (£14)
Santa: jigsaw (£9)
Stocking (also from Santa):
Book x2
Sweets/choc
Glider
Stickers
Nail polish
DVD
Yoto cards

Both will get extras in their stocking from family members, then will also get a present from 8-10 relatives/godparents. They do very well!