Ok, how much have you spent on the kids?

[Kibble29]

And did you stay within your intended budget?

I just finished ordering the gifts for my (just turned) 3 year old and is came in at about £250. This was pretty much bang on what I intended, and this also includes the stocking and that bastard Christmas Eve box that I wish I never started.

Of course the amounts will vary wildly in the thread, I’m just curious really!

My teen wants next to nothing.

He hates materialism, trends (don't you know being trendy is 'uncool' lol) and clutter and the most used things he gets is cheap novelties like a funny facts book or something he can annoy his sibling with like the squeeky chicken or things to fidget with like a splat ball.

Not all teens want Air Jordan, Iphone & Taylor swift tickets.

About £200 I think. 13 year old DS

Not a silly amount. Main gift (Barbie House) was £30 second hand & came with loads of accessories. She’s having a sequin jacket which was £3 of Vinted but it’s immaculate & she won’t know it’s not new.
Way less than £100 including stocking & she’s got a good pile to open

Some teens have expensive hobbies, don't assume it's all about tech/designer gear. A safety hat for DDs hobby is between £200-300!
Plus you have to start paying adult prices on clothes/footwear.

3 year old twins and a 8 year old about £200 in value each including Xmas Eve box stocking and main present but realistically I used a lot of money off vouchers and nectar points

Twins, about 2k each. Very privileged. Favourite time of the year, go all out!

£150 each on two teens 15 and 13, plus £25 each for their stockings

Mine are only 1 and 3 so quite easy not to spend too much. I’ve spent about £80 each on gifts - new pair of shoes, books, one toy. They have sooo many things and I’m obviously a Grinch but I hate the amount of “stuff” they seem to get, so have actively tried to keep the present count low. We are lucky that budget could be higher but this makes me very conscious all the time about trying not to spoil them. Instead, I have spent quite a bit more on Christmas “experiences”, and I’ll take the big one out on a Christmas date… So hopefully he won’t feel too hard done by… 😬 Aware that this approach will increasingly not work as they get older!!

Not counted. It's bought now.

Hundreds though. The older they get the smaller the gifts are for way more money.

Really isn't excessive amounts of stuff but with make up and electronics it's such a large amount of money for such a small amount compared to when you're buying toys etc.

£500ish on each of my 4.
It came to roughly £300 for the 4 year old but I twitched and bought her the Barbie dream house on prime day which actually isn't a Christmas present now as Amazon delivered it just in its original box left on my door step and who was there to see it when the door opened but the one & only who flung her arms open and screamed MY BARBIE DREAM HOUSE with such glee that I gave it to her

Well we are all different.
Depends on your budget.. when mine were kids and l was a struggling single parent having run away from a very abusive partner ( who is still in prison.. ) my kids didn't get much.
Scince then I've bought them an house and a car.
But come christmas l just get them a few gifts to open. We spend time together and count our blessings..and that's the most important thing .
Saying that I'm buying eldest Grandson a car and others will get one when they pass their test

£150 each I reckon (3 kids) , including stockings .
But ours aren't into lots of stuff. We do spend a lot through the year on their hobbies and trips and anything they need we get it for them at that point. Christmas is about a few surprises and spending a nice time together. We both earn well, we could spend a lot more if that was our priority. We will do lots of nice things like Ice skating, theatre trips and parties over Christmas.

Privileged financially.

I know wealthy people with utterly shit childhoods. No amount of gifts could make up for it. I am sure you are great parents too but real privilege is not "stuff"

I am sure you know that but it's always worth remembering. My parents were wealthy but didn't spend lots on "stuff" but I had the most wonderful happy Christmases filled with activities and family time.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, it's good to not feel alone. Illnesses and lack of sleep can easily turn into arguments, everyone is struggling, I feel you! Hope your little one is recovering OK 🥰

@housethatbuiltme who said that all teens want iPhones, jordans or Taylor swift tickets?

It one of those things where if we posted photos everyone would say 'thats obscene', 'commercialism gone mad, it should be family not things' (my family is mostly dead) and 'my kid only gets 1 present' (usually something more than our entire Christmas budget) etc...

Then in the same breath those same people come on the 'how much have you spent?' threads and say 'you can't have gotten anything for that low an amount', 'you must be in a race to the bottom pretending to spend less', 'bet its all tat, you cant get anything quality for that' etc...

I shop for over half the years, searching sales and getting bargains. Its not a lie but I don't have money to throw at it at the last moment when everything is peak price.

For instance the last few things I bought have included 3 board games that where £2-£4 each, a toy golf set reduced from £10 to £1, an new in box RC car off vinted for £5, a lovely 2nd hand dolls house for free off market place so thats just 6 presents that when wrapped under a tree they would look huge and impressive and my kids will love them but it only cost £15.

Things don't have too cost the earth to be lovely memories for kids and people shouldn't spend so much time judging that that photo looks overkill but that person didn't spend enough etc....

Aim for £150 each.

Haven’t totted up everything but suspect we are a tiny bit over, we were on track but some of the stocking fillers for the older dc have probably tipped us over.

I agree, I miss the days of a couple of hundred spent in Toys r us

I wouldn't feel rubbish. Some of the posts will be from fantasists anyway, they always are.

And mounds of gifts aren't good for the planet and aren't needed for a happy Christmas. Create lots of lovely routines around free /cheap Christmassy activities, and nurture the ones that come about spontaneously. There are some lovely threads on Mumsnet over the years about fun and low cost Christmas activities that you could make into family traditions

I don't know anyone who can afford expensive hobbies that need £300 items of clothing... hence having budgets of £100 or lower.

It can't be that hard to understand.

If course I understand, I'm just saying that it isn't all about spending ££ on materialistic stuff as you assumed in your comment.
It can't be hard to understand that not all teens are the same?

@Pineapplewaves I don't drop my budget and mine are both adults now - well, 26 and 18. They've had roughly the same spent on them for years and I even put the piles, give or take.

Not because there'd be arguments or anything like that - I just like to

Stop worrying about what other people do and making judgements on their parenting/lives. Some people want to and can afford to buy a lot. Some people can afford to but don't want to. Some people can't afford to but would like to be able to. Some people can't afford to but don't want to anyway.

None of these things is more or less morally superior than the other.

I would say expensive hobbies that many can't be apart of and their associate high cost lifestyle wears are very much materialistic, but ok.

@housethatbuiltme It can't be hard to understand that some people do have e pensive hobbies, just because you don't know anyone doesn't mean it doesn't happen