How much do you spend on teenagers presents?

[Teifion]

Small kids are so easy to buy for cheaply but everything my teens want is really expensive. Do you set a price limit for presents for teens? Does it mean they end up with a tiny pile compared to others?

of course they get a tiny pile. They are perfectly capable of understanding money and pricing.

Yes they get a small amount of things from us and they don’t get crazily expensive things just because they want them. We feel our budget is pretty generous but I’ve been called tight many times on here!
Eg last year my teenage daughter got a hoody she wanted, a glossier lipgloss, an elf foundation and some earrings. About £120 in total and another £30 on stocking fillers. My son got a football shirt and some perfume plus the stocking fillers. Both were really happy because they’ve never had the expectation of getting really expensive stuff and they both got things they wanted.

We have always spent quite a lot in our children at Xmas but it has increased as they’ve got older as things they like are more expensive and we still like to get them quite a lot.

We don’t really set a budget but it usually ends up with around £500 on gifts and then we give them cash. This year will be a bit different as youngest wants a new PC which is going to cost more.

Exactly. We tell mine the older they get the smaller the presents. Or they can have the cash which depends on my Christmas bonus and circumstances so could be anywhere from £150 - £300 each. For example one year they all had a lot more as one needed all the gear from skiing with the school whereas this year no one has an expensive school trip so they will probably have around the £150 mark each

going to get DS2 a PS5 this year which will take up his entire budget…. I can stretch to adding some books and maybe a new footy kit etc but he normally has 6-7 things to open. Feel a bit apprehensive about it but of course that all about me rather than him, he will be thrilled.
The other thing is actually we could afford to get him loads of other stuff but I feel it’s important to stick to the budget otherwise it all feels too much and like they are getting spoiled….. but the budget is just arbitrary….
Very much first world problems

Older DS told me a couple of years ago he didn’t need a big pile. He is just happy with the couple of things he’s asked for.

For me the amount spent isn’t important as long as each child gets what they have asked for and they all have the same amount of presents so no one feels left out, for example DS13 has asked for a new mountain bike for Christmas which i think is around £320 but DD10 has asked for a stunt scooter which is about £70, DD15 has asked for couple band Tshirts which are about £20 each, so they have varying amounts spent but each will be happy Christmas morning as they have got what they wanted, if i set a spend limit of say £200- DDs would get what they asked for but DS wouldn’t and that seems unfair to me xx

We do £500 for presents and yes even with that amount the pile is much, much smaller than when they were younger and had less than half the budget! Not an issue as they are about the same age.

Our children are teens and adults now. They get whatever gifts they ask for plus something we choose which usually all comes to between £300 and £500, then we also put £500 in their bank.

I get her what she wants. She never asks for PlayStations etc so none of it is that expensive anyway. Maybe £150-200

Can you adopt me? 😆

Teens are trickier, I tend to get them one expensive present that they’ve asked for (phone, trainers, gadgets etc) and then bulk it up with smaller bits like socks, toiletries, food treats etc.

Budget around £350 ish.

We have massive age gaps so were doing adult & teens with toddlers.

They always get what they asked for. So in reality the oldest got much more spent on them while the youngest less but they had much more for a few years.

We have always stuck to the same type of formula that they end up getting. Their big ticket ask, then a mix of perfumes, aftershave, jersey's make up and books etc. Then usually vouchers for them to do something or tickets to a show.

So one year that could be a new phone etc but the older they get those bigger things have already been given so. So it might be a bag or a really expensive jumper they like.

We have two adults one younger teen and a toddler. This year the teen will get the most spent on her as she is getting a phone.

The youngest will probably get the least money wise.

I never add it up but it very much depends. If the gift is a laptop then more than the year they asked for AirPods.

I do really try to buy things I’d have to buy anyway though - shoes, clothes, underwear etc.

Must say I’m 😱 at £500 worth of presents, PLUS cash!

I hope I’m not the only one…

Why? People should spend to what they can afford comfortably. Im in 40s and my parents buy us presents and give us cash.

This year I wont but next year both of our adults have bigger life events coming up so we will give them presents and most likely cash.

I feel your pain I have an 8 year old whose still fairly reasonable to buy for and a 14 year old. I usually spend £500-600 on his presents under the tree and up to £100 on his stocking depending on what he's asked for.

I usually do 1 expensive gift then little bits she wants. I do her a stocking and Xmas eve box. She is 12. I reckons this year will be around £500 but doesn’t look a lot lol xxx

It varies. One year, ds wanted a new gaming PC - £750 between me & his dad.

This year he can't think of anything he wants, so I'll buy him some decent bike lights and a new pair of trainers - maybe £100, and put some money aside for uni next year.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER No, I'm a bit stunned too. My ds doesn't want for anything, but thankfully he isn't interested in labels. And if he was, he has a Saturday job to pay for daft stuff himself.

I gave up setting a budget a few years ago, I get them things on their list with a few surprises thrown in. They all love Lego, and the bigger sets are £100's, but then they ask for things like books and squishmallows for example, so I can save the money on the smaller things. I do Topcashback, Tesco vouchers, scan shopping, discount codes etc. anything that can give me some extra money towards it all.

I told mine they are getting £150 each , and to send me links to things they wanted .

very tired of wasting time and money.

I do the same amount of gifts for teen vs pre teen (can’t be bothered with arguments on xmas day). Teen has asked for ghd plus other expensive items. I’ll add in some cheaper items too. I’m not worried about spending more on one child than another though.

Setting a price limit. Only have 1 child but between a December birthday and Christmas he will be hitting 2k between then both when you add it all up including sticking stuffers etc

Between £150 and £250 each depending on our overall Xmas budget for the year. We may have been lucky with none of them being into brands, but they've all understood why we have a budget and I can't recall any crazy requests over the years - that happened when they were little "a goat and a swimming pool" stands out 😂

We spend around 1k on Xmas for our 18 year old DD. Christmas is a big thing in our house. BUT we buy for no one else because there is no one else so she only gets presents from us