This may have been done to death but if you haven't commented yet, how much do you spend per child?

[WhereWolfTheWildThingsWere]

I just keep reading of what seems to me quite large sums of money. (I am not judging that, each to his or her own)

I will spend about fifty to sixty pounds on ds 4.

And maybe ten pounds on dd 8m.

Am I scrooge?

agree that as long as you haven't had to turn to loan sharks then anything goes. we are keeping things cheap as 19mo DD has no concept of Christmas. I think she will have three £5 presents, plus some practical stuff like socks, toothbrush and tights in her stocking. But we are lucky as DH's family will all buy for her as well. I might be tempted to get her more if they didn't.

About £200 each... I used to arrive downstairs to a heaving pile and I want the same for the DSs. I know Christmas is about far more than presents, but I do love to do this just 1 day a year. Birthdays seems to be about £50, which actually only really buys one or two things nowadays!

I'm not sure we're buying anything for our DS (7 m) this year - I know his grandparents will be overdoing it on the presents/clothes for him, and he's not even going to know! Anything we do get him is basically going to be indulging ourselves, as he's got everything he needs. He loves eating paper, so we're just joking about empty boxes with christmas wrapping on. Which is original.

Do you know what I hate most about threads like these, oh and convo's like these in rl. How people that spend more than others (ie me) have to justify it, and apologise for it.
I spend a week of dh wages per child, we always have done.
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Don't really think about a budget for them as such (within reason obv)

i buy heaps of wee things for their stocking and aim to get them one main thing each. last yr that was bikes - ds cost about £80, dd about £12 (NCT salE!)

this yr ds main thing is a scooter - less than £20. dds will be a tea set - but hope to get her a nice wooden kitchen for her bday in feb.

my 2 get heaps of presents from grandparents, and 4 sets of aunties and uncles...

I'm probably spending about £30 on 5yo ds and the same on ds2 916mo now) but only because i had £25 gift card from Motherdoesn'tcare in return for them mucking my pushchair about, so got him something useful and gave it him early as he doesn't notice.
Ds1 gets things through the year and has had a lot of things over the summer so in truth although I'd rather he had special things at Christmas and not at other times, this yesr it isn't going to be a big deal present wise.

Another vote for it not being about how much you get or spend but about general attitude and fun and excitement.

(Bad at both actually!)

Crikey @ some of amounts on here and other threads !!

Will spend about Euros 60 on dd (5) for main present + stocking + present for St Nicholas (celebrated on 6 December here where we live). Does that make me a scrooge I wonder?

She is an only child and so tends to get quite a few presents from family and friends ... so much so that for the first 2 years of her life I don't think we bought her anything at all for Christmas ....

When we do it tends to be duvet covers and dressing gowns and clothes that she needs anyway (nice ones though!). Probably terribly old fashioned but just copying how I was brought up. It's not just about saving money, but about wanting her to value things ....

I spend quite a bit of time assembling her stocking though because I enjoy it ... buy lots of little things for it throughout the year ....I never minded when mine was padded out with fruit and nuts ... it's more about the tradition/excitement anyway I think ...last year dd was more excited about "Father Christmas's footprints" made across the floor with icing sugar and some cardboard templates, rather than the actual presents ....

Can we just clarify...is this a thread where we all try and spend more, or less than everyone else?

60 quid each

About £100 each but they get loads off other people too.

Not sure yet - depends how much is left once the bills are paid.

Message withdrawn

We are sending our DD (4) out to beg this year, I'm not going to wash her or brush her hair from the start of december - this year I'm up for a profit, and E bay calls

£150ish. Shes an only child and we don't have a lot of family so I make sure she has what she wants within reason and anything else is a bonus.
This will be the first year I haven't had a provvy loan though

Quite a lot, but the only other presents they get are from my parents and my db/sil.

They do not really get anything else from us throughout the year, apart from birthdays.

Around £20. I don't think that the more expensive the present the better it is. One year I got dd a disposable camera and a scrapbook to put in her Christmas pics. She had great fun taking the pics, sticking them in the scrapbook and then decorating it. It must have cost all of a fiver!

I had set a budget this year of £250. I have spent more than i was planning to on DS (£150) but oh well.

Everyone else gets something for £5. It is quite fun as you have to be imaginative. That's either £5 each if they are single or £5 between them if they are part of a couple.

I buy for my mum, dad, mum's ex who is still like a dad to me - he brought me up from the age of 9 months and they split when i was 18, 1 aunt and 4 aunts/uncles, my cousin and her dp, their 3 children, 2 sets of grandparents and my sister and her boyfriend.

£50. already spent it, got her her first bike.

Probably around £40-£50 this year (they're 4 and 2), similar last year, less when they were babies and maybe more as they grow older. I like to get them 1 main present and a couple of smaller ones each, and they'll get something from GPs and aunts and uncles on both sides too. We have a few groups of friends that we have mini-Christmas parties with, and we usually do a "Secret Santa" for the children, ie everyone buys one present for one of the others, so they all get a present each. That works great, and it avoids having to buy presents for lots of friends' children too!

Apart from our children, I buy something for DH (I normally buy my own present from him too!), each set of parents, nephews and nieces (8 in all). Our siblings don't usually don't get anything, we buy for their children instead. I probably spend about £20-30 per niece/nephew.

well, my 4 kids get one main present each. ds1 (10) is getting a portable dvd player, which was a freebie from catalogue, will be buying a few dvd's for him, an outfit and shoes for xmas day, ds game, small toys and a board game. prob about £90 plus bits for stocking- socks, bits from hawkins bazarre, sweets, bits and bobs. ds2 (7) is getting a bike £90, ds game, outfit and shoes for xmas day, few small toys, and stocking stuff like ds1. two girls (3 and 2) are getting a dols house between them, outfit and shoes each, books puzzles and a few small toys. dd1 is also getting a dolly as mum is buying them a pram each and dd2 already has a dolly from last xmas.

Ds1 and DS2 will spend about £15 each (aged 1 and 3)

DSS about £50 (he is 12)

As kids, we had very little money. My mum would make sure down to the last penny that the three of us got the exact same amount spent on us and the exact same number of presents

whilst I can see the logic behind it, I have always found that rather extreme - I wouldnt have the patience to ensure this!

anyway

this year, we are scaling down spending

ds2(3.5) really wants a bike - he has never had one - so that will be the bulk of his present
ds1 (6) has no real idea what he wants

ds3 (6 weeks) will be lucky if he gets the wrapping paper!!!

I agree with however it was (GDG???) who said not to underestimate the stuff that comes from other folks

GDG - we have 2 argos catalogues as the boys wanted one each - at least I am not the only one"

whoever
god
sleep deprivation strikes yet aagain

Dd(2.6) is getting a Vtech kitchen thing £60, some ladybird books to complete a set £20approx, a Postbox game from ELC/mothercare and some stocking fillers. She is very keen on this specific kitchen set from the Argos catalogue otherwise she would have got a cheaper one.