Don't hate me. I need your help. How much do you buy for a 9 year old for christmas without going OTT or looking like scrooge?

[PhantomOfTheChocolateCake]

I have gone OTT for the last few years and I looked at how little my neighbours child had last year and was shocked as he only had 5 presents, is this right?. I know that christmas isn't all about presents but is there an amount that is just right? I never intend on spending alot but it always looks like soo much. I'm going to give myself a limit of something. ARGH!

Mine will get loads, one big thing and a pile of good value stuff I have picked up already, still got lots of little things to get, will include stuff like sets of socks, hair clips etc etc, lots and lots. Its the one time I spoil them, I always see so much stuff they will love and they are good kids.

Ok. So how much is too much IYWIM? I know that all around the tree and half the floor is way too much. 5 is not enough. I collected the money off grandparents last year and brought a wii, he had a scalextric aswell and other things. Then he had presents from friends and family so he does get alot. He has too much stuff though and I no longer wish to encourage his hoarding and lego habit.

£50.
We don't even do 5 presents from us.
We do £50 plus £10(ish) for the stocking.

That would be nice. I hate christmas to be about how many presents and how much you can spend. It drives me nuts! I don't want to do this. Most of it's packaging anyway. I spend christmas day cooking and tidying up. It's not fun.

I hardly buy ds anything because my parents and brother go completely mad. I don't think they realise it though or they are very rude because they gave other grandparents a DVD of ds at Christmas (which we made on their video camera) which clearly showed him opening about a million presents of theirs. None of ours (I prefer to experience ds opening his presents live) and the very suitable amount that the other grandparents gave him.

This year we are getting one big thing for the children to share - a trampoline - and then some small stocking presents. They have so much already and I have decided to stop buying stuff just for the sake of it. DS will be 9 by Christmas and we explained this to him just the other day. He totally understands the concept and DD at 4 has no idea about what she got last year to compare iyswim?

We're doing a big one (a Wii) this year, and one small present each actually. For ours the stocking is the most fun, cheap tacky presents, then we go to PiL's and they get a couple of presents each, then home, everyone else's presents then dinner, then ours. We found if you spread the opening they get more out of it, rather than more presents.

Oh that's a good idea 2shoes. In some countries they open the presents on christmas eve, that would be nice as we could spend christmas day playing rather than me having to clean up the mess he always makes. Maybe santa could still bring his 5 presents on christmas eve? He wants Lego (argh!!) so he won't be getting alot. It's so expensive.

The lego website always has good offers phantom. I bought my ds a chess set half-price. He's wanted one for ages so he'll be well chuffed with it.

5 presents from Santa / you is plenty! Add a choc santa and some really small inexpensive stocking things - 5 pressies if it incudes lego is a lot!

He knows exactly what he wants and the cheapest one we have found is £70 . I don't want him to have any more, he's like an addict. Every box is almost the same as the others with a few pieces that are different. He's got so much already. I'd like to get him something different, an etch-a-scetch, a ds game, hmm... I don't know.

surely it depends on what those 5 presents were as to ascertain whether it was 'enough' or not

why don't you buy what he would like and what you can afford? There's no hard and fast rules to follow.

The 5 santa presents are normally about £3 each beause if santa were to spend more on each child then he'd be bankrupt.

He gets presents from me aswell.

My children have always got a big stocking which they open in thier rooms and one main present under the tree. They get a lot of presents from relations.

Sadly, mine once again will get very little.
Last year, I broke my back to buy a DS Lite for my son and it was worth every penny to see his face. Dd was only 12months, so didn't really get much more than a few books. This year, I have no way to 'find' the money to buy much at all...

They know you love them and things won't be like this forever.

Phantom Boots are doing 3 for 2 on toys including lego. Woolies had 3 for 2 the other week and I managed to get 2 of the big lego star wars sets and the indiana jones lego castle thingey 3 for 2, saving £70 Its worth keeping an eye out, see if they do it again.

Not all for this year obviously, but I have 2 lego mad boys, so most will stay in the loft until next year.

My 2 are a bit younger and normally from us they would get 1 big pressie up to £50 and stocking fillers. This year they are getting a wii and a star wars lego set for DS1 (6) and the lego fire station for ds2 (4). So more than we would usually spend but it is a one off and they won't be getting a games system next year.

When i was growing up my mum and dad would buy us one nice present ~£30 and then we'd have loads of little bargains my mum had been hoarding from summer, things from charity shops, 3for2 etc..so we had lots of things to open, we'd always get 'duller' things like socks etc that we needed but the excitement of opening presents etc was enjoyed by us all, and whilst we grew up knowing that mum and dad didn't have lots of money we've grown to really appreciate how hard they worked at making the christmas holidays special, we'd walk and collect holly together the first weekend of december, making the cake in the oct half term...etc.

Its something we still all do for each other although me and my sisters are grown up and something we now do for our own children.
We're spending £60 on a joint pressy for the 2dc's and then £10 max on a stocking full of bits and bobs for them to open.

We always get them too much but alot of it is coluring books, puzzles, pants etc. I do tend to spoil them at x-mas but we hav'nt got a large family so they dont get many other presents. Last year i think they had around 25 presents each , 2 or 3 good things and them lots of small cheep items.

This year dd1 will have the plamobil circus tent and park as her main presents.
Dd2 is getting a wooden ninky nonk train and a peppa pig play mat.

I think i have spent around £120 for dd1 (too much) and £80 on dd2 (still too much)

But it is x-mas after all and they dont stay children for long, its nice to spoil them once a year.

Mine get stockings (little stuff) and one present from us. Last year it was a bike and a dolls house. This year it will be lego and some furniture for the dolls house. We don't have an amount we must spend up to. And we only get one present from us. If they didn't get presents from grandparents etc then we might get more I suppose.

We spend around 40 - 60pounds on a main present (sometimes less, depends on what they are getting) and some bits and bobs for their stocking. When I say stocking fillers, I mean cheap stuff not DVDs and CDs like some of my friends.

They also get larger presents from my parents, my brother, sil and pils so there is plenty for them to open.

We open the presents from the German side of the family (inlaws) on 24th Dec as is the custom in Germany, the ones from Santa/us/my family are opened on Xmas Day.

I would say that 5 or 6 presents is ok, for a 9yo you are probably buying more expensive stuff as for a 4yo. And by 9yo they understand that toys are expensive and that you are not made of money

wow im shocked at some of the posts here, i went out for my first christmas shop of this year last week and spent the guts of £200 on my son alone and thats him nowhere near finished, its christmas and im so excited. hes my son after all and he will get everything i think he would like untill hes old enough to tell me himself (he will be one next month) its only once a year, y not spoil them while u've got the chance???

My 9 year old dd is getting 3 HSM gifts and some bindeez this all adds up to about 90.00 she will also get a stocking with some tat and chocolate in and new pj's and outfit .

She is getting a wii to share with her siblings this is from my parents though.

leaxx - you will spend far more than £200 on a one yo?

Why not spoil them? You are 'shocked'??

It's lovely that you can enjoy spending all that money because you have it...but why be shocked at people who may have to choose between over £200-worth of presents and the rent or mortgage? Debt on overdraft ot credit cards can end up nearly doubling the original spend. Now that's shocking.

6 decent-ish things and stocking presents