how much do you spend on your dcs?

[jobhuntersrus]

Honestly, when you add it all up, what do you spend on your dcs for christmas?

And do you spend pretty much the same on each of them?

The reason i ask is that eldest is talking about asking for quite an expensive electronic present this year (£150 to £200). He still believes in father christmas and is almost 10. I would like to get it for him as I know he would use it alot but don't normally spend that much so would have to cut back elsewhere probably meaning his younger brothers would have much less spent on them. It just feels alot of money.

I would much rather buy him something he really wants and will use but feel uneasy about spending so much. Also very aware I want it to look fair when they come down on christmas morning. If we buy ds1 an expensive present then that will be his only present (apart from family ones) where as the younger 2 will have a decent little pile of goodies as the things they like are much, much cheaper.

So how much do you spend and how do you deal with making it all fair?

hmm little bit of tact perhaps fairy!

I once got a packet of crisps for Xmas! Believe me, I did feel a bit bleak at the time but I still had a great time. I know it sounds so bloody twee, but Christmas really is about somuch more than the pressies Minty. My fave bit is always going for a long walk on a (hopefully) sunny but v cold day. Or going into town and seeing all the lights. I'm sure that's what the children remember the most too .

Probably a couple of hundred on each dc, that includes new pjs and clothes that they need anyway.

OP, re the big pressie - can it come from gran and gradma (or whoever) as well and they can actually give you £20 towards it?

Last yr DD got a Nintendo DS and a) it was from us and both grans, b) she got very little else.

Still I prob spent more on her than the others. They were OK tho.

Usual spend inc stockings prob about £50-£70 each; Last yr DD must have had more than £100 from us.

Don't generally spend as much as £50 on one thing! (Nintendo is exception to this rule)

Yes - Tact would be a great present for some people!

Minty - dont feel bad. My DC's only get one or two 'toys', and the rest is made up of other things that I would be buying anyway, like clothes and bedding. I am sure your children are more appreciative of the things they have.

It depends what they want, dd1 wants playmobil so i don't mind spending a bit extra (as i like playing with it), so far i have spent around 150.00 on her (her main present is a playmobil set which cost 100.00 so i wanted to get her a couple of other things to open).

Dd2 is getting a wheely bug and a few smaller bits, so around 100.00.

The step children (age 10. 14 and 17) get 100.00 (cash) each unless they ask for anything else, plus a few little thing to open on boxing day.

I don't mind spending a fortune as i only buy 2nd hand toys during the year and we don't go on expensive holidays. I save all year for x-mas (managed to save 1000.00 so far) and we sell some of the childrens old toys on e-bay to go towards x-mas.

We only spend 20.00 for birthdays.

I'm sorry i thought this thread was askin aobut how much we spent didn't mean to offend anyone

£50 tops, on stuff they need usually, we buy other things like bikes as they need them and their birthday is 14 Dec so its nice to spread the load a bit.

It depends on what they are hoping for. We aim at around £50 each for the big pressie, but if it's more than that (like a DS or an i-pod), the money from their grandparents goes towards it. They don't mind this and they seem to value the present more.

Then a bit more for each stocking and some other bits - maybe £80 in total each?

fairy the question was only how much you spend so don't feel bad! It's not about right or wrong, it was just a question!

I've added it up today and I've spent over £300 on DS but he is my only child at the moment, and to me Christmas is a big thing. I don't mind if people spend more or less but OP asked a question and people have answered...that's all

Don't worry Fairydust, someone starts this thread each year and it always gets out of hand.

I don't think it matters how much we spend, its up to us as parents how much or how little we want to spend. My dd's would be happy with one nice present.

Dd2 gets more excited about the food rather than the presents but i still get carried away buying her things.

Hhahhaha I get more excited about the food too

DD is getting a main present which is £35 and then some books and jigsaws.

My family however go totally overboard and spend a small fortune, my Mum has spent almost £100 on her already, DD isn't even 2 .

I don't think it is a bad thing exercising some restraint, I used to spend the week after Christmas being completely overwhelmed with all the gifts I had received and then half of them would be put in the cupboard and forgotten about!

it wasn't the fact that you said how much you spend fairy but how you commented on how much the poster before you was spending (and how little it was!), that's all!

I'm sure you didn't mean to offend, it just read a bit badly!

In case I add to the controversy I will only say that I spend a lot less than other people posting here and but more than others - which is making me feel quite reasonable! (Colleagues at work always seem to go absolutely bonkers and it is often the people who earn a lot less than me and who look at me as if I am a complete skinflint! Anyway - I think that it is a personal choice and one that no-one should be pressurised into (by children or adults!)

Would make the following observations tho' -
If you are canny and do some forward planning a lot of stuff can be got on Ebay, TKMaxx etc. Small children especially don't care if things are second hand - or mine didn't (if they even knew).
I don't find that I absolutely HAVE to spend the same on each child - as long as they are each happy with their individual gifts it doesn't have to be equal. I am trying to bring them up to see that you get what you need in life and it all equals out in the end.
My two do lots of sport - one sport (fencing) is very expensive so far as kit is concerned and so they always get things to do with this as presents even tho' it may be seen as essential. I have had to buy my son a new fencing jacket this month but he knows that it will count as a Xmas present from someone - probably his grandparents. A bit mean maybe given that it is only October but I couldn't afford it any other way. (And, yes it is 'preloved' - but only lightly!)
Also - things like clothes (which you might be getting anyway but maybe you'll push the boat out a little) also count in my book. Mt two DCs don't get anything bought for them much in the next couple of months as I can always see that it might count as an Xmas present (and I don't mean from just from me - family, godparents etc ask for suggestions and if they can get the pair of jeans that is being requested then so much the better).
And - at the risk of starting another topic - I have NEVER asked my children to write out a Xmas list. I believe I know them well enough to be able to work out what they would like - and we do have conversations about it too. But to actively encourage children to ask for a massive list of things isn't fair on anyone. (But I do know of people who sit their kids down with the Argos catalogue - fools to themselves I reckon!)
And finally, at the risk of sounding sickly, I do believe that Xmas is about celebration with family and friends - whether you are religious or not. I have both sides in my family. My exH is a Catholic and the children have been brought up as such (although my DD, aged 11, has decided that she wants to be a Buddhist which is driving him wild, but that's another story for another thread!) but my Dad is an agnostic who always says he is celebrating the Winter Solstice a few days late. So I agree with the idea that it might be about food - and sharing and fun. Too many presents can be overwhelming and pointless. But make sure there are some board games in there (oh God I do sound old fashioned - a Wii would be a good substitute!)

Well dd1 is getting a second hand PS3 for £215

£150-£200 in total on my 2 dcs. Up until now it's been fairly equal value, but this year dd wants a DS lite so ds's gifts will cost less. I will make sure they have equal piles of gifts though. I anticipate that this will be balanced out in the future when he gets one and she doesn't .

Mine do get 'big things' e.g. bikes, scooters etc for birthdays/Christmas so we don't spend much on them at other times. They very obligingly have spring and summer birthdays, makes it easier to budget.

we have two dc's & usually spend ? 600 on each of them so Christmas usually costs us ?1,200 on the kids . dh insists we make a huge deal of Christmas while the kids still believe in Santa . we also have 24 other people to buy gifts for . i have to start my shopping in September

We have a budget of £100 this year for DD who'll be 17 months.

Ive copied most of the stuff from the best toys for 1-2years on this site! The £100 does include some clothes, pj's etc.

DD is very indulged by DP's side of the family, as she is the 1st baby to be born for 18years, so she'll be throughly spoilt by them. But on my side, she's just one of the mass of babies born within 2 years. Me and my sisters have agreed not to buy the kids anything from each other as theres just so many of them, and they'll all just get one small present from my mother, and grandparents.

Will probably spent £20-30 on a present for DD, and another £20 on her stocking, which will include things like new sock and hairclips as well as toys.

Last year despite still not spending more that about £50, DD lost interest in opening presents very quickly, as she wanted to play with what she'd opened instead. We ended up with some presents from family still unopened on Boxing Day.

Marne - Dd is also more excited about the food and having a house full of people (10 this year). The only thing she has said she wants from Father Christmas is chocolate.

£20-30 main present +
£10-£15 for little stocking bits, boxer shorts, ben 10, batman figures, that kind of thing.

Yeah, sorry, but we have 9 BIL's and SIL's aswell, plus 2 grandma's. |So that makes a big difference.

Have so far spent almost 75 on dd (3.5); a kiddizone digital camera, a large lego set and a set of 5 Charlie and Lola books with a CD. I also want to get her either Buckaroo or Pop up Pirate, a jigsaw puzzle and another game type thing like snakes and ladders. Stocking will be pens, pencils and crayons, colouring books, playdoh and stuff that is v. cheap but fun.

I don't buy her much between Xmas and her birthday in May and this year we will also have newborn ds so I actually want to buy her plenty of stuff so that she has new toys and books to occupy herself with whilst I'm bf and busy with the baby. I also buy stuff on 3 for 2 offers and split the cost and gifts with my mum, look out for all of the cheapest deals etc. The camera was cheap in Costco, the lego was far cheaper direct from lego than anywhere else I looked and the book set was reduced from 24.99 to 12.99.

Ds will be getting nappies, babygros and a few rattles all wrapped up.

about 20-30 pounds on each all in

they will get pressies from my family too