Go on then.... how much do you spend on the kids at Xmas?

[compo]

We've got one 18 month ds and I doubt we'll spend more than £30 as he'll get so much from grandparents.

Can I just ask about toy kitchens? I want to buy one for ds this year and sounds like several other people are going to do so too/have done so. Which one do you recommend?

Usually about £20-30 each - but this year will probably be more like £10-20 each (as I won't be starting work until at least the 14th November so won't have my first full paycheck until end of December).

I'd love any mumsnetters out there to use a new free service I've just launched at idealpresent.co.uk - Ideal Present Lists. Think wedding list but for children. Loads of parents had asked me to do this - as basically one of their pet hates when Christmas and birthdays (or any other occasion) approaches, is having to act almost as the "Present Fairy" and field questions from friends and relatives about what the child wants, then managing who is buying what, becomes just one more thing for them to organise.
Please have a look - use the code Mumsnet05 when you register and you'll get extra services for free!

Hi folks

This is a really interesting one. I will be spending about £50 tops at Christmas. My daughter is 1 on Monday and I have spent about £45 on birthday presents ? a vtech baby walker and a push-along train thing. I just think it is a waste of money to buy a young child loads of presents ? they get so tired and bored if they have loads to open. Besides, she gets loads of presents/money from family. Another thing that has always bugged me is when parents buy their kids EVERYTHING and leave nothing for other rellys to buy ? my sister-in-law does this and it makes it really difficult! So I try not to do that. The other thing is that if you start big, you feel obliged to go bigger every year and it?s hard to cut down.

I like the idea of doing Christmassy stuff too - singing, collecting things from the woods to decorate the house, etc. That stuff gets forgotten but it is special and it is what you remember when you grow up isn?t it?

Heather

I do believe kids get too much at christmas - more really than they can cope with. Mine and 5 and 7 and during the year when they see something they fancy they have to write it on their Christmas lists and then I make a list of relations who are bound to ask me what the kids want for Christmas and select something from the list or suggest something I know they will like but which isn't expensive (eg bag of plastic animals/ top trumps/ pound shop art stuff/ book) then say to pop the balance (£10 or £5 or whatever) in an envelope and I put it in their bank accounts. The relation feels they have spent the requisite amount of money and can tick you off their list. You don't have a house full of unwanted tat and the money in their savings accounts grows rapidly so when they are 18 they can blow it on travelling or university (or drugs and whisky!)

20 euros max per child for main present.
3 euros per stocking present, max.
Around 10 stocking presents per child

eek - all that adds up to 200 euros!
and thats only my own children.

We also have 3 out of 4 birthdays in the month leading up to Christmas, so it is an expensive time of year.

I set a £50 limit (which I have gone over!) anc bought some stuff off Ebay with sales from some of her existing toys and clothes!!! I have then spent another £50 in Boots, but some of that was 3 for 2 so technically was free! I have stopped buying now though! Her birthday is Feb, so I split the pile in two and then hide the rest in a suitcase - saves me buying stuff in feb when I am skint! Generally spend £20 on everyone else in family, but have a small family!

dd will be 1.3 by Christmas so probably no more than 40 euros from us.
and then she'll probably be spoilt rotten by the rest of the family

Unfortunatly nothing
I already bought her some toys, but she cannot get presents on her birthday either!
We knew we couldnt afford it as we are moving countries to New Mexico USA, and as we are moving our furniture this month we cannot buy her birthday presents, so she is just gonna open in january! as thats when we get our furniture! But what made it worse is that through ebay our paypal account got hacked into, and in 4 days theres a $11,000 bill, so christamas is completely out of the window, along with food and luxurys until we got it sorted! but the present side i dont care about aslong as i have my family with me then christamas is gonna be great!

my moms spends about 1000- 2000 pounds at christmas! even though she cannot afford it, but my mother-in-law is worse lol. I would love to do that but while i cannot afford it, i will buy things she needs, starting from next christmas though, as years one is gonna be dinner and presents from whoever buys her presents! this will be her 2nd christmas as she will only be 1, so she wont need much anyway!

I've bought ds1's presents - all fab bargains from TK Maxx and spent £60. Will spend roughly the same on ds2.

Nor will she realise who they are from maddysonsmomm!

Sorry to hear about your bad luck though.

I've probably spend around £150 on dd so far (I'm done now though) - it's amazing how all the little bits and pieces add up. Although to be fair she only gets new stuff at Christmas and birthday so it's a chance to update her toys really.

..forgot to say that ds will be 8 months at Christmas and is getting a big fat zilch - he can play with dd's wrapping paper!

lol 2 roobie lol

It will be about £150-£200 on 2 younger ones
It will be about £300 each on 2 middle ones
and will spend around £50 each on 2 eldest and 2 stepsons plus 2 partners
£30 for gd

I have halved it this year as was going well OTT

We are spending around £100 on dd this year, and she is only going to be 6 months!

However, this is because she will have just started being weaned and we're going to get her a tripp trapp. (her big brother has one, they are great in our not-huge house).

We will also probably spend around £30 on books for them both, plus a splurge on Gap socks.

Other than than, a nice durable wooden toy each, and then lots of boxes to play with.

I don't mind spending a bit at Christmas though. We tend not to buy anything between birthdays (August/July) and Xmas-everything is for Xmas, even clothes & socks.

oh, and a satsuma and a lump of coal, obviously.

roobie - isnt 8 months old enough to understand that his big sis is getting something? sounds a bit risky to me!

ask me in december

nightynight - no way is 8 months old enough to understand that

ah now mergle mergle - I don't see a high chair as a present, I see it as an essential. Are you going to wrap it up

my children must be mega acquisitive then!

Nightynight - I do think 8 months is too young to understand the concept of presents and take pleasure in being given something as a gift and therefore feel any kind of sibling jealousy .... that said, he'll of course be made to feel part of the occasion and will get loads of stuff from relatives - we'll probably unearth some of dd's old baby toys from the garage ....