Do you buy your children toys and non-essential clothes other than at Christmas or birthdays?

[frogs]

Have just added up the amount I've spent on ds's 7th birthday next week, and confess I'm slightly staggered at the total. I'd consider myself on the tight side, normally, but it's mainly things he's wanted for ages and does (sort of) need. Viz: his own cricket bat, a cricket jumper and trousers, which he's been begging for for over a year; schmancy new Nike backpack for school (present from Granny, but bought by me); spring-return cricket stumps (present from other grandparents, but ditto), and several books that he's been asking for for a while. He's having a birthday outing with a few friends which is also not particularly cheap.

Bearing in mind that I don't buy generally buy the children toys or non-essential clothes apart from birthdays and Christmas, nor are they particularly overloaded with expensive gear, is this (a) ridiculously extravagant or (b) reasonable? No flame wars, if you please, I'm just intrigued to see how other people handle the whole presents/birthday/children's demands scenario.

Id say that was very reasonable and your ds will probably really appreciate what hes getting as hes had to wait.
My dds get things they fancy through the year, but useful sorts of things, like basketball hoop this year, swing and slide set last year, hulahoop if we are on the way to park, kite because its windy.
But not crappy plastic stuff that gets kicked round the bedroomfloor and forgot about within the hour.
Stuff they will USE.
I buy the plastic, advertised crap in small quantitys as Xmas/Birthday.
If clothes/school bags/trainers are needed I buy them as and when.

seems very reasonable to me.

We buy them small toys as treats and clothes if in sale or desperately needed but don't spend much on birthdays etc as they get loads from other family members! It is totally up to you how you want to do it and I dont think there is anything wrong with splashing out on a birthday if he doesnt get load of stuff all the time.

Last year for birthday I think I spend £20 quid each on them as I knew they would get loads of tat from friends and family. I also reminded them of the swing set and said my treat was the cinema outing with mates. They share the same birthday so I save there too

Totally reasonable if you ask me. I occasionally buy my dd new books/clothes/toys outside bdays though try and get them from charity shops (90% of the time).
The only time she gets proper treats is when we're going on holiday-- she can pick a new toy at the airport. She is 6

I think this sounds perfectly reasonable. That is, as long as you can afford it. I f you don't buy stuff at other times of the year, and these items are not flash in the pan wants but long term requests, seems fair to me. My 2 are 4 and 6 at the moment, and don't ask for a lot. we tend to spend around £30 each on them at bday and Christmas - although I suppose that will increase as they get older. I will buy other things throughout the year as needed, for example ballet kit, and will take children to a bookshop to choose new books for holiday.

I have to keep my parents in check though, Dad owns a toyshop and children often get a present when they leave after staying there for a week, and Mum regularly buys them clothes. Clothes are not a problem though, she buys staples such as pants, t-shirts etc.,meaning I don't have to.

Sounds fine to me - some of those gifts are from grandparents (assuming they are paying you back).

I'm happy to buy bigger presents at birthdays and Christmas although mine are 5, 3 and 1 so I've not yet got to the stage where they are desperate for something and it's expensive. I don't really buy toys out of these times, but I do buy them books, magazines, activity books. They are out and about mostly and I do spend a lot of money on going places and eating out - that much more so than on 'toys'.

Clothes I buy whenever and not really for birthdays as they are too small really to get this iyswim. Except 1 yr old who doesn't even know to 'expect' a gift anyway!

I spend far too much on both toys and clothes for DD. I try to curb my spending, but whenever I go looking for clothes for myself, I get depressed at the lack of suitable for an overweight shortass and inevitably buy something lovely for her instead!

Yes, £30 is the kind of sum that I'm used to spending on birthdays, and have always been horrified at the occasional stories on here of people spending several hundred quid on stuff. I think this year's inflated total is from the combination of essential/non-essential things ds has asked for. Obviously if the cricket gear had been essential I'd have bought it for him when he started cricket club, ditto the schoolbag. But since loads of boys don't play in whites, and he has a perfectly adequate (though admittedly not particularly cool) schoolbag, it seemed reasonable for these things to qualify as presents.

It is getting more painful as they get older, though -- next year ds will want to go on the residential summer camp that his older sister goes to. And dd1 is starting secondary school and will need a mobile. Aaargh. Not to mention the £500-worth of fancy secondary school uniform. I think the difference is that she has always been quite modest in her demands, whereas ds has a bit of an eye for cool gear and little shame about making his requirements clear. I'm thinking maybe he should take a weekend job as a victorian-style chimney sweep's boy to subsidise his lifestyle.

frogs, DD1 won't need a mobile when she starts secondary school - she may want one, you may feel she should have one but my secondary school age boys manage fine without one, and most of their mates have them a) switched off when parents try to ring them, b) run out of credit when they need to phone c)lost them/had them nicked etc.
think b'day spend was fine btw