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Parenting

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Original poster

Is £150 enough to spend for christmas...

145 replies

YummyorSlummy · 09/10/2009 11:51

For a one year old? We were thinking of spending £150 on ds's xmas presents and the same for his birthday which is on the 23rd but I don't really feel like this is going to get him very much.Dh was even questioning if we could afford that (he's a bit tight thrifty)What do people think??

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CakeandFineWine · 09/10/2009 11:53

I think that's more than enough TBH,
He'll get pressies from so many people that you'll have to do the obligatory clear out of old stuff either way!

kidcreoleandthecoconuts · 09/10/2009 11:54

More than enough!!! That's £300 worth of presents within a couple of days!
A one year old doesn't need that amount of money spending on them. Save the money for when he's a teenager and he wants games consoles/games, mobile phones etc!

Uriel · 09/10/2009 11:55

It's plenty. You might prefer to spend less, say £100 for birthday and Christmas, and leave yourself another £100 to spend on summer toys. In the meantime, put it in a savings account for him and make a bit of interest.

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Surfermum · 09/10/2009 11:55

I spent about £20 on dd's first Christmas and £12 on her second Christmas. It seems like an awful lot of money to me.

insertwittynicknameHERE · 09/10/2009 11:55

£150.00 is more than enough, DH and I aren't even spending that amount on our 2 DD's at Christmas and DD1's birthday (November) together. Fair enough DD2 will only be 5mo and wont know about it anyway.

Your DC will get loads of pressies bought from other people anyway.

LilRedWG · 09/10/2009 11:56

For a one year old, I'd say it's way too much.

Everyone else will spoil him. Get him a small gift from you and a little stocking of gifts from Father Christmas - mini books, ball etc.

Seriously, you're house will be full enough of tat gifts that everyone else has bought him without you contributing to the pile too.

themildmanneredjanitor · 09/10/2009 11:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissAnneElk · 09/10/2009 11:59

Don't spend more than you can afford. Even if you can afford it your DS is one. He will have no idea what is going on. When my DDs were small we did spend quite a lot on them - although never more than we could afford - they had no idea. My DDs are now teenagers and that is when Christmas/birthdays tend to become more expensive. In all honesty it would be much better to buy him a few pieces of cheap plastic tat and a few board books and put the surplus in a bank account to save up for his teenage years. I wish we'd done that.

bubblerock · 09/10/2009 12:00

Agree with the other posters - you don't need to spend that much on a 1 yr old, I'm sure there will be things he'll need in the summer too (outdoor toys) so why not spread it out.

star6 · 09/10/2009 12:01

We are spending WAY less than that on our 1 year old for christmas. We don't place much emphasis on presents, though, nor are we religious. A few things to unwrap and have fun playing with is far more than enough. I don't want him growing up thinking presents and stuff are really important. I've never understood the need to spend loads of money on presents for xmas and birthdays. Nor do I understand the piles and piles of presents - I think having just a few things to unwrap and appreciate is far more meaningful than loads of stuff.

insertwittynicknameHERE · 09/10/2009 12:02

Also if you are looking to save a bit of money the charity shops have some fantastic bargains in them, and at 1yo your DC wont know the difference. The money will be put to better use in a bank account for your DC.

Our DD1 will be 2 in November, we have spent a grand total of £7.99 on a talking Makka Pakka for her (it was on offer in Wilkos lol), she will be getting bits from family and friends so we are not buying her anything else. For Xmas DD1 is getting a play kitchen for £50.00 and that is it from us. The GP's are getting her all of the accessories. DD2 is sharing what DD1 get

star6 · 09/10/2009 12:05

And I also have NO problem giving my 1 year old a "nearly new" toy that I've bought at an NCT sale or off a website. Someone was recently quite that I bought a push along trike for him for his birthday second hand. It retailed for 59.99 and I got it for £10!

Lancelottie · 09/10/2009 12:08

You'll get some harsh answers on here, but I was wondering: are you an only child? And do you in fact have these piles of relatives that everyone is assuming?

DH's parents always seem to have spent unaffordably huge amounts on him (no aunties or grandparents, so it was all from them. I'm one of four kids, with a lot of relatives, so my parents were more of the new-slippers-and-one-toy mindset. We were both a bit shocked by how strongly we felt about having a 'proper' Christmas, meaning 'one exactly like mine as a child, how dare you criticise it!'

I think you might need to discuss with your DH how to build up your own family traditions, without breaking the bank.

Original poster

YummyorSlummy · 09/10/2009 12:11

Thanks for the advice everyone, I think the problem is that I'd been looking at bigger toys and also listening to friends saying how much they were planning on spending for their dc's. I'm a bit of a sucker for pressure!

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star6 · 09/10/2009 12:18

We didn't have huge amounts of presents coming in from relatives, either. And neither does our DS. Our family just doesn't spend boatloads of money on presents. We enjoy giving, of course, but giving a gift, not piles of gifts.
This is a topic I feel so strongly about, because I just can't deal with people putting so much emphasis on presents! Sorry. Really sorry to offend anyone. I don't mean to. I don't get why people often complain about gifts, too... like, "x only got me this present and I didn't like it or didn't want it"... it's a gift fgs. appreciate it, regardless of what it is. Someone gave it to you. I'm making homemade truffles and sweets this year and putting them in pretty bags to give out as presents. I certainly hope no one complains about my gift. I'll be spending a lot of time making and wrapping them. I would never complain about someone's gift.
We'll get DS a few toys, but probably won't spend more than £30 on him total, if even that - he mostly just likes paper and boxes anyway .

IveNowGotCleanCarpets · 09/10/2009 12:20

Way too much!!!

IMoveTheStarsForNoOne · 09/10/2009 12:24

That's LOADS!!

We're spending about £40 on DS for his birthday and probably less for Christmas. Don't underestimate the amount of stuff you'll get from relatives too - you'll have a house full of toys!!

IMoveTheStarsForNoOne · 09/10/2009 12:24

btw - what are you intended to get for a 1yo that will cost £150? (just being nosy!!)

fartmeistergeneral · 09/10/2009 12:26

For years I bought my kids presents from charity shops or the endless Christmas playgroup/school fayres. I was gutted when they got to an age that they realised that the stuff wasn't brand new and I had to grit my teeth and spend proper money. I remember one year, came back from a Fayre with 2 bin bags full of toys for the kids - cost £7 in total!!! Result!!!

MmeGoblindt · 09/10/2009 12:28

Far too much. Don't feel pressured into spending that much, particularly if you cannot really afford it.

Get a small gift and buy something big for the garden in summer. A playhouse or a sandpit/swing.

I spent maybe £30 or £40 for first Xmas.

Even now, I spend about £100 each on the DC for Christmas and they are 5 and 7yo.

SmokingKnickers0nMahead · 09/10/2009 12:31

that is a very big amount! We wont be getting dcs anything this year as we can really afford it. I always say that you dont need money to make things feel special. We will be doing some arts and crafts xmas morning then up to the inlaws where they will get some gifts there.

seeker · 09/10/2009 12:32

I'm wondering if thie is a wind up post? I'm really sorry if it isn't, but if you really don't think you can get much for a 1 year old for 300 pounds you live in a very different world to mine!

MmeGoblindt · 09/10/2009 12:33

I know someone who bought their 1yo a miniature Grand Piano. Not sure what it cost, but it did not look cheap.

ChilloHippi · 09/10/2009 12:34

That's a lot of money to spend on a baby.

FABIsInTraining · 09/10/2009 12:35

£300 within 2 days is just ridiculous imo.

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