Parents,how much do you spend on christmas presents for your kids?

shelovestobuystuff · 3 September 2008 at 5:18PM

Just how much money do parents spend on average per child on christmas presents each year.I did a little survey on one of my paid per survey sites yesterday and they had a question on this too,the highest figure they had to select was £200+ which I thought was totally off track,I thought parents spent way more than that.Am I wrong?I never even used to count up everything I did spend but I guess it came to at least £500 per child when you include everything down to the stocking fillers and sweeties.Last year I managed christmas for £800 all in and this year I have a strict £250 budget per child.
How much do you spend on average per child for your own children on christmas presents?

RustyFlange · 3 September 2008 at 5:29PM

Hi, I normally spend between £250-£300 pounds, never above this amount though. However this year since meeting everyone on this forum and especially the special occasions board I have managed to almost half that figure. This year my childrens have had £150 on presents (which are nearly all bought) although I haven't done stockings yet so these will probably cost around £20 each so £170 ish per child which is still almost half the origional value. OH went mad at me on christmas eve last year for buying them so much, even more so when he realised how much I had spent. I normally spend £250 ish on him aswell. This year it will be about £200 though.

sethsgran · 3 September 2008 at 5:29PM

Mine are grown up now but I guess it would be around £50-£75 if they were all still at home. Now it's about £30 per couple and then the grandchildren I aim to keep under £20 each but I do make alot of their presents,eg knitted rag dolls and a knitted Noahs Ark for 1 of my little ones.

yummymsmummy · 3 September 2008 at 5:30PM

My husband and I unfortunately do not have the income to spend that much! I guess its usually between £100 and £150, and what with all the presents she gets from everyone else (nanny & grandad especially) i sometimes think thats a bit overboard too - especially come January when you're broke! :rotfl:

skylight · 3 September 2008 at 5:36PM

Its between £50-£100 per child. This depends on the age - baby gets about £20 and oldest £130ish, so it averages out. Includes main pressies, stockings and sweets. We have 4 kids (and one on the way) so silly money is not affordable.

Its a waste of money. Too much stuff is just not appreciated anyway and I have nowhere to put it!

Lemoncurd · 3 September 2008 at 5:52PM

I'm just too stingy I think! Our children are 2 and 5, maybe because of their age I really don't think we spend even anywhere near £100 each. Last year we gave the two year old a Plan Toys wooden garage, airport and a load of cars/accessories, they came to less than £40 second hand (but look brand new!) from local pick up eBay and local paper. We gave our then 4 year old a doll and free crib which came with it as an ELC offer at £30. They then just had a few books and odd bits that they needed in stockings, these came to around £20 each. I was actually worried that I'd got carried away and given them TOO much.
Luckily they don't ask for much yet, when no1 turned 5 last month all she wanted was a yellow soft toy pony, the only one I could find was £2.99 + £2 p&p. I did buy a few other bits up to about £20 but didn't see the point on spending on things she didn't want.

rainmac · 3 September 2008 at 5:56PM

So far I've spent about £40 each on my two boys and £60 on the OH. I've pretty much finished buying for the OH (I think). The boys have about another £150 of spend to go. I try not to go mad but love Xmas. Some of the spend has been paid for by doing online surveys. This site has helped me to shop better and look at prices before buying. This year I started planning and buying for Xmas in July to spread the cost and buy bargains when I saw them. Also keeping a list of what I've bought, how much it costs etc so I can keep on track.

MrsE_2 · 3 September 2008 at 5:56PM

It depends on what she needs.

One year I got her a £1,000 PC as her main prezzie, but she kinda needed one anyway for her room.
Another year a LCD TV, but again her room had just been decorated & needed an LCD instead of the old fat telly.

So if I have a major item to buy like this, then quite a lot.

If I don't have a major item to buy then about £250 ish.

plumtreebabe · 3 September 2008 at 7:47PM

I budget for £50 for our nearly 5 year old daughter for each birthday and christmas. while she is of an age where she doesn't want much, we give her a few smallish things. However, next week she turns 5 and we got her a huge mommas and papas rocking horse off ebay for £30. This is supplemented by a couple of books and dvds (amazon and charity shops), and by the presents she will get from family and friends.

When she's asked what she wants she says a horse and carriage (she saw one at a friends sort of sindy doll sized) and I know someone has her got her one of those, and the only other thing she can think of that she wants is a packet of Jelly Bellies!

I want her to value and appreciate the things she has, and I really can't see the point of loads of stuff just for the sake of it. I have an idea of how much I can afford to spend on her but I wouldn't seek out ways of spending all of it if I knew she was getting what she really wanted for less.

Plus we have an issue with a) looking after her things b) a very small bedroom and not much space (no idea where the horse is going to be stabled!).

Krystaltips · 3 September 2008 at 7:54PM

Last year I started buying for DD in about May and I ended up with about £250 worth of stuff which I thought was way too much so I held some back for her birthday in March... This year I have all her main presents bar 1 and have spent £70 I'm going to suppliment it with dvds and books up to about £100... But she has so much stuff already her room is bursting at the seams and she's only 4... OH desperately wanted to get her a v-tech smile but I wasn't keen... We took her to the entertainer in Birmingham where you can try it out and she wasn't interested in it at all so she's not getting one...

skylight · 3 September 2008 at 8:02PM

I've got my 4yo a V-tech Smile. Off Ebay, boxed, used once (if ever!) 3 lots of games for about £18. And a Disney Princess laptop - again in mint condition for about £10. A few other bits off Ebay and she is sorted.

6yo wants hair stuff, so I found this great supplier on Ebay. The hair accessories £17 worth of supermarket ones (clips/alice bands etc) for £3.20 odd. A box to put them in and a pink hair dryer. Will have spent less than £12 for the lot inc. p&p. Not her only pressie, but its what she really wants.

Parents,how much do you spend on christmas presents for your kids?

My average christmas present spend per child is- 440 votes

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free