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

lexie2005

We have spent close to £100 on our ds. In that though I have bought him a new bedding set & some piccies for his bedroom so some of it we would have had to buy anyway.... When my parents were still together which is over 20 years ago they used to spend £200 each on us which was a ridiculous amount of money if you compare it to todays value

Beki

My mum and dad usually spend about £150 on me and my sister (both grown up now with our own families) and the same on the two grandchildren!!!

But this year they're a bit harder up and are saving up for a holiday, so have 'apologised' that they're 'only' going to be able to spend £25 on each person now. I tried to explain that most grown-up people don't recieve £150 pressies from their parents at mas, nor do most grandchildren recieve that from their grandparents!

To be honest, i'm quite looking forward to being on a very strict budget this year, as i think that far more thought will go into the presents and the whole day etc than would normally

I think it will help to bring back some of the 'real' meaning of christmas!!!

clairec79

I voted 150-200 despite dh assuring me it was just over £100 per child (we have 3).

Then I added it up and we've spent around £80 per child so far - the mix up was because 2 of them have birthdays between now and Christmas I was including all presents.

The girls (7 & 6) are both nuts on Hannah Montana and both want a guitar - so one has last seasons (nearly half price) but I wanted different designs so no arguments, HM DVD each (£5 each) One Miley Doll/One Hannah Doll (average £10 each - one on sale). One has a dressing up outfit and one a 3D jgsaw. New hair brushes and accesories

DS (5) - Teenage Turtle HQ (half price in toys r us and recently he's discovered them), Lego Batman for the PS2 (£12 in ASDA), Cars playset (halfprice in ASDA) and transformer sets (£1-2 each in ASDA except for one which includes DVD for £15)

Add to each an Annual, a board game, some smellies and pyjamas/nighties

DAB1209

This post interested me as its something I have often wondered :rolleyes:. I have four sons and at xmas time I admit that I am spending way more than the average.Although when our sons friends call round and rhyme off all they got whilst sitting on their new shiny bikes I dont feel that extravagant.Our youngest is a toddler so will have 150 max spent on him.The other three will have at least 500 each spent on them:eek:,heres how...ds-10 wants a bike but he is asking for the latest 09 gt bike costing £229,guitar hero £69.99, some xbox games and some lego.Have got him a mobile and other bits and pieces to fill his santa sack. So although theres not a lot of pressies for him its cost a fortune. I couldnt give him any less.Much easier when there young and hundred pound goes really far.We dont get into debt and I do nearly all xmas shopping online using codes and quidco to save some ££s.Kids need to be taught of the cost of xmas rather than assume santa brings it all as its not fair on the children or parents that cant afford as much and are left wondering "was I not as good as we jimmy down the road,is that why I didnt get a new bike". I tell my sons that when granny and grandpa were wee santa brought all the children a small toy and a book.But people got greedy and wanted more and santa couldnt afford to make all the stuff in his factory so if they wanted santa to bring more their parents had to send santa some money.That helps them to understand why some kids get more or less than others and if we ever have to cut back on their presents they will understand why.We do the charity gift box at xmas and they love filling their boxes.

Emily_Hall08

DAB1209 wrote: »

This post interested me as its something I have often wondered :rolleyes:. I have four sons and at xmas time I admit that I am spending way more than the average.Although when our sons friends call round and rhyme off all they got whilst sitting on their new shiny bikes I dont feel that extravagant.Our youngest is a toddler so will have 150 max spent on him.The other three will have at least 500 each spent on them:eek:,heres how...ds-10 wants a bike but he is asking for the latest 09 gt bike costing £229,guitar hero £69.99, some xbox games and some lego.Have got him a mobile and other bits and pieces to fill his santa sack. So although theres not a lot of pressies for him its cost a fortune. I couldnt give him any less.Much easier when there young and hundred pound goes really far.We dont get into debt and I do nearly all xmas shopping online using codes and quidco to save some ££s.Kids need to be taught of the cost of xmas rather than assume santa brings it all as its not fair on the children or parents that cant afford as much and are left wondering "was I not as good as we jimmy down the road,is that why I didnt get a new bike". I tell my sons that when granny and grandpa were wee santa brought all the children a small toy and a book.But people got greedy and wanted more and santa couldnt afford to make all the stuff in his factory so if they wanted santa to bring more their parents had to send santa some money.That helps them to understand why some kids get more or less than others and if we ever have to cut back on their presents they will understand why.We do the charity gift box at xmas and they love filling their boxes.

Wow, that seems like a lot. I'm not judging you, because it's different for everyone, but I would have thought you'd give either the bike or the guitar hero and x box games, so there's one main, expensive present. That's just what I'm used to, but to me that makes sense.

rubydoiwannabee

I have two children boy aged 13 and girl aged 5. I have just added up what I have spent and how much the small things I have left to buy will cost and it comes to:

DS £220
DD £140

DS has xbox 360 and some games. His extras will be sweets, book, socks and pants, dressing gown.

DD has ELC toy dressing table and stool, ELC cd player with two microphones, a homemade hamper with pink things, HSM doll and microphone. The things I have yet to get our dressing up dress, dvd, pretend make up, drinking cup with her name on.

I think it is reasonable, because they don't get pocket money or expensive treats. Birthdays tend to be £50 max.

Average? or OTT? What do you think.

jellyhead

Ruby it's probably average. I don't know how much the games console is, but you don't seem to have gone over the top with the other pressies. The people I know will have an expensive year when they buy a games console and a couple of games, and then a cheaper year the the following year when the child just gets a new game etc.

My boy is getting a phone, a book and some chocolate, and not much else because he already has everything, and doesn't need a new console.

shelovestobuystuff

Well I have gone over budget already.I started with a strict £250 budget per child but have bought a ps3 at £299 for one of them and will buy a few more bits for him too,so budget out of the window,I am however spend neutral this year again so although I am annoyed with myself at the bigger spend I can console myself with the fact that I just have to sell a bit more on ebay and at car boot sales to cover it.

Mme.Hibou

After reading this thread and being almost 26 I now realise how spoilt I actually am.

shelovestobuystuff

Lydia82 wrote: »

After reading this thread and being almost 26 I now realise how spoilt I actually am.

This is my sons last xmas of being treated as a child as far as spending on pressies goes.Next xmas he will be 18 and will get the same little pile under the tree as myself and OH get rather than the big display of pressies across the sofa he is used to.Our spend for him them will probably be about £100.