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

yummy-mummy-amy

not sure really.

if i had to buy all presents in nov/dec the answer would be not much, but i buy throughout the year so i dont notice the cost

shelovestobuystuff

jellyhead wrote: »

I bumped into a girl I used to work with today. She told me a massive list of what her daughter is getting, and that she got a computer for her birthday! what on earth does a preschool child need a computer of their own for?! lol!

I dread to think what this girl will be getting by the time she goes to school - she will no doubt be one of those who already has a DS but wants a DS lite, and already has a flatscreen TV in her room but wants a bigger one.

lunar eclipse I know what you mean, my kids get too much and are overwhelmed with it all. they do appreciate gifts, and they do play with things but on christmas day I think it's actually quite stressful, the sheer amount of presents they unwrap, and nobody actually listens when you say book vouchers. Children who appear rude and ungrateful might just be totally stressed out by the whole experience, and be on autopilot.

My kids will have presents from a dozen family members in addition to what santa brings. Last year I said it wouldn't matter if santa hadn't come, they would still have enough presents!

Same here.Last year we already knew our kids had far too much so we imposed a budget of a £20 max on other people buying pressies for them,usually they would spend about £60 each on each child and we just didnt have any more space in the house for more stuff.They kind off stuck to the budget but made up for the reduced budget by buying the biggest gift they could find with the money.
This year I have said,spend whatever you like just so long as its small.

lizzie_dripping

I told my eldest DS that if he really wanted the most expensive thing on his Christmas list (at £150) he could have it, but there would be nothing else from us this year. Alternatively he could have most of the less expensive things he has asked for.

He is now cursing the credit crunch and deciding what to do.

Gryfon

Well I'm with the majority and only spend between £51 to £100 on each child (I have 3 now). If they want an expensive present they're told that they need to ask family for money rather than presents and we'll also give them some money to buy it. I usually spend between £25 and £35 on one biggish present for each of them and everything else is cheaper. So they'll get clothes and various other things I've bought during the year in sales and reduced. They have so much stuff anyway and I'm fed up of buying things just for them to get dumped in a corner!

If you can afford to spend lots then go for it! I think most problems arise when money is spent which parents can't afford but think they have to spend or their children will hate them forever if you know what I mean. My children don't hate me, but then the eldest is only 9 so there's always time :rotfl:

HenryandPaula

£25 for each of the kids - They get about 6 presents for that each. 2 or 3 being main pressies and the rest being little things that they want or just silly little items that they just fall in love with.

On top of that they get their favourite food all week - My daughter loves Smoked Salmon and my son adores Mussels and Prawns so we do give them treats all week like that.

Lunar_Eclipse

Because we're going away for Christmas, I've done most of my shopping over the last week. I have pretty much finished and have worked out that I have spent roughly £50 on each of my children. Brilliant! This includes gifts from us and Santa for two girls aged 7 and 8.

Eldest will get a pencil case full of make-up and a big box of sweets (ala the Heals homemade version in this forum) from us, plus a watch, HSM 3 CD, 3 books, a lovely tissue paper flower set (£1.50, originally 12.99), latest Barbie DVD, stationery, watch, jungle in my pocket set, magnetic backgammon game, chocolate coins, Hannah Montana Top Trumps and Hannah Montana (or are they HSM?) socks plus couple of other little things from Santa.

Youngest is getting sweet box and huge tub of lego from us; plus a fuzz luvz, choc coins, hangman game, card game, spoon people craft set, jungle in my pocket set, a few things from Hawkins Bazaar and the Horrid Henry annual from Santa.

And the free name a star and/or newspaper article each.

I think that's loads and an absolute bargain! Merry Xmas here we come.

kerik4

I feel so much better for reading this - have been berating myself for spending £150 on dd (7) and £80 on ds (4)! They have a Santa stocking with about 14 presents each and a big present under the tree from us. My overall spend on all presents (for 22 friends and family) last year was £800 but I'm trying to bring it in under £500 this year. I have a spreadsheet which I start in September and try to spread the cost over 4 months. The disadvantage is that the children usually change their minds over the 4 months, their birthdays are in Sept/Oct so have to watch what they receive then, and usually at some point in December dh decides we haven't spent enough and splashes out on extra presents which ruins the budget!!

tincat

I've put between £100 - £150, because both of mine are getting a ds lite this year.

I bought them game boys on ebay last year which were a great success, and the DS's will be their only console for a few years. In principle it sounds terrible to give technology like this to primary school kids, but in many other ways the games have been great.

Some of the games really encourage cognitive thinking, and both my kids love the pokemon games and spend hours drawing pokemon in various scenarios, and playing creatively with the pokemon cards. I do limit their time on their gameboys and will do on their DS's as well.

I got 1 DS with 2 free games £104, and the other DS with 1 free game, £90, plus I got some games from PC world for £5. These were all bought in August and September.

So DS's will be from me, and the games will be from their father.

Then for stockings I've bought 2 PC games each from 99p shop (I have oldish spare laptops they are allowed to play on during weekends), annuals, will get some sweets and also found bargain dvd's on Play.com for around £3 each. Total cost per stocking should be around £10.

From Santa they are getting Bratz and barbie big toys that I bought in January sales last year for around £5 each - usual price around £20 - £25 each.:T

I tried having Santa give technology toys last year which were a disaster - the i-teddy for the younger, and the girls digiworld for the older, and neither of them worked!:eek: That was a hard one to explain, so from now on, Santa gives things that don't need chips to work.

So I estimate total cost to be around £120 - £130 per child.

I'm also going to dedicate around £100 to spend on toys in the january sales for next year as it saved me a fortune this year. I bought things for £1 which were fab for the various parties that the kids went to this year, and things for under £10 for my kids and nephew & nieces b-day presents. I've only just run out of stuff now.

Beki

i've really enjoyed reading through this! we're trying to buy as many 'budget-but-nice' items for the kids as possible, with their £50 each limit (plus another £10 on stocking presents).

there's some fab ideas here - thanks! xxxx

RoxieW

well, i had good intentions of £100 - £150 each budget but adding it all up I've spent about £400 between the two of them, plus little stocking fillers. they've definitely done and dusted now!

lunar - i'd be surprised if there was any correlation with family income. We have income around 40K whereas i have relatives on benefits who spend £500 per child. All on catalogues etc, and most of its broken/discarded by new year but they never learn!