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

Zoeysmum06

I think if you can afford it then why not! The joy of seeing there faces on xmas day is priceless! But my daughter will have just turned two this xmas and is happy to play with an empty bottle filled with pasta! So this year im only going to buy her a few things so its not over whelming and then it gets used! Shes still got a couple of bits from last xmas she has hardly touched! And i think why get into debt for it. Because if i do then when shes older and does understand she wont be able to have anything because ill be paying off debt from when she was small and didnt understand!! BREATHE LOL! And im about to start a dmp so going over board is out of the question! She will have what i can afford!x

mambury

OMG!!! £300 plus per child!

Please do not get upset with me I am not judging but if we even had anywhere near that to spend I don't think I would.
I have 2 kids aged 4 & nearly 2 and they are more interested in quantity that quality at the moment so ebay, cheap dvd's (2.50 inc p&p) from amazon etc, etc are the order of the day for xmas 2008 in the Mambury house.

I do wonder if xmas has become too comercialised. I am not at all religious but do we really need to spend all this money even if we could afford it? Would we not be better off giving token gifts and spending time together?

As I said before, I am not judging and I wish everyone a happy xmas!! :xmastree: :xmastree:

I would love to know everyones thoughts on this though!

MrsE_2

TheDoolallyDilly wrote: »

Well, our excuse is we don't spend that much on other people! We spend £300-£350 on average. They are 16 and 13 now, when they were little, we spent only about £50, if that, on them, I really couldn't spend hundreds on a two year old, they get overwhelmed with stuff!

Particularly now they are teenagers, the things they like are more expensive. One of my sons had a laptop for Christmas last year (to save him dominating the PC for his homework, and MSN chats) and the other had an iPod and some computer games. They do use and appreciate these things, so I am happy to buy them. We can afford it, and don't put Christmas on credit cards.

Thats my reason, I don't have loads to buy for & I only have the one DD.
Agreed, every year older gets more expensive.

Zoeysmum06

wow i just looked on that amazon website they got some cool bits! i wanted to buy my daughter some dvds books and arts and craft bits and if i get them on there ill be saving some money! woohoo!

alzipalz

I spend depending on how much we have that year.This year I have been buying bits through out the year as I see them or if they are on sale

Mine are younger so hardly ever 'want' anything...unless theyve been watching kids tv with the adverts inbetween! (they are 5 and 2)

I used to buy for extended family but now Ive stopped that it means I have more to spend on my children.It also means they dont get any pressies of anyone other than grandparents and us but they get things I know they will like (and I can limit the ammount of noisy or large items!)

All this talk of christmas...I cant wait!

buxtonrabbitgreen

My teenagers' friends all get far more than they do. I have recently bought my ds a christmas present £70 and a few bits and pieces will be added and I intend to spend the same on dd Other 3 grown up with patners and or kids about £50 per family or less. They all have more money than me anyway.
the year I came into an inheritance they all got £1000 each but that was a oneoff. And they did appreciate it.

Sssssss

last year spent nothing, well yes we did spend but it was all the money made on ebay from selling off toys from last xmas plus other presents through out the year which my son no longer plays with.

we don't buy a present for each other (wife and me) we just treat ourselves to a week away at xmas, no hassle, no family and no cooking, normally costss around £500.

shelovestobuystuff

I had a cost neutral xmas last year too.Spent £800,all of that was made on ebay selling old stuff and some bargains I bought to sell on too.Aiming for a cost neutral xmas again this year and am also reducing the total spend as much as possible.My target is an average of £250 for each of the 2 kids.£170 for the 6 year old and £330 on the 17 year old.The 17 year old will be getting a car(2nd hand of course) for his birthday early in 2009 so I really need to be extra careful to keep in or under budget for xmas this year.

Woodyrocks

I had a chat earlier in the year with DD and we both agreed that not only has she got more than she could possibly want, we also, more importantly, do not have the space for more 'stuff'. I have decided not to do the Xmas madness this year, normally spend around the £150-200 mark, and we are going off on holiday instead and shall be in Tenerife for xmas. She understands that this shall be her present and is most excited. Best of all, she has discovered poundland and loves going in there and choosing stuff so I shall give her £1 for every year of her life (£7) to spend in there.

Speaking for myself, as a single parent, it is too easy to get into the guilt spending realm, giving so much to make up for anything/anyone missing or for the amount of time spent working but I do not feel the need to compensate in this way anymore and that is a positive.

kez_s

They can get anything up to £200 worth of stuff, BUT I don't spend that this is made up of half price & 3 for 2 deals so the value is there just not the spending.

We also buy things like clothes, pj's etc., in with there presents which if not for Christmas they would get anyway.

I refuse to spend hundreds of pounds just because it's Christmas, I wasn't brought up that way and I don't want my kids to end up spoilt brats with no meaning of money. I spend money on them throughout December doing various Christmas things and hopefully we are taking them to Butlins prior to Christmas for the Christmas fantasy which will be part of their present.

In actual cash we probably spend about £120 on each of them, obviously this will change as they get older, but only within reason and if ds wants something majorly big he will have to combine it with his birthday which is two weeks later or earn and put it towards it or ask everyone to chip in as I certainly will not be spend £400 or £500 on presents each.