Christmas: reasonable spend per child.

shelovestobuystuff

arthur_dent wrote: »

Ok so I believe that there is another thread started about this somewhere, but for the life of me I cannot find it.

What would people consider to be a reasonable amount to spend on thier children? My husband and I have different ideas on this and would like to know what others think. Also it is important to both of us that we buy them not only what they would like but also something whch they would get more than a days use out of.

Any ideas welcome and thanked!

Heres the thread with poll


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1134605

billysmum

robnye wrote: »

blooming eck.... you make me feel light a right meeny....

will you adopt me........ ! :rotfl:

i think we spend too much on my kids, as someone mentioned, 3 weeks after christmas, they cant remember everything they got..... 6 months after, at least one of their top 2 items hasnt beend touched for 3 months......

Hi, it does seem a lot but i only buy at christmas and birthdays, i never buy them clothes at christmas or birthdays ,these are bought when needed throughout the year.

Spendless

It depends on your income, your expenses, how many children you have and their ages and in my case how many people already buy for them.
Mine have 2 x grandparents, 2 x great-grandparents, 2 x aunts buying as well as us and 4 of these buy them more than 1 thing, so for the past couple of years we cut down as they were getting overwhelmed with stuff. This year is different as we are getting them a joint present of a wii and family members have clubbed together to buy dd a nintendo ds.
We won't get them anything else other than a stocking, so they are likely to have less number of presents to open this year.

nickih28

Hi

we usually spend about 100-150 on each, i have two 12 & 16, but this year we are spending much more, just a one off mind, dd has just started sixth form and needs a new laptop, and ds is getting a new bike which is costing much more than i would like but they are all the rage at the minute and all his mates are getting one !!!

they have both been told this is a one year thing and next year its back to the 150max limit

TeresaO

Hi,

this year I will be spending £50 on each of mine ages 9 and 6. Last year we came to the conclusion that they had waaay too much 'stuff'. DS is sorted for what he's getting, DD I have no idea what to get let alone making it cost £50! This year we are also getting a family present of a Wii - (sounds popular), and like another poster said, my kids money doesn't include clothes. I made a decision long before the children came along that since so many of my christmas pressents were clothes that they would have toys, its part of my responsibility to provide them with clothes anyway. If aunts and uncles buy clothes thats up to them - they usually come up with things that I would call 'luxuries' rather than essentials anyway, which is good !

t

going2die_rich

monkey22 wrote: »

I feel a bit of a tightwad compared to the posts above! I spend £50 each on mine - I've got 3 under 5.

I think when I was a kid, I'd have about £30 spent on me tops. Even that was a stretch for my mum and looking back I wish I had been a bit more considerate of what we could afford rather than just looking at what my friends were getting and ask for that.

I don't have kids yet, but when I do, I certainly wont be spending £250 each on them like others. They'll have a very tight budget so they dont think things grow on trees, no matter how wealthy I am at that point.

I'd rather be buying them so much at xmas and then spend some money in the 6 weeks holidays and other half terms when you know they are going to get bored or sit in the house. Pointless in spending so much for one day when you know they will still be buzzing from a few gifts, plenty of chocolate and lazing about watching tv.

The only exception would be like when buying a games console or computer, which I'd say was a gift for the family and only buy it when it was reasonably priced and not just pay over the odds for it because it's newly released just before xmas.

I can't understand why spoiling your kid for one day is so important, just so they think "Santa" is great. Hardly a life lesson being learnt or even giving your child enjoyment since it's a one day buzz in most present cases. But each to their own, it's your money after all.

galvanizersbaby

going2die_rich wrote: »

I think when I was a kid, I'd have about £30 spent on me tops. Even that was a stretch for my mum and looking back I wish I had been a bit more considerate of what we could afford rather than just looking at what my friends were getting and ask for that.

I don't have kids yet, but when I do, I certainly wont be spending £250 each on them like others. They'll have a very tight budget so they dont think things grow on trees, no matter how wealthy I am at that point.

I'd rather be buying them so much at xmas and then spend some money in the 6 weeks holidays and other half terms when you know they are going to get bored or sit in the house. Pointless in spending so much for one day when you know they will still be buzzing from a few gifts, plenty of chocolate and lazing about watching tv.

The only exception would be like when buying a games console or computer, which I'd say was a gift for the family and only buy it when it was reasonably priced and not just pay over the odds for it because it's newly released just before xmas.

I can't understand why spoiling your kid for one day is so important, just so they think "Santa" is great. Hardly a life lesson being learnt or even giving your child enjoyment since it's a one day buzz in most present cases. But each to their own, it's your money after all.

Are you male by chance?
Spoiling your child for one day need not be about spending a lot of money on expensive presents - it's about believing in Santa and the magic around it for my kids anyway (they are only little) - christmas isn't a day when I aim to teach them a life lesson - it's all about the enjoyment and magic of christmas for us :cool:

Cassa

Will be spending £250-£300 on mine this year. He wants a decentish bike.
There's only us so he doesn't get anything from other relatives.

MERFE

I dont have a specific budget but mine are young and I dont go overboard, They have 2 presents each this year, dd total 20 pounds (scooter and dolls pram) DS total 30 (scooter and remote control roary), I'll probably spend another 20 each doing their stockings and then I buy them a really nice outfit each to wear for the day. We have a huge family, both mine and oh parents are separated so they have 4 set of grandparents, 2 great grandparents as well as loads of aunts and uncle all buying for them and they get way too much. I can not stand spending half of christmas day opening presents so I let them open a few on christmas eve, OH family would have a fit if they knew! I've spent a small fortune paying for us all to go to panto on boxing day but I think thats a more worthwhile spend than on more presents for the kids. They get more on their birthdays from us and will probably get more as they get older.

Oldernotwiser

billysmum wrote: »

Hi, i have 4 children age 14,12,8,6 and plan to spend approx £250 each on them

Bloody hell!:eek: