Amount of money spent on christmas

SarahNeedle1872

My DS is 2 1/2, and I think last year I spent about £50, the year before probably about the same, but both years that included clothes. We are lucky that DS has a lot of people that buy for him, so I buy cheap stuff after Xmas and leave it in the cupboard until his b'day or Xmas.

£140 sounds a lot to me, but as a couple of people have said, if you buy something specific like a play house, it can get expensive. I wanted to get DS a slide for Xmas, but the ones I've looked at are about £70!!

madnessandmayhem

Last year i think we spent about £100-£150 on each of our childrn-2 boys 2 and 6 now. They alays get new clothes, pj's underwear, socks etc as pressies and also my traditional toothbrush in their stocking It's other people that go ott on them-i've told th grandparents not to get them load this year, cos they don't need it, will end up not playing ith most of it and i don't want them spending all their money on them! we'll probably spend about the same again this year, but it is money that we have saved and kept for christmas.

creased-leach

The amount of money spent on presents for kids is spiralling to ridiculous levels. How much of it is down to competitive, showy parents? We spend £80 apiece on ours, xmas and birthdays. The eldest has now turned 19, and gets less.

Much time and effort goes into buying their pressies, and they've never once been disapointed. They're not dripping in DS's etc, but they're always grateful.

ailuro2

We used to buy her what she needed then wrap it up....

so whatever that came to was how much we spent.

So if she needed a new outfit, a bike or whatever, then that's what we'd spend, along witht he stocking fillers.

One year we went nuts and bought her a Jeep - but thast was a one off.

I don't believe Christmas should be about how much you spend - this year we're going on holiday at Christmas so we will not have many presents. Being on holiday is enough. DD will have a few little things to open when she's there, last year we were away, and she had a present for when she came back too, but we'll probably buy her something in the States this year.

chivers1977

Every year there is this question on this site. Last year I remember turned into a huge argument as some people felt that they should spent £500 and some wanted to argue with them about it. My son is 4 and we will spend around £50-£75 (absolute max). I have spent £25 on 3 for 2s in Boots at the weekend. He wants a Ben 10 Duvet set (anyone seen any going cheap!) and Ben 10 PJs (Tesco £5) and my OH will want to choose something as well - although all presents are from both of us of course (apart from the stocking which is from FC). He loves Ben 10 and most things will be Ben 10. Last yr he loved Cars and we spent too much - around £100 and he didn't know what do with all the gifts esp as my parents brought even more. It is not like most children don't get presents most of the year round now that things are so cheap in Poundland, Tesco etc.........

Each to their own - if a family wants to spend £500 on a 1 year old, let them!!

squirrelchops

I am not a parent but have 4 nieces and nephews in total.

I set a budget of £10 each for Xmas but a little more for thier birthday as it is their day only.

The way i see it is that they got SO much stuff off parents/grandparents etc that they cannotpossibly want for much. Also I am a student at present so £10 each to be seems reasonable. It also helps me to focus on what I get them by sticking to a budget and not grabbing at whatever I see.

In our family we only buy for the kids now...apart from our own parents if that makes sense...ie I don't buy my brother a present as we all try to keep costs down too.

sausageface

chivers1977 wrote: »

He wants a Ben 10 Duvet set (anyone seen any going cheap!)

I got mine from Instore for £10, I think I have seen them in HomeBargains as well for around that price


SF
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kindofagilr

I think its ridiculous the amounts of money some people spend at Christmas

My friend at work spends £300 EACH on her kids, so £600 in total!

I am pregnant with my first child so cant take part in this thread yet.

MrsE_2

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

hehe don't worry we get cheaper with age (will be 23 this year and not asking for much!)

You are joking:mad:

My DD is 22 & gets more expensive every year. We got her a tan Roxanne Mulberry bag last year, this year she wants a black Mulberry.

mummy_Jay

I found that too many presents is just too much for my DS (now 5), you need to give them time to enjoy each one. Too much and they get over stimulated and don't get to enjoy the big day.

I ask my DS to put a chrismas list together, which involves getting all the xmas catologues cutting out the picture of the things he likes and sticking them on a big sheet of paper, then I make him pick his top 10, this top 10 is his xmas list. though this year after seeing the prices of transformers in the argos catologue he's been told he's not to ask for anything over £30. I get him to do this really early on so there is time to shop around, I also make it clear he will not get everything on his list. I think he was 2 when I started doing xmas lists like this with him, its lots of fun for a wet afternoon.

As for how much I spend I think last year it was btw £60 to £80, this year it will be a lot less.