Amount of money spent on christmas

red_devil

morocha wrote: »

I remember as a child i used to get what my parents could afford, just one present each.

hit the nail on the head! I bet you really appreciated it and took care of it. I bet you were grateful and didnt dare demand this and that.
Your more than likely a better person for it.

Pee

I'd say that's about right, unless you think of something you think she would really enjoy, like a trip to Lapland or a dolls house or maybe a computer - as she gets older, obviously!!!!

SuziQ

I spend less on the 7 year old as he is easy to buy for and his presents are relatively cheap. It was the same when the older 2 were younger,now they are older it's more difficult. My DD (19) is great and always asks for a main present costing about £100 and then I buy silly stocking fillers-which I have been picking up for a while. The middle boy is the hardest. His birthday is end November and he wants expensive Wii and PS2 games etc-it very quickly mounts up when games can be up to £40 each. I don't worry about spending exactly the same though,as I often pick bargains up so that something which looks a certain cost may have in fact been half price etc. I always think I have bought too much and vow to cut back the following year,but as I start picking up stocking fillers early 1) I forget how much I've bought and 2)they are usually bargains! I aim not to go over £500 for all presents though-last year it came to £450 as I got a great deal on my daughters Ipod which had a free Itunes voucher plus some of my son's games were pre-used which he is fine about.
I forgot to say,we have a very small family,and the kids don't get very much at all apart from me. The older 2 get money or presents from their dad which usually total about £100 each. But they don't get anything from my parents or sister,from their father's family or from my second husbands family. They are all a bit 'bah humbug!'

SuziQ

gizmo111 wrote: »

I do slightly differently, I save 100 per month all year for xmas, special occasions and birthdays, but the 1200 includes parties, my work do's and the extra food and booze these occasions seem to bring! So roughly I spend about 200 on each birthday (2 teenagers) and the split is their choice, if they want loads of friends for a bowling or pizza then the amount on presents is reduced same if they want a new outfit. 150 roughly goes on other peoples birthdays, leaves around 650 for xmas and this includes food, I usually buy somrthing to wear to a work thing and pay for a meal/dance etc in hotel - my night costs around 100 including taxis etc, leaving around 550, if girls go to a prty before xmas then they can have 1 new outfit each and whatever tickets cost - usually around £100 between them, now have around 450 left - extra xmas stuff for house about 100 and then grandparent and other gifts leaves about 350 between them for presents. Has always worked well and they get a main present and some other cheap stuff - PJ's, smellies, books etc. It also usually means I don't spend anything on groceries in Jan.
The only exception was the year my dad died and left some money and I bought them a laptop each from him - IYSWIM.
I love xmas and if I see something they like then I wouldn't not buy it because I have a budget, but the mix above has always worked for me.
When they were younger I used to buy birthday and xmas pressies all year long from woolies and asda sales, now they are more specific on what they like.

I think your system is great-very well thought out and no building up of debt,either!

cakeordeath_2

my kids, age 13 and 16, know things are tight for us this year as the OH is out of work, so have told us they just want one x-box 360 game each. Thay'll be about £38 each...but we've also booked tickets to see a comedian that they both love as a little extra.

to be honest a 2.5 year old wouldn't know how to appreciate the money spent, they quickly become overwhelmed and the presents you get all excited over buying are kind of lost in the moment. We've made this mistake ourselves. Someone else's idea of holding on to the cash and using it for days out sounds like a much better option to me.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

I think WHAT you are buying is more important than how much you are spending. I read my post back and i said i spent roughly what you intended - it did sound a bit excessive moneywise. But at the same time we did buy her a decent wooden dolls house - one that would last a good few years (not some of the cheapie ones i have seen) along with plenty of wooden furniture and a wooden family to go in it.

This year though what we have spent on her is a hell of a lot less. OH wants to get her a VTech (Laptoppy thing with maths and spelling games) of her own as she likes to try and play on our laptops but that's going to be her big prezzie this year - so from last year, a total of about £100 on dolls house and all accesories down to about a £30 V-Tech this year, that's what i mean it's dependant on WHAT you by

So if you have an idea of something she'll really love and will last a good while but is expensive (plus a few little side prezzies) then i'd say by all means go for it. If it's just a budget and you are going out to spend it all on purpose then not such a good idea

stokefan

how much should be spent on a 14 month old?

ailuro2

A 14 month old has no idea what's going on, don't overwhelm them, get them stuff they need, add a pair of reindeer antlers or other suitable cute outift, and you're all done.;)

We used to get DD to open her presents throughout the day when she was little, it just overwhelmed her otherwise. While we didn't often go nuts, other people still add to the present piles so she sometimes ended up with what I'd consider a lot.

pinkie_pie

DKLS wrote: »

Probably spend about £300 in total for all presents except my fianc!, who this year I will spend around 1-1.5K as a significant birthday falls three days after xmas day.

I am at the stage where I am very grateful for the socks and pants pressies that invariably arrive. Other than that I don't need anything, anything i want I tend to buy myself throughout the year.

I'm intrigued! What's the special occassion to spend that much!!

gizmo111

stokefan wrote: »

how much should be spent on a 14 month old?

Not much really - When mine were that age they were more interested in the wrappers and boxes. Grandparents etc used to buy small toys and any thing else they wanted to spend was put into a savings account for them.