For xmas how much to spend on a 4 year old

bella4uk

I think a 4 year old needs very little for xmas...if you give them more than 3 pressies they get confused as to what to play with first and in effect they don't enjoy it...so maybe 1 pressie in the morning, 1 after dinner and 1 more surprise later...cost is irrelevant.

bella4uk

LizzieandThomas wrote:

God, i think i MUST spend too much ! LaST YEAR MY BABY WAS 7 MONTHS AND I SPENT JUST UNDER £500 - Going to be more strict this year , spoke to the other half and he thinks £250-£300 is a fine amount to spend. :beer: :j

Sorry but in my opinion that is just madness.....if you can afford it, then the choice is yours.....
A child of that age neither knows nor understands anything about Xmas but of course you want to buy something....just please don't spend more than you can afford and bear in mind that in future there may be more than 1 to buy for!!

tiff

Anyone else yearning to go back to a more simple, less extravagant Christmas?

*zippy*

One year I went mad buying for my eldest, she was probably about 4. She came downstairs Christmas morning saw all the presents and burst into tears, it was too over whelming, she didn't want to open anything all day and there was none of the excitement I was expecting and I realised how silly I had been.

With my youngest we told her santa can only carry so much as he has to have room in his sleigh for everyones presents and there is only so much money to go around. She accepted this quite happily and never asked for the toys shown on adverts etc.

CheeseOnToast

I spent probably about £120 on my son last year, it was his 2nd christmas @ 1 years old.

I am starting to realise it is way too much (especially for a VERY young couple like me and my OH) but I do include quite a lot of clothes in their 'presents'. I also spent about 40-50£ on my newphew who was about 6 months old - but again, a coat alone was like £10 each etc.

I think I set a bad precedent as on my kids first christmas his main present alone was £100 (fancy aquatic swing from babies r us) and he was only 6 weeks old lol.

I don't want him to grow up being spoilt but his grand parents keep giving him too much money and expensive presents for nothing.. its silly!

If you want to hear about stupid, a guy on my team has a kid who is 8 or 9, he had about 2-3000 (yes THOUSAND) spent on him last year. He had a new PC at his mums, a new PC at his grandparents, he has an xbox and a ps2 in his room and at his one grandparents he has a wallet that he saves £50 notes he's given in.. is that a !!!!!!! joke or what??? He is going to have NO sense of money.. whatsoever!

I am going to aim to spend approx. £50-£60 on gifts for my son this year, plus some clothes (which he would need anyway)..

dlb

This year all my 3 sons (8,9+11) are having £130 for there main pressie each, this has been saved for over the year in the form of vouchers. On top of this i have been buy bits and bobs from ebay all year for pence, but these soon pile up and the kids will be over the moon. Things like books, wwe figures £1 instead of £9 in the shops.
DD pressies are nearly all from ebay, polly pockets ect and have spent about £40, only thing she has asked for are hamma beads and a sweet shop, got the hamma beads from tesco their own brand for a fiver and still have to sort the sweet shop out.

I do not mind spending over £200 on the boys now they are a bit older, they dont have pocket money and dont have anything bought for them throughout the year and only get £30 each at birthdays.
So that is about a fiver each per week which is way less than the pocket money their friends recieve each week.

They really do look forward to xmas as they know it the one time of year when we do spoil them for all their efforts throughout the year.

IvanOpinion

Not only should some people ask 'how much is reasonable to spend on their children?' but they should then look at how much they actually spend on them. I think some parents plug the old guilt gap of not spending enough time with their children throughout the year by overspending ... why waste time with your children when you can simply buy love from them?

We have one set of friends who last year bought each of their 3 children (oldest is 9) a new PC, DVD recorder and hi-fi for their bedrooms. They then bought them loads of 'stocking fillers' including PC games, sweets, toys etc. This year, so far (that I Know of) they have bought each of their kids one of those Archos video players and a new laptop (because the kids told them their PCs were out of date and they prefer taking the advice of their children instead of me (an IT Professional)) ... I think they are also supposed to be getting a digital camera or camcorder each ... amongst other things. I have been listening to the mother complaining about how expensive Christmas is (she has hinted that it cost her about £6000 last year) ... of course it is if you are going to waste money.

I also see the other end of the scale where siblings try to outdo each other in what they buy their parents.

Christmas is only as expensive as YOU make it .. if you feel you have to buy lavish presents for each other then maybe you might actually be better looking at why. DW and I only buy each other something nominal and we put the money into those things we really enjoy .. eating out, theatre and holidays.

Ivan

Becles

tiff wrote:

Anyone else yearning to go back to a more simple, less extravagant Christmas?

Yes!

Mine always do the shoeboxes each year, and understand that some children will only get a shoebox for Christmas and nothing else. It makes them appreciate what they get from us more, knowing that even just a few gifts makes them better off than other children in the world.

They also get involved with fundraising through school, such as collecting ingredients for the local soup kitchen, so homeless people get a decent meal at Christmas.

I'm proud of them for working hard to make Christmas a little bit special for people who otherwise wouldn't have a Christmas.

gingin_2

jo_b wrote:

I've done my four year old son's xmas shopping already (mainly thanks to the Amazon toy sale.)

.

I've also got him a couple of power rangers (the pink and yellow ones) that aren't available in shops, from www.bandai.co.uk They cost £12 together (inc P+P). I know already that he will love those far more than he will the Bubble console with a RRP of £50! :rolleyes:

The other little extras are a Light sabre (£6.99), Bounce Bounce Tigger game (£3.99) and a Crazy Frog toy (£1.99).

That's wierd, I have also bought the light sabre, and crazy frog toy and the yellow and pink power rangers for my boy!

I spend around £40 on main presents and then £60 on the stocking for 2 children each, I try and shop in the sales (thanks amazon!) and with 2 I can take advantage of the offers that are always available september time.

They also have grandparents and great grandparents who tend to buy them a substantial present each so it does seem a bit grotesque when you look at all of the presents and toys piled up on the floor.

This year we have also compiled 2 boxes for the "operation christmas child" in conjunction with the Salvation Army. Including the children each putting one of their own (clean!) cuddly toys in, it has opened my 6 year old's eyes and I can really recommend it!
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/OCC.asp?MPGID=1

Chocmonster7

Rachie_B wrote:

what does £20 buy you these days though ?!

Lots if you use your imagination. It's something which people don't do these days, we're blinded by the adverts on TV for fancy toys and think the kids will hate us if we dont buy them. Think of the stuff which small kids love playing with and/or need lots of like clothing. Any item will be exciting as it's something new to them!

Pens/pencils/colouring books - Wilko sell colouring pencils for 25p a pack
Play Doh/Plastercine/craft items
Primark/Asda, etc for items of clothing (socks/tshirts/pj's that kind of stuff)
Hair accessories/rings/necklaces are always cheaply available or belts for boys
Bath products, there are always specials at this time of year on character items, even the empty bottle can then be used as a toy.
Jigsaws/games - something you can spend time doing with them.
Balls/skipping ropes/frisbees, etc.
Slippers - everyone needs a pair of slippers to keep them warm in the winter!
If of school age how about a new lunchbox if they use one?
How about some shaped cookie cutters and an IOU for a morning baking?
A mini gardening set, packet of seeds (something like cress is good) and pots to plant them in.
Books, never to young to have books to read and look at.
Add in stuff like sweets (get a large packet of lollipops and wrap them in "bunches")

That lot is just ideas off the top of my head!

Wrap them up in interesting ways. One idea - big box, present on bottom (can be wrapped or not if trying to save more cash), scrunched up newspaper, then another present, layered to the top then wrap the outside. By the end of it you'll have a smiling kid with a pile of new presents and a big pile of stuff to recycle!

It's all about putting a little more thought into it than getting the Argos catalogue out. At worst you could go to a £1shop and buy 20 items including the wrapping paper!

PS. There was a paint your own piggy bank in Wilko for £2.49 - a 4 year old could have great fun with that.