How much do you spend on your child's Christmas?

MrsE_2

mum2twinsx2 wrote: »

Ive brought my children highchair, i did NOT under any circumstances do it to `beef` up what i had brought. it just happens to fall on xmas the time they need a highchair. They have other gifts for xmas day, but as i think ive said they have enough toys as it is. There at the age where they are really difficult to buy for.
If you have any suggestions MrsE what you would buy 6month old children for xmas who dont need anymore noisy flashy light toys, im open to listen to your suggestions.

Both my girls who may i add are only four have asked for specific items of clothing theyve seen, and a mountain of toys. They have also got new pyjamas [also a tradition] knickers and vest... you can never have to many.

I dont care aslong as they have a nice time:D:D
Peace on earth and all that.

I would have bought the highchairs but not for Xmas, just because they are needed. I then would probably have spent what you spent on toys & bits & bobs (was it £30).

If I was saying what I had bought them for xmas I would have said £30 worth of xyz:D

MrsE_2

flea72 wrote: »

think you have me confused with MrsE

im the one whos on the high horse about furniture

F

See I think thats different.

The child (young lady) asked for it.

The baby didn't ask for a highchair, its a piece of equiptment to make the parents life easier.

bestpud

MrsE wrote: »

See I think thats different.

The child (young lady) asked for it.

The baby didn't ask for a highchair, its a piece of equiptment to make the parents life easier.

Does it make a difference whether the high chair is a bog standard one or an all singing and dancing number?

Say, someone would normally only spend £20 on one but thinks 'it's christmas, they are only little and won't need many toys, so I'll buy a better one that they can play in as well'...?

Is it past the point of being necessary then?

I just want to thank you as well for having an opposing view from most of us but putting it across without being rude or critical.

I don't know why people have to get personal as there is no need - it's just differences of opinion - nothing major.

tiamai_d

MrsE wrote: »

See I think thats different.

The child (young lady) asked for it.

The baby didn't ask for a highchair, its a piece of equiptment to make the parents life easier.

A baby doesn't ask for anything. So you could use that same argument that a baby doesn't ask for toys so doesn't need toys so why bother buying a baby anything at all?

It's because we want to buy them things as parents. We want them to open presents, or usually open the presents for them. We want to see that bemused look on their faces as they look at a toy.

UnderPressure

Well well well here we go again another MSE Competition thread about who spend the most and who spends the least.

As usual along with the muppets that partake in the grocery competition thread it is yet again no surprise to see the peopl who have the "chips" and problems are yet again the people who spend jack sh**! I have not read 1 post on this thread from anybody that spends what I would call a reasonable amount of money on their children at Christmas slating those who spend peanuts but as usual there are plenty from the peanut brigade who as usualy feel somehow inadequate and have to find some way of justifying their actions in being a complete tight wad!

Ahhhhhhh well seen as there as sooooooo many worthy candidates for the "diarrhea of the fingers award 2010" I may as well partake in the madness!

This is my take, we have 3 children and going back 2 or 3 years ago we used to spend around £1k on each of them, it never ceased to amaze me what useless things I could find to spend this budget on needless to say they have rooms full or psxbox this dspsp that and plasmabluray the other...............

Was any of this ever appreciated and respected??? mmmmmmm some of it yes but a lot of it no in fact I had a heartbreaking moment a couple of months ago when I had to empty our garden shed that was falling down, it was packed floor to ceiling with years worth of christmas and birthday toys that we could not fit in their bedrooms, as a result of said shed becoming delapadated all of these toys were now mouldy and completely useless, some of them shames me to say were still brand new in the boxes most of them only played with a few times, anyway after a good few tip runs that was it all gone in the crusher, I did not want to put a figure on what got took to the tip that day but needless to say it was easily in the thousands rather than hundreds.

Then we hit hard times bla bla bla just like a huge percentage of the country either sit down and die or carry on and get yourself out of the rut which is what we have done now, we are almost back to the good times. We decided this year that £300 per child 9,7 and 3 was more than enough and on the whole we have stuck to this ishhhhhh more like £400 per child with probably a bit more spent this weekend but hey its only once a year.

YOU spend what YOU can afford it really is that simple, if you want to buy your 6 month old a highchair at Christmas the go and do it, similarly if you want to buy the essential clothes off you go have a great time doing it NOBODY has the right to tell you this is wrong just because someone does not agree with it is irrelevant these are your children and it is your idea of christmas that matters not what somebody else thinks.

The peopl that really annoy me grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr the plain tight wads that make it into yet another MSE competition "Oh I only spend £4.87 on my kid this year and he was the happiest I have ever seen him", "ooooooo me too but we did it for £4.32!, "and me but we did it for 3 quid!!!" GET REAL OMG!!!!!!!

IF you can only afford to spend 50 quid the spend 50 quid, if you can spend more but choose not to because you would rather spend £140 on a pair of boots then dont come here and try and justify your tight fisted miserly way to me!!!!

You know the one comment here that almost brought a tear to my eye was from what sounds like a very thoughtful young girl who at whatever age was aware od mum and dads failures and being skint but still wanted in a roundabout way to ask for the things her friends have, I really cant be bothered looking back through the piles of tosh in this thread to find said comment but from memory it went along the lines of " But if you win the lottery mum I would love to see Ugg Boots, Superdry clothing and ghd's in my stocking". Why did this pull on my heart strings? Well to me in a roundabout way the child in question was dropping subtle hints to mum on what she wanted but had been made to feel "greedy" and not able to ask for these things so dressed it up as if you win the lottery, the poor girl imagining what it would be like to be rich and then associating hair straightners clothes and boots with said riches Then the poster had to cheek to turn the whole situation around to try and make evryone think they had done a wonderful job in obviously making their child unhappy! Well done you really are "parent of the year!!!!"

ANd other people children acknowledging how skint their parents are and being all grown up about it, do you think any of this nonsense should ven enter a childs head? Why should children be bothered about how much your gas bill is and your personal loans an credit cards oh and lets not forget the mortgages that most of you cannot seem to afford! Fantastic upbringing that geeeeee they are sooooooo lucky having you as parents!

I also agree with another comment in this thread that there will be a lot of happy children this year, yes there will but there will also be a lot of UNHAPPY children this year but wont tell or show their parent this unhappiness through fear of upsetting them now a lot of you would say credit to the parents for having forward thinking children I say.........................................

SHAME ON YOU for making your children think in this way in the first place!. You can witter on as much as you like here about spending next to nothing and your children are happy if you believe that then sorry you are just plain masking your own failures as a parent.

Children are to be spoilt and loved and made to feel special, yes you can achieve this without over spending it is not about keeping up with the Jones's it is about keeping up with the times! Just because you were happy as a child with next to nowt the year is now 2010 and a very different place it is time for YOU to stop living in the past!

Little Johnny may never tell his parent about his envy for all his friends having the latest gadgets and bikes and god knows what that does not for one minute mean little Johnny does not want them it means little Johnny has accepted that for whatever reason his parents dont want to spend as much on him as his friends parents spend, do you think these are nice healthy thoghts to be running around a childs head?? OH my friends mum and dad spend loads on him they must love him more than my mum and dad do?? Yes compelte rubbish but this is how kids think whether they tell you so or not.

All you misers that think it is fine to spend as little as possible on your kids at Christmas wait till they grow up and start spending hundreds on their own, your grandchildren and you will sit there and think "why do they spend so much when we never did??" Simple because they want their own children to have BETTER christmas's than you gave them, a brave adult child will tell you so! Be prepared to try and justify your miserly ways..........................

Why dont you people save throughout the year? A tenner a week for 1 child is 500 quid to spend at christmas, a tenner a week not a lot, and before you start whinging you dont have a tenner a week spare then why did you have kids in the first place??? Was it your intention to bring them up in an impoverished lifestyle? This is not responsible not in my opinion anyway!

Dont be fooled you are NOT teaching them morals and a sense of responsibility by not buying them what little Johnny has, you are simply teaching them how to look on enviously whether you want to admit it or not!

I will raise a glass on Christmas Day to all the unhappy children, not the poor souls in parts of the world that have no choice I will be thinking about the unhapy children in the UK who have parents that think more about spending money on boots for themselves or so called "family" holidays they can then palm off as christmas presents, the kids on christmas morning that will be doing everything they can to hide their disappointment and hurt from their miserly parents!!!

SingleSue

Hmm, thanks very much Underpressure....you just made me feel the grottiest parent ever.

Edit - not that I buy expensive boots/handbags etc for myself either!

balletshoes

So are you saying that unless you spend at least £300 on your child at Christmas you're a miser and your child can't possibly enjoy their christmas? what utter nonsense. My daughter has never had that much spent on her at christmas, and she is full of the joys of the season every year.

I have already said, I've spent about £50 (I totted it up this morning, and its actually £52.75 ). My DD is 9, I have bought her (new) almost everything she had on her christmas list (on principle she doesn't get everything on her list - its a list for Santa to choose from), plus some surprises. Oh hang on, I haven't bought her chocolate orange yet, that will add another pound or so to it - so does that get me out of miser status?

I honestly don't understand why I would want to go spend another £250 on stuff my DD doesn't want, need, or has asked for, when she will have a bulging Santa sack full for what I've already spent. I just don't get it.

I have no issue at all with anyone spending any amount they like on their kids at Christmas, but to suggest that under xxxx amount is a one-way street to kids being miserable and feeling hard done-by on Christmas day is just too ridiculous for words. I have had 9 years of a happy child on Christmas morning when Santa's been, and this year will be no different.

So there !

UnderPressure

I have to say that is the exact feeling I was hoping to inspire in some of the posters to this thread.........................

As said in my rather rambling post, if you spend hardly anything because you really have no choice then that is different but if you are part of the overall competition and CHOOSE to spend peanuts then for me that is completely different.

Of course peoples lifestyles and finances are different but far to many people justify things like this when really there is no justification for being palin and simple tight fisted. And no matter what kids say about how it is alright and they understand firstly they dont mean it not really people can kid themselves as much as they want but deep down that child is disappointed and secondly is this really thoughts and feelings kids should be experiencing in the first place? Are people being the best parents they can be by having their children feel this way?

Peer pressure is a part of things but the more basic element is little Johnny does actaully WANT the latest console or bike or whatever his friends have peer pressure doen not really play a part till they are much older when they are you it is a simple want, and when they are younger still how do they understand that Father Christmas brought Little Johnny a BMX bike but poor little me did not deserve one in Santa's eyes??

As said it is NOT abbout keeping up with the Jones's it is about keeping up with the times, there is a LOT of pschology involved in Christmas from start to finish and a lot of psychological damage can be easily done kids think in basic ways and yes to a kid the fact little johnny got the bmx bike of santa and he didn't is disturbing to the kid, wondering what they have done wrong etc etc

The as already said you take that 1 step further to try and justify things by saying "oh mummy and daddy have made a huge mess of things and we have no money, the oney we do have we have to pay for bla bla bla bla bla" are these really thoughts a child should be thinking? Is it healthy for them to be worrying about mum and dads finances? It may be easier for you to explain why little johnny is getting the bmx bike and your kid isn't but in the grand scheme of things these are kids and deep down the only thing they will be wishing for is more money for mum and dad so they CAN have the bmx bike little johnny down the road has got.

Before you know it they have had a childhood wishing mum and dad had more money and pretending to be happy so they dont hurt mum and dads feelings.

I am sorry for you if you are in a position where you are skint and cant afford things such as christmas really I am, believe me we have had a hell of a couple of years and at one point nearly lost evrything as said before so are a huge percentage of the country you can either sit down and die and accept thats it or you can become more motivated and determined to get yourself out of the rut.

Also looking at the debt boards here of course there are some terrible stories of people facing some horrendous times but a great majority of them are from people who have been living way beyond their means for years and boy do they have the personal loans and credit card bills to show it! Its all well and good saying Im skint I cant do anything but if you being skint is a result of your own stupidity in the first place......................................

stumpycat

Well, I haven't criticized anyone for what they've spent - but the thought of taking a whole load of new or barely-used toys to the tip makes me a bit queasy.
What a waste.

UnderPressure

balletshoes wrote: »

So are you saying that unless you spend at least £300 on your child at Christmas you're a miser and your child can't possibly enjoy their christmas? what utter nonsense. My daughter has never had that much spent on her at christmas, and she is full of the joys of the season every year.

I have already said, I've spent about £50 (I totted it up this morning, and its actually £52.75 ). My DD is 9, I have bought her (new) almost everything she had on her christmas list (on principle she doesn't get everything on her list - its a list for Santa to choose from), plus some surprises. Oh hang on, I haven't bought her chocolate orange yet, that will add another pound or so to it - so does that get me out of miser status?

I honestly don't understand why I would want to go spend another £250 on stuff my DD doesn't want, need, or has asked for, when she will have a bulging Santa sack full for what I've already spent. I just don't get it.

I have no issue at all with anyone spending any amount they like on their kids at Christmas, but to suggest that under xxxx amount is a one-way street to kids being miserable and feeling hard done-by on Christmas day is just too ridiculous for words. I have had 9 years of a happy child on Christmas morning when Santa's been, and this year will be no different.

So there !

Good for you :T

NO of course I am not saying you HAVE to spend xyz or you are a miser not at all some people cannot spend xyz and some could but for whatever reason dont see the point in achieving the best they can for their own children.

SO you spend 50 quid on you DD out of choice then, so in all realism she could never have owned a bike, a games console or anything really for that matter that cost more than a few quid, you would be hard pushed to have a "bulging santa sack" with 50 quids worth of poundland tat, it must be a very small sack more of a sock maybe????

Of course your daughter is thrilled very chrstmas and no doubt she is also thrilled in January returning to school to hear how her friends go all the latest gadgets and bike and consoles but of course none of this is important she is more than happy telling them about her buging santa sack and her chocolate orange....................

You can kid yourself as much as you want to as all you are trying to do is make yourself feel better, every kids has something they dream of for some of them it is the latest games console, for others a laptop for some mobile phones, bikes yadi yadi yaaaaaaaaaa Your daughter is no different to the other god knows how many millions of children that live in the western world but you keep telling yourself you are instilling good morals and making her happy because your daughter is different isn't she? At 9 years old she never hears of her firends getting the latest things and think "oooo if only I could have had one of those" yes she is different I am sure.

She sounds like a classic example of "oh look yet more tat from Santa oh well put on a smile dont want to come across as being ungrateful "

And WHERE can you buy a chocolate orange for a quid? DO tell I am addicted to the