How much should parents spend on a child for Christmas?

daviesalie_2

Hi

My last thread has prompted me to ask this question, as I have no idea what the average is or if I'm overdoing it.

I have 3 children, aged 20 months, 12yrs & 16 yrs. The 12 & 16 year olds get £250 for xmas, but my toddler gets a bit less £200 as he doesn't really need that much.

Is this reasonable? What do others spend?

Thanks

zfrl

I think £250 is more than my budget for all my pressies including DS (11yrs).

Sagz_2

I'd have thought it was limited by your income so not sure there is a 'right' amount to spend on the children.

I don't think it's worth getting into debt just for Christmas.

BOBS

I believe it is closely connected to what you can afford without going into debt over it. Some years we are more flush than others and this is reflected in what the children get. We have always told them that we have to post Santa a cheque and then he decides the best way to spend it looking at their lists.

JasX

My family has a bit of a 'Xmas ballot' that goes on and between 5 everyone gets 1 other person one gift in (or a few that add up to) the £50-80 range. From a tradition when we were kids parents probably then spend that much again on small presents for everyone to bulk the tree out a bit with chocolates / the odd bottle of something / perhaps a 'family' board game etc etc.

When we were teenagers etc we perhaps each got one £40-50 'main' present each plus the usual scattering of chocolate + games / cheap knick knacks etc ...my 'main' present usually streched to a copy of the latest video game.... as my birthday is next to christmas sometimes I was allowed to 'double up' for a games console of some kind.

£250 each? someone in your family must be in a very well paid job.... even then are you sure you're not spoiling the children and they're learning the value of money?

oasisfeverish

I would say it's down to the individual and their current financial situation.

I don't believe there is a one rule for everyone. If someone wants to spend £1000's and can afford it, and by that I mean not on credit, which will incur charges later on then it's fine. The same goes for someone that spend £50.

It's not the amount, we only see that because of peer pressure and that we don't want our children to be embarrassed when being asked by their friends what did they get. It gets turned into boasting competition.

We have one daughter, will be 3 in Jan and for Xmas we have spent approx. £300. It's what we can afford, none on credit, and lots of different things rather than one large present.

I watched our 4 year old neice get a £200 dolls house when she was 2, and within 10 mins had broken off the door and window shutters. All because my OH's sister and boyfriend wanted to show off!!

daviesalie_2

How do you do it zfrl? Neither of mine are into expensive computer games and consoles thankfully, but £250 doesn't seem to stretch very far these days. DD is 16 and wants mainly clothes and perfume and DS is 12 and wants clothes, skateboard, etc.

I suppose I'm used to christmas when I was a child, walking into a room filled with presents, but my parents could afford to do it. I also feel guilty about decreasing their xmas presents when I'm the stupid one that got us into this mess!

tessie_bear

we have 2 kids and what we spend varies year to year depending on how much cash we have had....whaat u spend depends on what u can afford and what your kids want imo

daviesalie_2

I can afford about five quid each but I don't think that would go down very well

You'd all faint if you saw the budget I had in place for gifts throughout the year, I've adjusted it now, but I think I need to come to terms with it before I reduce it even more

No wonder I'm in debt. I don't know about my kids appreciating it, but I realise now that I'm definitely not! There's stuff on top of my son's wardrobe from 2 years ago and the boxes are still sealed!

I love this forum, it drags me out of cloud cuckoo land!!

complimentschemistry

Wow, £250! Your kids are really lucky

When I was a kid, my budget was about £150 but then again when you're a kid you can get loads for your money. I'm tried to do £50 pp but I've ended up going about £20 over, but when wrapping my gifts I realised there are LOADS. So I guess it all comes down to how you spend it.

ciscokid

daviesalie wrote:

There's stuff on top of my son's wardrobe from 2 years ago and the boxes are still sealed!

Wrap those presents up and stick them under the tree this year, see if they notice!