How much should parents spend on a child for Christmas?

padd_bear

Ohhh when i have kids, they wont be having their own TVs in their rooms, it is a bit anti-social....

robpw2

toontron wrote: »

Mine comes in at thousands for my two (aged 10 and 8), amongst the things ds is receiving this year are a full size drum kit, Gibson guitar, Marshall amp. DD has only 13 things on her list (mainly Hello Kitty) and she will get all of those plus a new pink portable dvd player and a pink laptop. We tend to buy them extra things too so they each have a 32" tv, dvd player, and digibox for their bedrooms too. Plus they have stockings and bits and pieces too, the only other person who buys for them in my Father, and we can afford it.

sorry but why do they need all that ... surely it would be better putting the money to good use such as saving it for them for when they go to uni or to help them with a deposit ..
i do not think kids should have tvs in their room .. as they will watch any old rubbish because its on ... im sorry if i sound really judgemental i just cannot understand why people spend so much

toontron

padd_bear wrote: »

Ohhh when i have kids, they wont be having their own TVs in their rooms, it is a bit anti-social....

Good for you.

padd_bear

robpw2 wrote: »

sorry but why do they need all that ... surely it would be better putting the money to good use such as saving it for them for when they go to uni or to help them with a deposit ..
i do not think kids should have tvs in their room .. as they will watch any old rubbish because its on ... im sorry if i sound really judgemental i just cannot understand why people spend so much

Agreed here!...

Kids dont need much? or do they??

toontron

robpw2 wrote: »

sorry but why do they need all that ... surely it would be better putting the money to good use such as saving it for them for when they go to uni or to help them with a deposit ..
i do not think kids should have tvs in their room .. as they will watch any old rubbish because its on ... im sorry if i sound really judgemental i just cannot understand why people spend so much

They don't need the money saved to go to Uni with, that is already taken care of (they are in private education now). I spend that much because I can, no credit cards and no loans involved. I think it depends on your standard of living, ours is quite high, so this amount is fairly normal and within our budget.

toontron

padd_bear wrote: »

Agreed here!...

Kids dont need much? or do they??

As I pointed out earlier, I think it really depends on your "normal" standard of living. If I didn't have the money for it (or if it could be better used elsewhere) then I would be the first to call a halt to it.

robpw2

toontron wrote: »

They don't need the money saved to go to Uni with, that is already taken care of (they are in private education now). I spend that much because I can, no credit cards and no loans involved. I think it depends on your standard of living, ours is quite high, so this amount is fairly normal and within our budget.

great standard of living shut in their rooms glued to the goggle box thinking they can ask and get anything they wamt .
maybe its just me but i found that some dissapointment at christmas helps to understand how much things really cost and i always appreciated things more when i worked to pay for them

Tupperware_Queen

anxious_mum wrote: »

I always used to go over the top for my two boys at christmas, maybe it was something to do with being a single mum and wanting to make sure they didn't 'miss out'. When I look back at all the rubbish I bought, stuff that they unwrapped and then never looked at again, I could cry. That contributed to the mess I got into. Now I am out of that mess, this is the first christmas I haven't gone near a credit card, everything has been paid for in cash, and I have spent that cash on stuff that they have asked for - 15 year old wanted some books (£14.00) and some craft things (£20.00), 17 year old wanted his provisional license (£50.00) and phone credit (£20.00). I have spent about £50.00 on small things so they have plenty to unwrap, but those days of overspending are long gone for me. Anyway, that's what grandparents are for!!!!

sounds a bit like me, this year I have spent about £100 between both boys, including 'stocking' presents. It feels good to know that this year I have only spent what I can truly afford, and to not have to dread the credit card bill in Jan.

toontron

robpw2 wrote: »

great standard of living shut in their rooms glued to the goggle box thinking they can ask and get anything they wamt .
maybe its just me but i found that some dissapointment at christmas helps to understand how much things really cost and i always appreciated things more when i worked to pay for them

Actually they are not big tv watchers, we are very rarely at home. They do masses of after school and out of school activities so in reality watch very little television. I envisage that DS will use it to escape DD who drives him mad at times (he will probably be on one of his games consoles), and DD will definately mainly use it to watch DVDs (she does a lot of acting/singing so is interested in "old" films). When we ARE at home they spend most of their time on their guitars, practicing/mixing/recording. They are aware they are lucky, if they were brats they would get very little.

robpw2

when i was a kid a 32" tv would have been on heavy item to take up to your room lol .. i remember the bikes my dad got me and my brother one chirstmas he had bought a few second had bikes and spent ages working on them and doing them up in the garage it was an amazing gift