Baby Christmas Money - what is it for?

shellsuit

Meadows wrote: »

For me it would have to be put into a savings account it is not my money and was not intended for me, when the child is older they can chose what to do with the money.
A child never asks to be brought into the world and should not have to have money gifted to it to go towards household items like heating, food and cars, if you can not afford these basic things should you bring a child into the world and if you do should that child be expected to pay for your day to day items and running of a car that you want to use?

Maybe couples who want to conceive should buy crystal balls beforehand so they can look into the future and see how their lives will pan out financially.

Meadows

shellsuit wrote: »

Maybe couples who want to conceive should buy crystal balls beforehand so they can look into the future and see how their lives will pan out financially.

Maybe they should, never go into anything blindly without working out the cost.

SugarSpun

Meadows wrote: »

Maybe they should, never go into anything blindly without working out the cost.

My husband almost died when our daughter was four months old. We're not struggling for money, but since he's the higher earner and we don't have childcare locally we would have been in serious trouble as soon as our safety-net savings had run out. Should people only have children if they can support them on a single salary?

shellsuit

Meadows wrote: »

Maybe they should, never go into anything blindly without working out the cost.

How much does it cost then to bring up a child?

Spendless

I was thinking about this today in relation to money given to me by my relatives. My husband doesn't get paid till NYE and we find the week between xmas and NY 'tight', cos of last minute Xmas bits and a big grocery shop for Xmas day. Sometimes we've had Xmas money and it has eeeked out a grocery bill, other times I've gone shopping in the sales but bought items reduced that I intend giving as presents to other family members.

If my relatives choose to view they are giving me money in order for me buy other people presents-then possibly they will be narked.

If they choose to view that by giving me money it enables me to buy presents reduced for other people, that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to do, which in turn makes December that bit more affluent for us, eg you have in effect bought us a night out or a take-away meal.

penelopedee_2

Morty_007 wrote: »

I'm a little sad about this. You yourself say you weren't really clear what the gift was for so maybe they thought that buying a coat or a set of clothes wouldn't do the christmas present/housewarming justice. Maybe they wanted to buy something that would be around for years and that they could look at and remember who bought it...and why...you can't do that with a childrens coat....

Actually I hadn't thought of it like that. Thanks

mrshappy

I would have no problem giving money as a gift for a child for the parent to spend as they see fit. There are lots of comments regarding not having a child if you can't afford one, which I think are a bit harsh-when I had my son he was planned and we could afford him, however, before he was a year old his dad had emptied the joint account, run up massive debts on that account and run off with the next door neighbour, leaving my son and myself penniless and homeless. When my son was younger and recieved money gifts they quite often went on basics and essentials as I felt keeping a roof over his head and food on the table were more important than a treat or savings. I also believe that every penny of "his" that I spent at that time has been repaid many times over by the fact that I have no debt at all now, I own our home and he is a happy and healthy teenager (who has control of his own money now) and a very healthy savings account which I started when I was in a position to do so.
It would be lovely to use his money only for nice things or savings, however this is not always possible and it is impossible to predict how family circumstances and relationships will last long term.

shellsuit

Meadows wrote: »

Maybe they should, never go into anything blindly without working out the cost.

mrshappy wrote: »

I would have no problem giving money as a gift for a child for the parent to spend as they see fit. There are lots of comments regarding not having a child if you can't afford one, which I think are a bit harsh-when I had my son he was planned and we could afford him, however, before he was a year old his dad had emptied the joint account, run up massive debts on that account and run off with the next door neighbour, leaving my son and myself penniless and homeless. When my son was younger and recieved money gifts they quite often went on basics and essentials as I felt keeping a roof over his head and food on the table were more important than a treat or savings. I also believe that every penny of "his" that I spent at that time has been repaid many times over by the fact that I have no debt at all now, I own our home and he is a happy and healthy teenager (who has control of his own money now) and a very healthy savings account which I started when I was in a position to do so.
It would be lovely to use his money only for nice things or savings, however this is not always possible and it is impossible to predict how family circumstances and relationships will last long term.

mrshappy you should have known that was going to happen and therefore never had a child with that man.;)

mrshappy

shellsuit wrote: »

mrshappy you should have known that was going to happen and therefore never had a child with that man.;)

I was young and daft! :embarasse But I do now have a lovely 14 year old who is a well adjusted and decent young man-far better than he would have turned out if I had stuck with that idiot-leaving was the best thing he ever did for us, lol:j (even though we were skint for a few years!)

flower24

My two very rarely get money. Sometimes my nan will give me money for their birthdays and actually says, get them some new shoes or clothes etc. Personally I think if you are so bothered about what the child receives then you should be thoughtful and actually buy them a present, rather than stick some money in a card.

My mum saved a bit of money for me, when I was 18 I blew it on nights out and clothes. Just because the money goes in a savings account doesn't mean it will be spent on anything meaningful when they are 18/21.