Baby Christmas Money - what is it for?

Morty_007

melorablack wrote: »

I could understand how disgusted everyone seems to be with me if we were.

I'm not disgusted with you honey. I think you're right to keep your family afloat the only way you can. I'm sure when it comes to being able to afford it you will replace the money and even if you don't, I totally get that having the car fixed benefits your child!!

I'm in the camp of once its handed over, its the parents responsibilty to use it to the childs benefit...however that be. If I want to buy a child something, then I will...if I give money then it doesn't come with a condition...anyone who thinks it does shouldn't have been so lazy as to not put the thought or effort into buying the gift itself or asking for the details of the childs account to pay the money in.

And equally, I think giving Mothercare or any other type of vouchers JUST to stop the money being used for something the child/family might REALLY need is selfish and thoughless (dog in the manger springs to mind). The prices in somewhere like that are ridiculous. Giving a specific voucher ties someone to spending the money somewhere where they may not feel they get value for money. I REALLY resent not getting value for money...even if i'm spending money/vouchers someone else has given me.

tara747

kegg wrote: »

nothing wrong with borrowing the money to repair the car if you have no other way to find the money but i hope you intend to replace it as and when you are able.

If i gave cash to a child for christmas i would expect it to be put in their savings. If i wanted to contribute to buying a larger item like a pushchair or highchair then i would have given vouchers for mothercare.

Agreed. Having read this thread, I would never give money as a gift to a child (not that I do often, I usually prefer to choose a gift and since discovering grabbit I have been able to give better gifts for less money ). I was given money as a child and my parents always made me put it into savings. Although I was allowed to spend a small amount if there was anything in particular that I wanted at the time and birthday/Christmas was a long way away (we only got toys for birthdays and Christmas ).

It is just plain wrong to take money meant for a child and use it for household expenses. Any money borrowed in an emergency should always be paid back.

bestpud

tanith wrote: »

But the money was given to the child not the parent not for distrubution but for the benefit of the child .. I think its quite wrong to spend a gift of money thats meant for a child. I would ask if there is a savings acc I could pay into in future .

I know and I agree it should be spent on the child.

I've always put it in their savings account, as I said.

I'm saying the giver has no right to that money once they hand it over and basically have to rely on the parents doing the 'right' thing iyswim?

bestpud

ella_ella_ella wrote: »

Maybe it's because I had no money when I was growing up and never had a nestegg that I'm determined to save for my daughter. If she was a little bit older then I might prehaps ask to borrow the £4 but I would never pocket it or use it without paying it back no matter how desperate I was.

I have three cousins who all only care about themselves, one in particular asks for money instead of presents. She wouldnt think twice about selling the childs toys and spending the childs money on useless stuff for herself like Sky or a massive TV, gets me really mad it does :mad:

Yeah but you said you wouldn't borrow £4 for her ballet lesson.

A temporary loan is not the same as pocketing her money at all imo.

I don't see any harm in borrowing a small amount from their piggy bank so long as it's paid back.

In fact, if they are like my dd(9) they will be shrewd enough to request interest.

bestpud

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Suppose the parents spent it on clothes for themselves - would that be ok?

Absolutely not imo, but that wasn't my point.

I'm saying the giver can moan if they like, but once they hand it over, they have no more right to it iyswim?

SJP

I personally do not agree with saving for a childs future.....

I've always had to work for what i've wanted, first car, first flat, wedding etc with no help from a trust/savings from parents - so i'm certainly not doing it for mine.... I know I might get a bit of grief for this, but its just my personal opinion..... Yes, we save, and yes if our children need money later in life we will give them it (provided that its for something important)

I have now given my 10 year old son his bank book, that all his money he was given as a baby is in and its his to do with as he chooses (although he is like me and doesn't like spending money!!) he puts his birthday/christmas money in there himself, but that's his choice....

As for giving of money as a gift to a baby, I dont really do it, but once i've given it to the parents, its theirs to do as they see fit with it..... Nothing worse than seeing a child with too small clothes, ripped clothes etc and I would sooner any money I give go towards things like that, rather than sitting in a bank account to be spent on 18th birthday bashes etc....

Love_A_Bargain

themull1 wrote: »

Any money for a baby should be put in a savings account. If you can't afford a high chair etc yourself, don't have a baby. If you do have to borrow the money, put it back.

The highchair is for the baby anyway. So its the parents choice!

kitschkitty

Wow, I was truly surprised reading this thread to find out that some people feel that money given as a gift to a baby shouldn't be spent on things like high chairs or car seats.

To me it's all swings and roundabouts the £10 gift given this week and put towards a high chair is the £10 the parents have spare next month to buy extra toys (or whatever).

To me I don't mind what the money is spent on so long as I know the parents are responsible with money and the baby is well looked after.

That said I think I'd rather see the money spent than put into a savings account, but maybe that's because I've seen how peoples futures don't always work out to plan.

If I didn't believe this to be true I'd buy a gift instead of giving money. I'm with the poster above who said they often find gift vouchers limit them to buying things that aren't the best value for money as they could be found cheaper elsewhere, and so I generally wouldn't give gift vouchers.

delerium

My DD receives money for Christmas and birthday which are 5 days apart. We use the money sometimes rather than put them in the bank or we buy her something which she needs or wants.

More specifically she gets presents all year round which we then pay for since there are always things which she will want between her birthday/christmas yearly. I was the same as a child though there are 7 days between my birthday and christmas.

As an aside my parents put money away in a savings account for me, but when they redecorated my bedroom they used my savings to buy the bedroom furniture. Sounds awful (according to some folk on this thread) but I can now get my old bunk beds for my lo's bedroom and not have to spend over £300 on new beds....

clairec79

For my baby's Christmas present off of my parents we asked for a bumbo, otherwise we probably would have brought him one in a month or so anyway and if they'd given us money for him that's probably what we would have brought with it.
t
As long as it is something FOR the baby I don't see a problem with it - I don't think I would buy a toy with it though as he has more than enough but for a bigger purchase for him why not?