Money gifts for children

Malthusian

olgadapolga said:

Have you considered giving them premium bonds? 

Completely pointless for £30 unless you want to teach them that saving/investing is a con. There is a 98.3% chance you will win absolutely nothing over the course of a year.

Exodi

I am part of a large family (6 siblings, half of which have kids) and I would spend about £25-£50 for a siblings birthday (I'm closer to some than others) and £10-£15 for their kids (though the kids are all young, >5). This is already over £500 between birthdays and Christmas, before thinking about packaging, cards, postage, etc.

Once you include my wife, work colleagues, friends, etc, I probably spend ~£1k a year on birthday/Christmas presents. Despite this, I'm very grateful to be part of a big family, I'd take a big family Christmas with young children frantically ripping away presents over the alternative any day.

I'm fortunately an above average earner and I don't have kids yet (possibly this year) so I've no qualms with it. Maybe in the future we might adjust the amounts down a bit... but even still, £10-£15 already doesn't get much - toys are expensive!.

To the OP, I think £30 is a lot for children who are all under 10 - you could probably cut that to £20 at least.

[Deleted User]

Depends on your own finances. But I would possibly try for £10 and maybe add a small gift ( stocking filler type under £5) suited to the child as you've a lot to buy for. I know a lot of people say kids don't like money as a gift, but my son used to be pleased with it ( still is now he's an adult) as we weren't financially well off and it allowed him to buy the odd treat if he saw something he liked or save a bit for something bigger.

DigSunPap

Depending on your budget and financial situation I think its just easier to put some money in a card - or even a gift card - but that would depend child to child. I think anything in the range of £10-£20 is more than reasonable for children of that age.

MrsStepford

My parents asked relatives to give me and my brother money for birthdays. They set up joint savings accounts with my mother. I was made to use the savings account for an airfare. My brother wasn't going so he got to hang into his savings account until he got married and by then it had grown to buy basic white goods. 

belfastgirl23

[Deleted User] said:

But I would possibly try for £10 and maybe add a small gift ( stocking filler type under £5) suited to the child as you've a lot to buy for.

In theory there is an agreement that gifts at christmas are to be kept under £5. I did this one year and it was almost impossible, I spent days researching and shopping to try to get something that would look like anything at all. And then discovered everyone else had completely flouted the agreement and what we bought looked really mean even though it had taken me forever to choose them. Time is probably more of a factor than money TBH. 

SensibleSarah

I only have two nieces, and I give £30 to them each at Christmas. One is now 19 (the other mid-teens) and I might buy them something small to open on Christmas Day (under a fiver), but otherwise they much prefer the dosh! When they were younger, I bought presents (after asking their parents what they needed/wanted) but since about the age of 10 ish, it's been easier and more preferable for everyone to just give money. They don't buy me any presents and I wouldn't expect them to! 

DigSunPap

SensibleSarah said:

I only have two nieces, and I give £30 to them each at Christmas. One is now 19 (the other mid-teens) and I might buy them something small to open on Christmas Day (under a fiver), but otherwise they much prefer the dosh! When they were younger, I bought presents (after asking their parents what they needed/wanted) but since about the age of 10 ish, it's been easier and more preferable for everyone to just give money. They don't buy me any presents and I wouldn't expect them to! 

What are you thinking of buying them for under £5? (asking for tips)