Money Moral Dilemma: Keeping presents fair

Proactivity

When buying gifts for your children for Christmas, how do you keep it fair?

I try to see it from their perspective. If they notice an obvious discrepancy in the quantity or value of what they got compared to their siblings, they may have a point, so I try to keep it fair through their eyes.

Their mum looks at the bottom line. You spend the same amount on each, and that's fair. The problem is if you get all of the first child's presents in a half-price sale and have to pay full price for the second child's, and you keep the cost the same, the first one's going to get twice as much.

So, what do you do?

Ivrytwr3

Roughly same number of presents and value spent.

Sb84

Some combination of these. Whatever's going to prevent arguments and fights.

Both my children are January birthdays so we put the budgets for both together and buy the things they want/need/would like and then about a week or 2 before christmas we get everything out and split each child's pile into two - one for birthday and the other for christmas ensuring that they have the same amount to open for christmas.  They are now almost 13 and almost 11 so they are aware how we do it and are fully aware that now they are older small present doesn't equal cheaper!

I think I would bulk out the child with the small pile with some cheaper items so they look like they have a similar amount.

Spendless

Buy to their needs and what is appropriate. eg when my eldest was 17 his Christmas present was to have driving lessons. That cost hundreds possibly running into a £1,000+ or so by time has passed test and we'd also paid those associated costs. Didn't buy 3 years younger daughter the same value. The same offer would have been there for her but she wasn't interested, lockdown1 started a week before her 17th birthday, by the time we were coming out of them, driving instructors weren't taking new clients/had long waiting lists and she was moving away to study. so still not started. It remains that her brother had a more expensive present than she has ever had.  There's been other years when DD's  present cost more because that was the thing wanted the most and the same request of DS was cheaper. I didn't feel the need to add each item up, they both got what they wanted.