santa...whats aresonable amount to spend on kids

lisa.c

just did the santa shop have one child spent €420....

is this to much?
not enough?
just right?

what do you all spend and your kids?
when do you realise its time to stop that they got enough!!!!

i feel i want to fill the room with pressies but i know this is wrong. i did good this year by sticking to a list. but its just so god damm hard to stop buying santa pressies!!!:o

420 is way too much in my opinion. But I did grow up with really scabby parents. I remember when I was about 12 or 13 my dad said he wasn't spending more than 40 pounds on presents and he was serious. That's all I got, and it was the same most years. The biggest thing was a CD and then maybe a jumper and some chocolates/sweets, and I don't get presents from my grandparents, aunts or uncles! On the other hand, there were kids in my class who got a Playstation, a pile of games, a bike, rollerblades, etc, which is way too much.

It depends on the age of the kid but in general I wouldn't spend more than 150 per child. What on earth do they need that's so expensive? Maybe a one off like a Playstation but if they got that I wouldn't get them anything else expensive, just little gifts. There's no need to be getting 2 or 3 'big' presents

Sarky

€420? I wouldn't spend that much on myself for Christmas.

Pigman II

420? **** sake! I wish I was a kid these days. Even the equivilant of 150 would have gotten me my wildest dream-toy back then and then have money left over.

Rb

Well, there is a parenting forum under Soc here.


Ask the other parents of your kids friends how much they got/spent for their kids, then get the average and maybe give/spend that amount or a little more on your own.

*Oul_Doll_Cork*

It all depends on what you can afford really!!... €420 is a good amount to spend on your child for christmas!..
.... People forget that these days things aren't so cheap and you wouldn't get a whole lot for €450!!...
..... Its your first and only child so its understandable that you want to give them loads and want them to have a great Christmas!!!...

lisa.c

i actually thought that was being scabby.
considering we (me and partner) dont go out or drink we live with parents and have no major bills... and next xmas our cicumstances could change and we might not be in the position were in now!!!
any way the price of toys now days.. i doubt 150 would go far!

Pigman II

lisa.c wrote:

next xmas our cicumstances could change and we might not be in the position were in now!!!

Well theres mistake number one as far as i'm concerned. You start getting a ton of great stuff for your kid this xmas and you've (whether realising it or not) just 'set the bar' at that level. If you can't match it for every subsequent xmas and bday then they're not going to be too impressed.

Scabby? Hah. I love what Christmas has become.

What did you actually get for 420 then?

Supercell

Jebus!, one year a got a second hand Hockey Stick..did it leave me bitter hmm....

Screw it, spoil them, but make sure they understand its not something to take for granted..otherwise its only going to get more expensive each year.

lisa.c

i got him the
v smile from vtech and 2 games bob the builder and sponge bob and carry case
hot wheels gorillas
willy wonka chocolate maker
buckaroo,operatiom and guess who
ripped my pants sponge bob
madagascar marty teddy
fantastic four hot rod
voice changer
roobots noise boots

not a lot really!

crazymonkey

whats wrong with spoiling them once in the year,, if you can afford it of course,, when i have kids i would want them to have everything i didn't,,

Cake Fiend

€420 sounds like a lot for one child to me. As Pigman II mentioned, there's a danger of the child expecting at least that much spent on them every year now.

On the other hand, it's probably only a couple of times a year that they get a big allowance of presents (birthday, Christmas), so the desire to spoil them is understandable. Plus, the price of children's toys has become extortionate! :eek: So you don't even get that much for €420.

If you have other children, try to maybe spread the cost over them by buying something they can all enjoy, and preferably play with together.

ferdi

i'm not a parent but 420euro on one child....hmmm. sounds like you are spoiling him

LegacyUser

what could you buy for 40 quid these days?? It is a difficult call.

I think thats a lot of stuff for one child

Tusky

I think it depends on the kid. If you think he will be able to enjoy the presents without turnign into a spoiled greedy **** then why not splash out. If the kid is demanding presents and is already greedy/spoiled, you aint sending them a good message.

jesus_thats_gre

lisa.c wrote:

just did the santa shop have one child spent €420....

is this to much?
not enough?
just right?

what do you all spend and your kids?
when do you realise its time to stop that they got enough!!!!

i feel i want to fill the room with pressies but i know this is wrong. i did good this year by sticking to a list. but its just so god damm hard to stop buying santa pressies!!!:o

When I was growing up, my parents used to spend around 300 punts or so on myself and something similar with my sister. That was 15 to 20 years ago.. They just made a big deal out of Christmas

LegacyUser

+1 @Tusky .. I think thats what it boils down to. It depends on the child.
I know that my parents went out of their way to make our Christmas fun and special. I'll always remember asking Dad on Christmas day at 6am .. "Dad, has he been yet, has Santa been here".
I remember Dad saying "Shhhh, can't you hear that .. hooves on the roof .. I think he's still down there .. leave it for a few minutes for him to finish off what he's doing". We'd eventually go downstairs and there would be a little section of the sitting room with toys laid out for me and my brothers. One corner for each of us. Looking back on it, we didn't get LOTS of expensive presents .. but Mum used to lay them out nicely and put a lot of thought into what we got.
My parents spent just the right amount on Christmas, they saved a lot for our education and when we needed grinds etc .. the money was there. We had a great Christmas each year, (except the year Santa didn't put up my Wendy House).

If you can do it without spoiling the child, or jepradising something else that is more important, then why not.

mad m

I have two kids 10&7 and they both have birthdays in december as well, and at moment christmas presents for both is around €250 plus my daughter has already got her birthday present as it was a bike(wanted to give it her sop that she could enjoy it before winter sets in) so another €150 on that.I'd say over all for the two of my kids plus birthdays €600.

iguana

lisa.c wrote:

i got him the
v smile from vtech and 2 games bob the builder and sponge bob and carry case
hot wheels gorillas
willy wonka chocolate maker
buckaroo,operatiom and guess who
ripped my pants sponge bob
madagascar marty teddy
fantastic four hot rod
voice changer
roobots noise boots

not a lot really!

Tbh that sounds like too much, if you give too much to a kid then they are hardly likely to appreciate it. You say you are still living with your parents and hoping that that will have changed by next year, but if you were a bit more reserved with your spending, perhaps you would be in a position to afford your own home now.

When my parents bought their house the expense was pretty crippling. (It would be comparitively cheaper for me to buy the house at it's current value, based on my salary than it was based on my dad's salary 19 years ago.) Our first Christmas there I got presents totalling under £10 as did my younger brother. My youngest brother's present was gotten for milk tokens. But we never felt hard done by.

Making Christmas special has nothing to do with how much you spend. My favourite X-mas present would probably be the crib my Dad hand-made and painted for me to put my baby-doll into. Most importantly I love my parents more because of the sacrifices they made for us, not for the material goods they gave me.

TerrorFirmer

My parents have always spent a minimum of 300-400 each on my sister and myself since as long as I can remember.

It doesn't make us snobby people, or spoilt, it's just different parents believe in different approaches when it comes to gift giving much like in many other areas of parenting. At the end of the day, we always appreciate what we get, and we don't forget to thank them for the generosity. I myself love to spend all the cash I have on my girlfriend and friends at Christmas. It's not because I'm spoiling them, its because I love having the ability to spend my money on making other people happy and knowing I've made them happy makes me happy....:v:

Reaver772

Four hundread and twenty quid!

For fecks sake a bag of coal is less than 20 quid and if the kid doesn't like it you can always hit him with it. Everybody seems to have forgotten the true meaning of christmas - making your family suffer!

Binomate

A bag of apple is more than enough for any kid.

Giblet

Jesus are you mad! Kids these days eh! I remember getting my SNES and thinking I was the luckiest bastard ever. That was 99 punts!

Seraphina

tbh, that does sound like an awful lot of stuff. judging by the pressies you got him he's probably at an age where he's too young to really appreciate it.
if i were you i'd split that stuff up and maybe hold onto some of it for his birthday? he'll never be able to play with all that.

420euro might not be much if you got him maybe one large present like a bike or something but it sounds like he'll have a mountain of stuff!

Nasty_Girl

Op, how old is your child?
Sounds like its pretty young (bob the builder etc) and that does seem like a ridiculously stupid amount of money to spend on ONE child.

However, if you have the money to spend on it, then I don't see why you shouldn't.

Interestingly, I noticed in school , some people worried why santa didn't bring them as much as others had got.... they had been just as good, why didn't santa like them as much?
Must've broke their parents hearts.

Shabadu

lisa.c wrote:

i got him the
v smile from vtech and 2 games bob the builder and sponge bob and carry case
hot wheels gorillas
willy wonka chocolate maker
buckaroo,operatiom and guess who
ripped my pants sponge bob
madagascar marty teddy
fantastic four hot rod
voice changer
roobots noise boots

not a lot really!

Jesus Mary and Holy St.Joseph.

Aside from financial concerns which you apparently aren't concerned with, are you not worried your child is going to be completely spoiled growing up? The people I know who were given that much tat at Christmas ended up with completely unrealistic views of what the world was about, and tended to expect everything handed to them on a platter.

Aside from all the religous connotations, Christmas is NOT about toys and Santa, it's about spending time as a family, laughing, talking, cooking, singing, reading etc. My two year old is getting a Playdough factory from Santa, and a load of books from us. I dread to think of all the presents the other family members will be getting him.

got him the
v smile from vtech and 2 games bob the builder and sponge bob and carry case
hot wheels gorillas
willy wonka chocolate maker
buckaroo,operatiom and guess who
ripped my pants sponge bob
madagascar marty teddy
fantastic four hot rod
voice changer
roobots noise boots

not a lot really!

Actually it is a lot. Way too much for one child, it's a lot even between 3. Kids get bored of these kinds of toys anyway, and they're way more expensive than what they're worth. Why get more than 2 of 3 of them? That's plenty. Then you could get felt tips that change color, kids books, videos that teach to spell/count (don't know how old he is) stuff that is vaguely educational. It might sound a bit boring but I loved that kind of stuff when I was younger.

I don't mean to sound like Scrooge but usually kids just get bored of those kinds of toys, either break them, or lose parts so they don't work anymore, or it's too much of an effort to set up so no-one can ever be arsed setting them up to play with. That's all I remember about those games.

I just don't see the point in spending so much on a child too young to appreciate it. There has to be other things to spend that money on. All the young kids I know would be grand with a teddy, a toy car with sound effects, and a stocking full of sweets, which comes to about 50 quid if that.

Aisling(",)

I'm 14 and am getting a psp which is around 250 and the games are 45 or 50 each.So I'd say my mam and dad will spend around 350 on that.but then there are my christmas clothes which was near 340 last year.(I'm the baby of the family by 9 years so am a little spoilt) and all my friends think I'm hard done by.They will also give me my pocket money as well as money for presents for my freinds etc and spending money for going out.I think 420 is around right because I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

aidan_walsh

Aisling(",) wrote:

a little spoilt

No, you're a lot spoilt by the sounds of it, as evidenced by

I think 420 is around right because I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

Mossy Monk

with all those presents you could keep some of them for next year

Mossy Monk

Aisling(",) wrote:

I think 420 is around right because I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

that's crazy. its all money money money these days

Wertz

I dunno...the child in question seems pretty young, going by the list of booty...in my experience kids that young get more fun out of the boxes come Stephen's day.

I'm an only child and although it's a long time since santy came, I used do pretty well, relevant to what could be afforded...but not when I was as young as what the OP's child appears to be; at those ages less is more. Seems to me that christamas presents have turned into yet another "keeping up with the Jones' " items; ie. that they aren't bought solely for the child but also as an outward expression of how well you're doing financially...as others have said, this isn't what chirstmas is or should be about...

LegacyUser

Aisling(",) wrote:

I'm 14 .... I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

WE're talking about Santa presents here .. 14 .. a little old ... thats a lot to be asking for Christmas.

Reaver772

340 on christmas clothes? the only clothes your supposed to get at christmas is a wolly sweater from a batty old aunt that turns out to be so horrific that when your forced to wear it you envy the blind.

Aisling(",)

oh yeah sorry went a little of track there I'd say my mam and Dad would spend around 250 on toys.for children 250 is enough.I used to spend around 5 minutes playing with my toys on christmas day and the rest of the day in the boxes

Nasty_Girl

Wertz wrote:

Seems to me that christamas presents have turned into yet another "keeping up with the Jones' " items

That's it exacty.

Aisling(",) wrote:

I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

You sound like you're doing pretty well to me. 340 on clothes!!

Ron DMC

Hehe, just saw the thread and for some reason my twisted mind read
"santa...whats ARSONable....."

Giblet

lisa.c wrote:

buckaroo,operatiom and guess who

Any kid would be happy with those!

Aishling your 15? Do you not feel a little too old to be asking for 350 euro worth of stuff? I think my parents are buying me some t-shirts this year and I'm getting myself the new Xbox.

Aisling(",)

Nasty_Girl wrote:

That's it exacty.You sound like you're doing pretty well to me. 340 on clothes!!

I don't acctually get a lot of clothes but my mam thinks its better to spend money on good quality items such as boots and jacket because I get loads of wear out of them am still wearing my christmas clothes now a year later

Nasty_Girl

Aisling(",) wrote:

I don't acctually get a lot of clothes but my mam thinks its better to spend money on good quality items such as boots and jacket because I get loads of wear out of them am still wearing my christmas clothes now a year later

Well its good if you do actually wear them all year but 340 still makes me feel faint.....

Aisling(",)

Giblet wrote:

Any kid would be happy with those!

Aishling your 15? Do you not feel a little too old to be asking for 350 euro worth of stuff? I think my parents are buying me some t-shirts this year and I'm getting myself the new Xbox.

I'm not allowed get a job to be able to buy stuff for myself there is only one time a year when i can get a big present because they think birthdays are small deals.

Goodshape

Aisling(",) wrote:

I'm 14 and am getting a psp which is around 250 and the games are 45 or 50 each.So I'd say my mam and dad will spend around 350 on that.but then there are my christmas clothes which was near 340 last year.(I'm the baby of the family by 9 years so am a little spoilt) and all my friends think I'm hard done by.They will also give me my pocket money as well as money for presents for my freinds etc and spending money for going out.I think 420 is around right because I know myself how unfair you think it is when most people in your class have gotten more then you for christmas

So Aisling, you're getting 350 on gifts plus 340 on clothes plus pocket money and money for presents AND money for 'going out'?! And you're friends think you're "hard done by"??

Jesus H. Christ... get new friends to be honest.

When I was your age the clothes were the bloody christmas present (more or less) and aside from a little bit extra maybe, the pocket money was the going out money and 'present money'... how much does a 14 year old need for either of those things anyway?


kids today.. tsk and all that, etc.

Wertz

Nasty_Girl wrote:

Well its good if you do actually wear them all year but 340 still makes me feel faint.....

I dunno....it'd be pretty easy for any of us to blow that amount on decent (ie labelled) clothes...can't even buy a semi decent pair of trainers these days for much less than a ton. I think in the case of a teenage girl that figure is reasonable enough....but a PSP and other sh*t on top is maybe a tad excessive...

Madge

lisa.c wrote:

i got him the
v smile from vtech and 2 games bob the builder and sponge bob and carry case
hot wheels gorillas
willy wonka chocolate maker
buckaroo,operatiom and guess who
ripped my pants sponge bob
madagascar marty teddy
fantastic four hot rod
voice changer
roobots noise boots

not a lot really!

Your child seems to be young (you got bob the builder stuff, teddies)
But I thought 'operation' and 'guess who' are games for an older child?.
Anyway, I think if your're not buying them presents all the time and if your're able to afford it, then why not spoil them? Christmas only comes once a year and you might as well treat your kid!

Aisling you can't be serious. If you don't think that's a lot you are completely spoilt. And no, I never felt jealous that everyone got more than me for Christmas. I didn't care. I'd feel embarrassed to get a huge pile of stuff while there are people starving etc. I'd genuinely rather give the money to a good cause, because that's what Christmas is about. And I'm not even as religious as a lot of people. I just think the whole presents competition is ridiculous and sad. Obviously I'd be over the moon to get something big like an IPod for Christmas but I wouldn't expect anything else. I'd count myself really lucky to have got that.

Last year I got a second hand digital camera from Ebay and I was over the moon. I got some little bits and bobs, bags, scarves etc, and that was more than enough.

Capt'n Midnight

Spending that much may be upping the ante for their friends/classmates parents which is not very responsible on your part, unless ALL the other kids will be getting similar.

Also it might be fine for a single child but if there are two or three.
BTW, How many hours on minimum wages is that ??

lisa.c

we live with parents because theres lots of room here and it suits us.
my son is four and this is really his first xmas and probably our first year of actually being able to afford stuff for him.

Zayn Noisy Signal... if i was to buy him any more art stuff or books he could open a shop.

he made a list and was told to pick 5 things that he would like. isnt that what santa is about making a list and sending it off and hoping that when xmas morning comes that you get whats on ur list... obviously we added a few bits to it but hey why not he's only young once.

xmas for kids is not about family sit downs and getting all the family together and all that traditional stuff all kids want is santa.... ya when they get older then cut back but xmas for a child should be exactly that and xmas for adults well thats another thing.
xmas for me is about seeing a happy kid xmas mornin...and sitting on the couch with the family watching the classics and pigging out on all the goodies.

lisa.c

Zayn Noisy Signal wrote:

Aisling you can't be serious. If you don't think that's a lot you are completely spoilt. And no, I never felt jealous that everyone got more than me for Christmas. I didn't care. I'd feel embarrassed to get a huge pile of stuff while there are people starving etc. I'd genuinely rather give the money to a good cause, because that's what Christmas is about. And I'm not even as religious as a lot of people. I just think the whole presents competition is ridiculous and sad. Obviously I'd be over the moon to get something big like an IPod for Christmas but I wouldn't expect anything else. I'd count myself really lucky to have got that.

Last year I got a second hand digital camera from Ebay and I was over the moon. I got some little bits and bobs, bags, scarves etc, and that was more than enough.

ok shall i bring the violins out for you now...
if you happen to get that ipod this year then you wont mind selling it and passing the money on to a charity...

lisa.c

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Spending that much may be upping the ante for their friends/classmates parents which is not very responsible on your part, unless ALL the other kids will be getting similar.

Also it might be fine for a single child but if there are two or three.
BTW, How many hours on minimum wages is that ??

through but 95% of my sons playschool mates are well off if they want to scab on santa then more power to them.
kids dont care what santa brought jimmy next door all they care about is that santa got them what was on their list.
if parents are to mean to get their kids what are on their lists then it will just fall back on them when they see their kids disappointed xmas day.

and as im on min wage it cost me 55/56 hours work...but i dont mind as he'll be a happy bunny xmas day.

mad m

I know to some €420 is abit much and maybe it is,but I think parents get roped in and sometimes dont even blink until they realise the cost.The presents in question could of been bought over a time,and lets not forget what other presents kids get at christmas from uncles/aunts/grandparents.I always tell relatives when they are decideing to buy my kids presents please buy them a book or something like that.

Sure some on here especially in computer section would buy one piece of computer hardware/graphics card for €420 and not even blink an eye.