Money on presents for kids for xmas

Witchie

Boombastic wrote: »

I know a lot of children that enjoy books, but maybe they are just encouraged to read by their parents.

Madam X is referring to this I believe!

DylanII

I only read up to page 3, but how the hell is everyone getting away with spending so little on their children. My mum always put a limit of 1000 for stuff we asked for and another few quid on stuff we didn't ask for (concert tickets, games etc) and one really large thing for the family.

I know everyone is in a different financial position but I'd have thought you could scrape together a few hundred for your kids at Christmas.

If your just barley surviving and have trouble affording shopping well then that's fair enough, but if you can afford your alcohol or smokes through the year then maybe you should put your kids first.

Gloomtastic!

So proud of my kids - 8 & 5. Last year, loads of little presents, biggest one cost €25.00 for 8 year old - Bop it XT. Absolutely delighted she was, we all played with it over Christmas.

Went back to school in January to hear stories of iPads and Laptops - for 8 year olds. Where will it end?

Always remember from my childhood 40 years ago, two cousins who had very rich grandad. They got motorbikes when they were ten. They were both in prison for their 18th birthday.

Madam_X

I know everyone is in a different financial position but is have thought you could scrape together a few hundred for your kids at Christmas.

Well you thought wrong I guess.

ronano

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

So proud of my kids - 8 & 5. Last year, loads of little presents, biggest one cost €25.00 for 8 year old - Bop it XT. Absolutely delighted she was, we all played with it over Christmas.

Went back to school in January to hear stories of iPads and Laptops - for 8 year olds. Where will it end?

Always remember from my childhood 40 years ago, two cousins who had very rich grandad. They got motorbikes when they were ten. They were both in prison for their 18th birthday.

If only they had bought them a car :P

poisonated

I have four kids so I will take them to Mc Donalds as a Christmas treat. I will then buy a happy meal. One kid will have the drink, one will have the fries, one will have the burger and then the other will get the toy. I think it's important to show the importance of sharing. After all, isn't that what Christmas is really about.

soap1978

poisonated wrote: »

I have four kids so I will take them to Mc Donalds as a Christmas treat. I will then buy a happy meal. One kid will have the drink, one will have the fries, one will have the burger and then the other will get the toy. I think it's important to show the importance of sharing. After all, isn't that what Christmas is really about.

who will get the raisins,u need another kid

Squidgy Black

I remember my da working overtime during christmas and saving for months beforehand to pay for christmas, I'd say roughly 300-400 each for the three of us in our teens back before the blackhole of the economy.

My 9 year old niece wrote her santy letter yesterday, it included a laptop, an ipad, an xbox, an iphone, a new bike and much more.

I feel bad for parents who genuinely don't have the cash and then their kids start asking for tonnes of pure sh1te like that and putting that kind of pressure on them.

tvercetti

Niles wrote: »

So basically a pawn shop?

Not too sure if they do the pawning part, I don't think they do but yeah a pretty similar business model otherwise.

Treha

The best thing about the Santy collective lie is that you can pretty much use any excuse you want for not giving your kids everything they asked for.

"The elves could only make 400 Xboxes this year and they all went to American kids."

"Santy can't carry bikes in his sleigh. They're too big."

"Sometimes, you just don't get everything you want. Tough luck, kid. Enjoy your ****ing selection box."

1ZRed

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

In way its true, like I said earlier I got my 8 year old an ipad last year but the whole family uses it so its cool

But what good would an iPad be to an 8 year old?

They don't even know the good porn sites!

Capt'n Midnight

1ZRed wrote: »

Give them a box. They'll love it

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/

5. Dirt
4. Cardboard Tube
3. String
2. Box
1. Stick

Capt'n Midnight

dark crystal wrote: »

Eldest (18) will get a second hand iPhone we bought for €80.

Daughter (13) is getting a Samsung smartphone we picked up in Tesco on sale for €60

Daughter (12) wanted a tv for her room, so we picked up a lovely tv-dvd combo from a charity shop for €30!

Just make sure you test it all first and charge up the phones for the day.

Queen-Mise

This years Santa is going to be an expensive one (or has been as I am finished, everything is up in the attic) - some years are cheaper than others, depending on what the 'big' toy is. For example it might be the bike, flicker, etc. This year was more difficult as they both have outside stuff. This year has been the most I have ever spent on them - next year will be a lot cheaper. I'd imagine next year it will be a bike for her & probably phone for him; so that would be a 1/4 of what I spent this year.

I always try to get the best value for money and only buy decent presents; personally I hate 2 toys for 20 euro type things - as the toys are usually awful and break in a few minutes.

For my 11 year old - this is his last Santa and also his biggest year. I got him an Xbox & TV for his room. I think I did really well & got great value for my money. This will be his first gaming console, I think 11 is a good year for one.
I picked up books in charity shops (in excellent condition). So far I found about four books - so 2 or 3 euro for all of them.
And I also got him National Geographic telescope, night vision goggles & walkie talkies - in Argos. I think it was 70ish for the three of them. I was delighted when I stumbled across these - as he was talking about the Spynet products. For one Spynet watch it was 50 euro


For the 7 year old - I found this one really hard to decide on presents, as she has a bike & got a Flick'r last year. And she also doesn't play with toys really. She mentioned lego - but the price of the stuff.
So I got her a Kurio 7 - that was 209 in Argos. but I also got the insurance and the Angry Bird accessory pack with it - so brought it up over 300. The specs on the Kurio are excellent - so will easily do her for the next three/four years.
I got her three other presents with it then. A huge teddy (20 euro), a spa thingy (30 euro) & doll head - the one for makeup and doing hair (20 euro). Oh and I also got her some Twistables and a huge colouring book (10 euroish).
Still searching charity shops for her and books. I have two so far (50 cent each).

This year was the technology year - so will be three or four years before this come round again.

I don't buy presents for anyone other than my kids. Not for nieces/nephews, parents etc.

flutterflye

Queen-Mise wrote: »

She mentioned lego - but the price of the stuff.

Yeah what the hell is with the price of it?!
My kids really got into it over the summer so I was going to get more for xmas.
Is there any cheap alternative?

Queen-Mise

flutterflye wrote: »

Yeah what the hell is with the price of it?!
My kids really got into it over the summer so I was going to get more for xmas.
Is there any cheap alternative?

Maybe second hand - or Ebay or Amazon. I don't think there is a cheap alternative toy really. What I noticed in the toy shop is that they are no plain boxes of lego - everything is either Batman, Spiderman, WoW etc - so of course that makes it more expensive as your also paying for licensing.

You get the mega blocks stuff also, not sure how it is in a price comparison with Lego though.
A few years ago, my kids were playing with K-nex (sp) - that is cheaper, and they loved it. I think it is more reasonable than Lego. I considered it this year actually whilst still deciding on the big present (getting 150 euro worth of K'nex stuff).


Oh and earlier in the thread - people were suggesting the Argos book to give kids, make sure to get them the brochures/books from Smyths or Ken Blacks also. My kids love going through them. And it gave me a good place to start from on what they would like.

0ph0rce0

summerskin wrote: »

Living in Ireland for the last five years has taught me something.

You're all fûcking insane!!

First it's Christmas, then communions, then confirmations, then weddings... And on all of them you spend ridiculous amounts on stuff that a child is simply not capable of really appreciating.

The child then grows up spoilt, wants to buy the biggest and best house and car, as they have been spoilt all their lives, gets in debt up to their eyeballs trying to copy mammy and daddy's lavish ways and BOOM! The country is ****ed, but you blame it on the bankers.


For fück's sake, me and my family are financially very comfortable but there is no way in hell we would spend over €100 each on our kids. My eldest daughter wants an iPhone, told her no chance as she is too young at 14 to own something that expensive, plus she has a Samsung Mini smartphone that does the job perfectly for her.

Why the hell would you all want to spoil your children so much? Do you think they will love you more or something??? No, they'll just see you as a bottomless wallet as they are not old enough to own half the things you are buying them!

Beatz headphones and iPads? You are all fūcking mental!

And theres the reason why your financially very comfortable, Your a tight arse

bullvine

The problem I have and its not just case of keeping up with the Jones but things like Xbox's, Tablets, Phones, LCD TV's screens, Beats Headphones, New Bikes etc all cost over 100 quid.

Once your child gets to a certain age, perhaps over the age of 8, most of then don't want dolls or ben 10 action figures or even lego, they want the sort of things that cost a lot of money. Most of the other kids in their class will be getting some of these things as well, its very difficult to tell them they can't get them from Santa when half their class is getting them. 9 year old girls are not thick.

I don't spend much on her during the year except when its her birthday or Christmas, its not like I spend 20 or 30 quid on her every weekend buying her rubbish so I have no problem spending 300 on her come Christmas or 150 for her birthday as long as I can afford it, which I can.

However, I would never get myself into debt to provide for them for Christmas if I couldn't afford it, that's just insane.

ash23

bullvine wrote: »

Once your child gets to a certain age, perhaps over the age of 8, most of then don't want dolls or ben 10 action figures or even lego, they want the sort of things that cost a lot of money..

Agreed....and it's also about what they will use. At some stage they get too old for dolls and toys. My daughter gets great use out of the 3DS Santa brought last year. The only other things she really uses are my ipod, my laptop and her outdoor stuff like her trampoline, bike and flicker.

So whats the point in spending 100euro on stuff that she won't bother with. I'd rather spend double that on something she will use for years.

Quality, not quantity.

summerskin

ash23 wrote: »

Agreed....and it's also about what they will use. At some stage they get too old for dolls and toys. My daughter gets great use out of the 3DS Santa brought last year. The only other things she really uses are my ipod, my laptop and her outdoor stuff like her trampoline, bike and flicker.

So whats the point in spending 100euro on stuff that she won't bother with. I'd rather spend double that on something she will use for years.

Quality, not quantity.

You can definitely spend around 100 on stuff they'll use for years. My eldest has had a Kindle, a smartphone, a stereo system, a camera and a DS(slightly over 100, but she really wanted it and had a smaller birthday present to make up the difference) in the last few years. All excellent gifts for a 9-16 year old.

Maybe we're different, in that we don't just get things for Christmas(she needed a new bike in summer, old one was too small. Sold the old one, and used the money to go towards the new one. We, as a family, wanted an Xbox360 so i sold my old iPhone, and used the money for an Xbox), and we do 90% of our shopping online, as it's ridiculously cheaper than Irish prices.

We also prefer to spend our money on other things, holidays in particular. This year we've had three holidays, varying from a 5* two weeks all-inclusive trip to the Greek islands, a long weekend in Lisbon to a week in a mobile home in England.

I suppose everyone has different priorities. To us Christmas is more about spending time together as a family than the presents. We use our disposable income on activities and trips all year round, rather than just a day at Christmas.

westendgirlie

pmcmahon wrote: »

what age is she?

She's 16

ash23

summerskin wrote: »

You can definitely spend around 100 on stuff they'll use for years. My eldest has had a Kindle, a smartphone, a stereo system, a camera and a DS(slightly over 100, but she really wanted it and had a smaller birthday present to make up the difference) in the last few years. All excellent gifts for a 9-16 year old.

Maybe we're different, in that we don't just get things for Christmas(she needed a new bike in summer, old one was too small. Sold the old one, and used the money to go towards the new one. We, as a family, wanted an Xbox360 so i sold my old iPhone, and used the money for an Xbox), and we do 90% of our shopping online, as it's ridiculously cheaper than Irish prices.

We also prefer to spend our money on other things, holidays in particular. This year we've had three holidays, varying from a 5* two weeks all-inclusive trip to the Greek islands, a long weekend in Lisbon to a week in a mobile home in England.

I suppose everyone has different priorities. To us Christmas is more about spending time together as a family than the presents. We use our disposable income on activities and trips all year round, rather than just a day at Christmas.

Well, we do both - presents and quality time together. Other than birthdays, I don't really buy toys during the year. We have a few days away, usually in Ireland but money is tight (single parent, no support from the father) so Christmas is pretty much the highlight of the year in our house.

Each to their own but when you look at what your kids get and what mine gets, some would still claim mine was more spoiled, just because I spend more at Christmas. It's impossible to gauge what material things a child gets, just by a Christmas budget.

ronjo

I dont mean to be a smart arse here but this thread is quite eye opening for me.

Most threads on boards or places like politics.ie are all about how poor people are, no disposable income at all etc but I think this shows that this is not really the case for a hell of a lot of people.
Obviously good luck to these people and especially their kids but is it a case of people arent quite as poor as they make out or there is huge difference between the haves and the have nots??

0ph0rce0

The child then grows up spoilt, wants to buy the biggest and best house and car, as they have been spoilt all their lives, gets in debt up to their eyeballs trying to copy mammy and daddy's lavish ways and BOOM! The country is ****ed, but you blame it on the bankers.

Your funny, I like the idea of spending Christmas with the family and its not all about gifts your right

But to say you don't want to spoil the child by getting lots for Christmas (to you that's spoiling them and ****ing the country up) To teach them not to grow up living a lavish lifestyle.

But you set the example of going on 3 holidays a year, that would seem pretty spoiled to most to be honest (5* Too)

Kind of contradicting yourself there.

:rolleyes:

summerskin

ronjo wrote: »

I dont mean to be a smart arse here but this thread is quite eye opening for me.

Most threads on boards or places like politics.ie are all about how poor people are, no disposable income at all etc but I think this shows that this is not really the case for a hell of a lot of people.
Obviously good luck to these people and especially their kids but is it a case of people arent quite as poor as they make out or there is huge difference between the haves and the have nots??

Some of us have never claimed to be poor. Of course there can be the occasional tight month, but financially we are comfortable.

I don't know about the difference between the haves and the have nots. I see many of the "have nots" spending hundreds on Communions, thousands on Christmas and many of them seem to manage that just fine. Surely if they can do that, they can afford to pay their bills? Surely they can't justify having a medical card? All those expenses should come way before extravagant spending on gifts.

bullvine

Also, I should say that similar to @summerskin above, we generally sell our older stuff and use the money to pay for the new stuff for our daughter. I helped finance her pressies by selling a portable lcd, a digital camera and her dolls house, so it didnt really come out of my pocket.

griffdaddy

Get them a Mega Drive with Megagames 2 and Sonic 1. Best present I ever got.

summerskin

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Your funny, I like the idea of spending Christmas with the family and its not all about gifts your right

But to say you don't want to spoil the child by getting lots for Christmas (to you that's spoiling them and ****ing the country up) To teach them not to grow up living a lavish lifestyle.

But you set the example of going on 3 holidays a year, that would seem pretty spoiled to most to be honest (5* Too)

Kind of contradicting yourself there.

:rolleyes:

One of the things that fecked the country up was people borrowing money, using credit cards etc to buy things they could not afford.

Nope, the holidays are for the whole family, not just the children. The holidays are vital for us, to spend time together. I work hard, and occasionally work overseas for a few days at a time, so we love to take holidays together where we can have uninterrupted time.

Our kids are aware of the fact that as a family we don't buy anything that we cannot easily afford. We have no debts, not a cent, and as a result no large debt repayments. This means our children have all they need, and more besides, we're not scrooge, far from it. It also means we have nice holidays, decent cars(both over 5 years old but in great nick) etc, and our kids understand the value of things, not just the price.

Pumpkinseeds

Thankfully we don't have any children, I got a brochure for go karts in the letterbox yesterday. For 3+ year olds the little go karts started at 180 the little trailer for it was 200:eek:. I nearly had to have a little lay down after that, the prices went up to over 500.

When we were kids my parents had a policy of trying to get us the main present that we wanted and a few smaller things. Usually we wanted something expensive like a bike. They told us when we were teens, that they had always made a point of not getting us everything on our Christmas lists as they thought it was wrong to give kids everything that they wanted. They were right, I remember kids we grew up with being given so much stuff and not really appreciating it.

My husbands family all gathered together on Christmas days and his niece and nephew got so many presents each Christmas that it used to take 2 car trips to get the presents back to their house. Then on Stephen's day they'd go to the other grandparents and get the same amount again. Madness

westendgirlie

griffdaddy wrote: »

Get them a Mega Drive with Megagames 2 and Sonic 1. Best present I ever got.

Your username reminded me..... The best christmas present I ever got was my Grifter bike

Showing my age now