The cost of presents for kids these days

everlast75

A friend of my other half spent €2000 on her 10 year old.

Her other mate spent €4000 on her two young kids.

What the everloving **** is going on?

These women are on less than the average wage.

Is this not a criminal amount of money to be spending on presents? Is this "the norm"?

whisky_galore

No, not the norm, they just have the dumb because they give into their kids' demands.

Princess Calla

No that's pure stupidity.

Get one main present and a few lil fillers.

everlast75

One of them said her son wanted a particular tracksuit.... 200e.

Games for consoles at 70/80e a pop.

Consoles themselves are 500e or so.

That's what they said anyway....

theteal

Yeah that's not happening in my house. Both kids will be spoiled rotten for less than £300 all in. When they're older and it comes to games consoles and the like, they'll be shared presents like ours were growing up.

People can spend what they like, they do stupid sh!t all the time, leave them at it

Princess Calla

The tracksuit will probably be on sale st Stephens day for half the price.

No is a word some parents don't seem to understand.

I appreciate consoles are expensive so if that were me I'd say console +1 game and something else bringing it to 600 which is still on the extravagant side. Then maybe saying grandparents buy another game, or get cash from aunt's/uncle's.

Just because the list has 10 items on it doesn't mean the child is getting all 10 items.

xhomelezz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223455/the-cost-of-presents-for-kids-these-days

I'm not a woman, but I'm after spending about 1k mostly on IT upgrades for Xmas presents for two sons. We've set the targets months ago. Always depends on circumstances, but we go the same route every year. Boys tell me what they want ( I mean big thing they have on their mind) and we go from that.

What would be average wage you mentioned in your post?

Curious, cuz I believe me personally is on the low scale of pay.

JupiterKid

It's threads like these where I thank my lucky stars that I don't have children - and very likely at the stage in my life I'm at - never will. 😁👍👍👍

Atlantic Dawn

€200 is more than enough for kids, perhaps the purchase of a computer/laptop at some stage being an exception for a grand or so which can be used for education.

What in the jaysus does a 10 year old get for €2k, probably something as gobesheitish as a €1300 EyePhone as part of it me thinks so they can be a prime target of croyme.

Gregor Samsa

One of my 8 year old daughters asked for particular musical instrument this year that’s €600. It’s her hobby, she’s very diligent at going to her lessons and doing her practice, and it will last her for years. So I’ve no problem in spending the €600 on it. I’ve multiple guitars that cost twice that, and her older sister has a harp that cost over two grand (that wasn’t a Christmas present, but I still had to pay for it).

Her twin sister asked for a makeup set that cost €40. That’s all she wants.

No problem getting either one, but I have to admit that I felt a bit better about spending the €600 on the instrument than €40 on the plastic makeup set.

buried

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344784#Comment_118344784

Fair play to you G, what is the musical instrument?

El Gato De Negocios

Have a 4.5 year old and 3 and a bit year old. We set our limit for toys at €100 each and with that we were able to get lego, duplo, 40 pots of playdoh, dolls house furniture, some jigsaws and some books. Spent another €100 odd on clothes for both. They are the only grandkids on my side so will get toys from my parents and siblings.

I know the day will come when they start asking for big ticket items but at the moment, they are more than happy with the kinds of stuff we've gotten them.

ablelocks

we've tried to keep to this spend :

1 big present = about 100-150

1 medium = about 50

1 small = about 25

Stocking filler presents = about 15

200-250 per kid, upto €1000 total for us

this year, the 2 eldest have the cop on to spend less, third child is getting a bike so a bit more, but it's on the bike to work and will keep him going for the next 4 or 5 years, youngest first letter asked santa for an iphone and we told her he won't bring one, so second letter is more realistic - if you can call a make-up fridge realistic.

occasionally, Santa might bring a family present, like a console or a laptop. The fecker missed out on the black friday deal on Ooni pizza ovens though, so no family present this year.

appledrop

Ah everlast if thats true I'm absolutely gobsmacked.

That is ridiculous, kids will never learn the value of money.

Just because they ask for everything doesn't mean they should get it all.

We give our 5 year old Smyths catalogue to look through + he picks 1 big item(Say around€100, could be scooter, bike etc) and then a few smaller items say (€20-40) each.

He knows toys have to be shared with all children + he actually gets more excited by process because he really thinks them all through before deciding on the final ones he wants.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344802#Comment_118344802

An electric drum kit. She’s been asking for it for a year now, and like I said, fair play to her, she loves going to her lessons and doing her practice on a drum pad every night. We’re in a semi d, so an acoustic kit is out of the question.

Her twin (and the older one who plays the harp) do piano, so we thought we’d be splashing out on an electric piano too, but a relative lent us one, so that’ll do for the moment.

Looking to move house soon, and one of the main criteria is space for a music room. Our living room looks like Abbey Road.

Wombatman

Not sure about the thread title. The relative cost of presents is the same as it always was. The only thing changing is the relative stupidity of the parents.

ForestFire

8 Year old girl which we allow to ask for 2 things and a surprise.

• 1) Robot - Normally €300 but as they don't sell any more, I got a very good deal second hand < €50.
• 2) Fidget Set - Now she has lots of fidgets, so I decided to get her some gadgets a bit different to your Poppets and spinners etc, like CMY Cube, Kinetic machine, Yoyo, etc. total - €150
• Surprise - Karaoke machine, Was looking at one for about €150 euro, but ended up getting the smaller version for €80.

Total:- €280 but I guess it could have been €600 max if paying full price or the bigger options.

There will probable be a few small extras like art kits, Stocking fillers etc, but not much else.

appledrop

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344815#Comment_118344815

I'm a bit surprised that 4.5 year old hasn't asked for more 'brand toys' at that age. Most kids of that age are obsessed with Spiderman, Pokeman, Paw Patrol etc.

ForestFire

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344830#Comment_118344830

Our Daughter Was/is doing guitar lessons until the pandemic....but was also interested in drums.

I have had this on amazon tracking for a while now, but not decided to get it yet but interest in your thoughts, or what you went with your self.

• Alesis Nitro Mesh Kit

I play a bit myself (Keyboard, Bass), mostly for fun and relaxation and also trying the guitar as she is learning and sure would give the drums a go as well, again for the craic and stress relief one day!!!

ablelocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344858#Comment_118344858

if they're "allowed" to get obsessed - or parents could distract and diversify what they're exposed to, so that they don't obsess with any particular type or brand of toy.

I've a nephew who is over-indulged to the extent that he has every Harry Potter and Pokemon toy a boy can possibly have. I asked his mother could i get him something outside of that and she said no! FFS

screamer

Who actually cares, being serious, it’s their money let them spend what they want. I spoil my kids at Christmas but they get nothing else all year and I’ve banned family from buying them anything at Christmas. I can afford it, so who cares. The day I can’t, I won’t. Happy Christmas BTW.

appledrop

Ah no ablelocks you wouldn't get them everything they want or obsessive over one toy brand but I would expect a child of that age to have a very definite idea of actual toy they wanted like Spiderman car or Transformers etc rather than just say they want standard lego or duplo etc.

El Gato De Negocios

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344858#Comment_118344858

We don't allow them to watch pokemon, paw patrol etc and they only watch streamed shows so don't get bombarded with adverts so as far as I'm aware he has no cognisance of the branded toys. Honestly though, jigsaws and lego are the best things we've bought. They are literally used every single day.

cannonballTaffyOjones

Way too expensive IMHO

Akrasia

We bought our youngest daughter a flamingo that sits on a toilet and sings about needing to poo

Money well spent

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344317#Comment_118344317

i bought my first console with my confirmation money, had a Commodore 64 before that.... used to pirate games by copying tapes...

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118345027#Comment_118345027

Yeah, that's one huge advantage of streamed stuff over the regular Eg RTE stuff. No bloody ads. I even notice when I do watch RTE it's like a bloody assault. Don't know how kids are supposed to survive all the ad crap. And it's really unfair on families with limited cash or families who don't want to get sucked into the consumer side of Christmas. Really they should rename it Consumermas. Ha ha

freshpopcorn

I think it really depends to be honest.

You'd often hear of parents buying and expensive ipad of console one year and not as much the next year.

Similarly with clothes/etc. You'd hear of kids getting a Northface coat a pair of runners etc at Christmas and then no other clothes for the rest of the year nearly.

I'd have thought about €300 - €500 was the norm. Especially with older kids. With the odd bit extra some years and less others.

Geuze

Two kids under 10, spent 300 approx.

Too much, the house is full of toys and games.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344889#Comment_118344889

I went for the Alesis Surge Mesh kit, which is very similar to the Nitro. Reviews of both seem to be great, but I’ve no experience of drums, acoustic or electric, so we’ll just have to wait to see how it works out on Christmas Day! I have to say, I’m looking forward to having a shot on them myself.

I’ve a load of guitars and basses, but none of my kids will play them. But they’re finding their own instruments which is what it’s all about.

Ginger83

Madness. Fair enough if you can afford it but some get into unnecessary debt. A friend of my OH spent thousands every year on one child and had to spend all year paying littlewoods and credit cards.

We've spent around €250 on 2 kids with some things like Heelys picked up new unused on donedeal

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118345271#Comment_118345271

Yep, you need 2 houses these days. One for the crap and one to live in.😀

knucklehead6

Budget of €250 for both kids here, all sorted. Spent a bit more on herself, then a €20 budget per nibling.

biggest expense we had this year was the big grocery shop!!

Jinglejangle69

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058223455/the-cost-of-presents-for-kids-these-days

How can they afford rent a mortgage etc and to spend that money when they are on below the average wage?

JupiterKid

Every year, parents on modest or low incomes get into serious debt at Christmas spending money they don’t have (usually borrowed) on very extravagant presents for their children that will likely be tossed aside and completely forgotten by the following Christmas.

MABS are always overwhelmed with calls in January from deeply indebted people who spent a complete fortune on Christmas - and not just on expensive presents for their kids - other family gifts, food items, travel, socialising and nights out, parties, New Years etc. - it all adds up...

Budgeting and how to manage money properly should be a compulsory item on the school’s curriculum at secondary level. So many adults in this country do not know how to manage money at all.

Again, as I opined earlier not having children takes a huge amount of stress, worry and hassle out of Christmas. Looking at my friends with kids and the stress of getting things for them makes me really appreciate this. 👍👍👍

I would be pretty stressed over trying to make sure my child had the present they really wanted from Santa but having trouble sourcing it in time for Christmas. I would imagine some parents in that position would pay over the odds just for the sake of peace.

And then there are the parents who buy a copious amount of toys, consoles etc for their kids to compensate for having so little actual quality time with them. I also suspect some parents lavish expensive gifts on their children because they themselves had very little at Christmas growing up.

There is an opposite side to this coin as well. I've seen both, the parents who went mad and then others who wouldn't spend Christmas (if you'll pardon the pun).

I know one woman who deliberately told her child at age 4 that Santa wasn't real and that she (her mother) had to pay for any presents so don't ask for too much. Child was lucky if they got anything for christmas. Miserly wagon was loaded, too. Money no object when it came to spending on herself, of course.

@JupiterKid

@JupiterKid

I would be pretty stressed over trying to make sure my child had the present they really wanted from Santa but having trouble sourcing it in time for Christmas.

Its not that bad! All it takes is a little planning. And its all worth it, when you see their faces light up on Christmas morning, for the few years the santa phase lasts.

You'd be lucky to find a child who still truly believes in Santa by the age of 8.

joe40

The trick to get Christmas presents of things you will have to buy anyway. Football boots, swimsuits, music stuff etc if your kids are into those sort of activities.

Pasttimes and hobbies are great but use Christmas to fund to a certain extent.

Ficheall

I think the most expensive present I got from Santa was a surprise bicycle (younger brother still believed at the time) eighteen years ago. Brought it in to be repaired the other day and your man quoted me 200e+.. I'll tinker with it a bit myself for a while, but I may have to give up on it soon :(

Still have a dictionary Santa brought that year too. Aside from those, I've no recollection of any Christmas presents I got, either expensive or otherwise 🤔

SuperBowserWorld

Keeping up with the Joneses is expensive. If it was truly Christmas those 1000s of euro should be given to those truly in need. Happy holidays 🙃

Ginger83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346540#Comment_118346540

What a horrible woman

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346675#Comment_118346675

Better off dragging the Jonses down to your level

Probably spent a little more than usual this year because the general covid atmosphere probably means we will be isolated at home more than before the pandemic. So money we might have spent elsewhere I dropped into this.

But even then I reckon the total bill was 600ish euro over the three kids (kid number 4 still relatively new born so not really included).

Not sure on the total bill as I tried not to money watch this year and just get the things I think they would enjoy. Will probably add it up when all the amazon and other bills finally hit the bank account.

But they each are specifically getting:

• One Practical thing
• One music related thing
• One brain engaging educational thing
• One sporty thing
• One clothes related thing
• One voucher for "coins" for their favorite game/app
• One board game
• One deck of pokemon cards

And then one final thing more individualized for each of them personally. So 9 gifts X 3 kids will certainly make the tree look well stocked on the morning of Xmas.

The stocking fillers though when I told them to design and hang their own socks on the tree - they were quite modest in the sizes they chose so probably won't have to do much to fill them. Some chocolate and those special markers for drawing on house windows will probably fill one of them for example.

So relatively modest I think. Probably would have spent more actually but a few of the things I got excited about vicariously myself were either sold out - or the shipping arrival time was well into next January/February. I really wanted to get them some Ganker EX battle robots for example. But that was probably going to be more for me than them :) Similarly a remote control high speed boat which has cameras that feed back to a VR helmet for the controlling user was probably over kill so I talked myself out of that too :)

Half tempted by a set of 4 "laser tag" type things. But since we would mainly play that outdoors I was not sure what to get so I gave up. They say they work outdoors but I have my doubts - and I would hate to spend 100s of euro on something that ended up being little more than a frustration and a failure to use.

Got some fun things on the list though. I got a few "Stikbots" kits which are a kind of kit for making stop motion video animations on your mobile phone using an app. Relatively cheap and I reckon we will get a few hours out of that over any lock down we get hit with.

Feisar

I'm back in toy shops due to having a wee lad, what shocked me is the price of Lego. When I was a lad the flagship of the Technic line was about £120. The main sets now seem to run for about a grand!

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352347#Comment_118352347

What sets are about a grand?

The most expensive set in Smyths is a giant Millennium Falcon one for €759. It's in the "adult Lego" range. Disappointingly, adult Lego doesn't involve anatomically correct figures and a branding tie-in with PornHub.

The next most expensive set is a Technic one for €420. The promotional pictures of that show a hirsute man-child, presumably making a "brrrrmmmmm!" engine noise as he plays with his little digger.

https://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/toys/lego-and-bricks/c/SM060107?sort=price-desc&q=%3AieBestsellerRating%3AproductVisible%3Atrue#

Plenty of decent sets for less than a hundred Euro.

Feisar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352400#Comment_118352400

LEGO TECHNIC Motorized Excavator - came up as €1,300 on toycentral.ie. But yer right lots of stuff around the 500 mark. Still way ahead of inflation.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352508#Comment_118352508

But that's a set from 2010 and isn't produced any more. That's collector pricing, not toy pricing. There's a documentary called "Toy Story 2" all about the phenomenon.

Dramatik

I wonder how kids these days would react if when they opened their present of a new iPhone at Christmas it turned out to be a five year old model which their cousin had previously owned. That's essentially how things were for me as a kid, sometimes presents were new, sometimes they were hand me downs.

Honestly it made no difference to me, I was just happy to get whatever it was. Then when I was finished with or grew out of the item it would be passed on to another relation or family friend. At the end of the day getting an item that was a few years old or previously owned was still better than not receiving the item at all.

I guess though these days things aren't really made to last or become un-fashonable or un-cool before their lifespan is up.

BorneTobyWilde

There are kids out there without food, so spending 4k on a child is a bit unmindful to say the least.

Gregor Samsa

Our twins were mad into Sylvanian Families a few years ago. Those things are pricy, especially the houses and vehicles.

We got a load on Done Deal from various sources for next to nothing. They weren't boxed, so we wrapped them up in cellophane with nice ribbons. That year they must have got €500 worth of tiny anthropomorphized bears and rabbits and their houses, cars, campervan and accoutrements - we spent less than a hundred. Still have it all, and it's still played with. They never batted an eyelid about the lack of boxes. Santa's magic.

bladespin

Honestly this year our cost is halved, no idea why but the kids are looking for some pretty straightforward presents instead of very expensive stuff, my eldest wants a Chromebook like they use at school so he can do his homework on it and use it for entertainment, my second wants a couple of PS games and some accessories (again not exactly crazy with his demands), both are big into football and have asked for boots etc which we'd be buying anyway lol.

And that's about it, no matter how I dress it the stacks are going to look small but they're getting pretty much everything they've asked for.