How much do you spend per child for Christmas?

[parias1126]

I used to have a limit of $100. That was years ago when my oldest was younger. She is now 18. It seems things for the youngers have gotten so much more expensive. One Lego or Playmobil toy for my sons is in the range of $50 or so unless you find a good deal. I was lucky to find BOGO 50% OFF on Lego at Toys R Us, but still....My kids ask for the most expensive things! Am I the only one? All Playmobil (the big sets), Legos (the big sets), and things like experiment kits and K'nex rollercoasters.

 

I always thought boys were going to be cheaper. NOT! My DD is happy with some new clothes or something crafty. I bought her a My American Girl, but I'm sure she would had been happy if she just got the clothes and crafty stuff. I was just trying to keep her even with the boys so it didn't look like they received more than her.

 

So much for the limit of $100 per child. :ack2:

[Garga]

I did $120 per kid this year, but the grandparents tend to spend more than that on each grandchild, which relieves me from having to spend more than that. And you're right: each toy can be very expensive. The grandparents got the kids a new DS each. I bought the games. I bought them used, because even used they're over $20 per game.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Garga

[Denisemomof4]

this year is totally uneven. My oldest will be getting a coat, cash, he and his girlfriend will be getting a gift card to a restaurant, and tickets to a movie, gf earrings. But the most costly thing is that we have to dish out big bucks to cover our deductible for a car accident he recently had. :glare:So thankful nobody was hurt.

 

the budget for the rest of my kids ranges....

[DawnM]

Not sure. I did a few things to off-set the cost, like using my credit card rewards for purchases, etc....

 

My parents helped contribute so that offset the cost as well.

 

I think at the end of the figuring I am probably at $150 per kid in addition to the above.

 

Dawn

[Wendi]

We only have one kid. We ended up spending about $200 on him this year, but normally it's been $100-$150.

 

Wendi

[UnsinkableKristen]

We've spent anywhere from $40/kid to $150/kid. But it depends on a lot of factors - their age, our income that year (DH works on commission), how many kids we have, etc :D .

[Robin M]

I tried to limit it to $100 each this year for Hubby and son. Fortunately son got smart this year and found some games that were not so expensive. Last year he put a bunch of expensive items on his wishlist and didn't get what he wanted.

[Ali in OR]

I probably spend more than I think if I were really to add up all of the receipts for everything including stocking stuffers. I want to believe I'm under $200 per kid, but maybe not. It's probably less for my disabled kid simply because she's not interested in much. She gets a lot of clothes.

[my2boysteacher]

More than we would have liked. :tongue_smilie:

Oldest DS is obsessed with Legos, and asked for more of the big city houses. They are NOT cheap....between $50 and $150 per set.

 

Middle DS only wanted a laptop, which he is getting because he is my little computer nerd in training. :lol:

OH, and they are both getting another container of Citiblocks because the 300+ we already have aren't enough.

It's all educational though, right?

 

DD was just fun to shop for because I've waited 12 years for a little girl. She is getting doll house furniture and playmobil sets.

Edited December 24, 2011 by my2boysteacher

[Mommyfaithe]

About 200 per kid...not including my adult kids. They get more help during the year with things like cell phone bills and books, college expenses etc.

I spent about 100 on them.

 

Faithe

[Kertie]

Well, it depends--mostly on income. We do stockings (candy + small gifts) and one outside-the-stocking gift per child.

 

This year ds1 gets a $13 Lego set (isn't 84 pieces ENOUGH?!?) :lol:, ds2 gets a $13 dollar Playmobil thing, and dd is getting roller skates ($5 @ Goodwill, in awesome shape, these exact ones, and yes, I'm quite pleased with myself! http://www.amazon.com/Mongoose-Rollerskates-with-Flashing-Lights/dp/B0039S2RKG) and wrist guards/knee pads, etc. that all amounts to $15. Stocking stuff for all 3 total ranges between $50 and $100, depending on the year.

 

Ds1's birthday is the 23rd, so we have that as well. We typically go bigger for birthdays when we can afford to, and try to keep the materialism down to a dull roar for Christmas;).

[BakersDozen]

We spend about $100 total but then we only do stockings, not individual gifts. Some years we will do a family gift but we do that on the first day of holiday break rather than Xmas. Usually that gift is a membership to the zoo or something we can all enjoy - a reward of sorts for making it through the first semester. :D Before we made the Big Switch to no gifts we spent $5-20/child depending on the age. For us, the bigger gifts (in the $40-50 range as there's no way we could afford more than that!) are given on the dc's birthdays, not Xmas. ;)

[amy g.]

I try not to keep track of it....or even to think about how much I spend.

[parias1126]

More than we would have liked. :tongue_smilie:

Oldest DS is obsessed with Legos, and asked for more of the big city houses. They are NOT cheap....between $50 and $150 per set.

 

Middle DS only wanted a laptop, which he is getting because he is my little computer nerd in training. :lol:

OH, and they are both getting another container of Citiblocks because the 300+ we already have aren't enough.

It's all educational though, right?

 

DD was just fun to shop for because I've waited 12 years for a little girl. She is getting doll house furniture and playmobil sets.

 

We have Citiblocks! We LOVE those here! That is my boys' favorite toy. Mom doesn't like that she is ALWAYS stepping on them! They are out EVERYDAY! Best purchase I have ever made.

[StaceyinLA]

and that includes everything for Christmas for everyone, as well as boxes, wrap, cards, etc.

 

For my kids I try to stick to around $250-300 each. That has dropped a little for married dd, as I now have her dh (and her ds, my dgs) to buy for.

 

My future plan will be to spend around $250/couple on my kids and their spouses. They can choose a joint gift, or individual gifts. I'm sure I'll keep doing stockings at least for a while (LOVE stockings).

 

Grandkids will probably have $100 max and I was close to sticking with that this year. We buy sgs his big gifts because his parents aren't together and can't really afford to. I also buy him lots of books and puzzles every year because they buy him none of that.

 

I also still buy for a couple of my siblings, my mother and some great nieces and nephews, although I'm thinking this is the last year for the great nieces and nephews other than my godchild.

 

The budget has certainly varied over the years, and each child has had splurge years, but all in all it has balanced out.

[Element]

My final numbers are: $45 on dd, $65 on ds. However, I did spend 4 hours making an awesome messenger bag for dd and I'm pretty sure my going rate is at least $5/hr so I think they're even. :D

Edited December 26, 2011 by Element

[parias1126]

and that includes everything for Christmas for everyone, as well as boxes, wrap, cards, etc.

 

For my kids I try to stick to around $250-300 each. That has dropped a little for married dd, as I now have her dh (and her ds, my dgs) to buy for.

 

My future plan will be to spend around $250/couple on my kids and their spouses. They can choose a joint gift, or individual gifts. I'm sure I'll keep doing stockings at least for a while (LOVE stockings).

 

Grandkids will probably have $100 max and I was close to sticking with that this year. We buy sgs his big gifts because his parents aren't together and can't really afford to. I also buy him lots of books and puzzles every year because they buy him none of that.

 

I also still buy for a couple of my siblings, my mother and some great nieces and nephews, although I'm thinking this is the last year for the great nieces and nephews other than my godchild.

 

The budget has certainly varied over the years, and each child has had splurge years, but all in all it has balanced out.

This was my problem this year. Maybe thats why it seems so expensive to me. My oldest has moved out and now I have to buy for her family (her boyfriend and my dgs). I guess I feel the need to spend the same amount on her boyfriend and my dgs as I do on my own children. Why I feel the need to keep everything "even", I have no idea.

[Lily_Grace]

I don't know. I tend to pick things up on clearance throughout the year so by the time Christmas rolls around I'm not spending as much on my own kids as I thought.

 

I will say we rarely give what is asked for but always manage to give what is liked. :001_smile: It helps to cut down on the stress a bit if I can find other things that meet the same interest level but not at the same price. Like, last year The Kid wanted a mass produced spy kit that was overpriced and cheaply made. We gave him instead Spyology and a book on WWII facts. It took him 2 months to open it and discover it was hollow inside.:lol: It's a prize possession now.

[Samiam]

Since I keep a spreadsheet of what has been purchased for each DS, the normal price, the price I actually paid (woohoo for sales!!) and where I purchased it, I know pretty much exactly what I spent. I don't care about keeping the $$ even, but do try to keep overall gift count even.

 

DS13: $622

DS8: $348

DS5: $322

 

That does not include any stocking stufers, which probably adds up to another $100 total.

 

I know that sounds like alot, especially after reading everyone else's, but each boy got one $$$ gift that really eat up that amount quickly. DS5 and DS8 got an iPod touch, so that is almost $200 of their budget. DS13 got a Tv and a new dresser to match his bed from IKEA (he's had the same dresser since he was born, so figured it was time since it's falling apart at this point) so that is just over $400 of his budget. I also got ALOT of killer deals, so that helps spead the $$$ around. Anyhoo, I justify, if I have to justify, that we hardly ever, almost never purchase non-necessary items for our children any other time of year. They never get toys just to get toys.

[rocketgirl]

We're at about 120-150 per kid, but my oldest is getting a nintendo3Ds which was 200$, plus some cheaper things to even out how many packages each kid has

[Lisbeth]

$400 for each child, not including stockings.

[Heather in Neverland]

This year we spent about 350 per kid. It changes by the year.

[parias1126]

Seems there are a lot f $350-$400 per child and some even more. I dnt feel like I over did it anymore! :D

[J-rap]

About $150 per child, although that does tend to change from year to year, depending on other things.

[Cassy]

About £200 each for four boys, aged 4 to 12 - that's about $300 each.

[Pippen]

I started out with $50 per child when they were small and it's up to about $100-150 now that they're teens.

[Laura Corin]

Presents from us come to about fifty US dollars for each child this year. Stocking presents total about 10 US dollars per child. There have been more expensive years: we bought them a Wii one year (to share) and an Xbox another year.

 

Laura

[sewingmama]

Seems there are a lot f $350-$400 per child and some even more. I dnt feel like I over did it anymore! :D

 

:iagree:

 

I don't want to post what I spent - it was too much. Toys in Australia cost double what you pay in the USA - we don't do Playmobile because it's $150 + on SALE :001_huh:

 

The one and only toy my 2yo really, really wanted was $60.

 

I'm not even going to talk about how easy it is to go over budget when buying for a little girl who loves pink and glitter :o

 

It's funny though - for the amount we spent the tree is not exactly exploding. Stuff just costs so much money in this country.

[hsmamainva]

Around $300 per child...the only exception being our oldest son. His computer died a few weeks ago. It was 5-6 years old and according to the Geek Squad expert it would've cost more to repair and upgrade than it was to buy a new one...so we spent around $500 on him.

 

He has some small Lego kits, a little iPod Nano to take to the gym, a $10 Walmart watch, and some candy in his stocking. But *nothing* in the "presents pile"....so it will look like he doesn't have any presents at all until he looks behind the couch. :D

[creekland]

We spent $25 per kid + candy for their stockings (maybe another $10 - $15 split three ways for that). We gave our kids a $5 per person limit on how much they could spend on us and each other. Then Santa is bringing them a backgammon game that cost us $12.

 

We've tried hard to keep Christmas from getting materialistic and keeping the gift giving smaller and more symbolic is one way we choose to do that.

[mommaduck]

We thought it was going to be a presentless Christmas (the kids were given the heads up). I only had time to sew the baby a gift. The older kids were making some things (they hogged my sewing machine!)

 

We found out that dh had some extra this paycheck, so we spent between $5 and $15 on each. They will also be getting a gift or two from godparents. My kids know that they have more than many kids in the world and that this is life.

[lynn]

$200 for the 3 youngest and $100 for my adult child.

[NatashainDFW]

We also thought it would be a presentless Christmas until Sub for Santa came through. They brought gifts for the kids plus provided a $100 walmart card so I could get some more for them. Then on Wednesday my step-father was surprised with a slightly larger than normal bonus so my mom sent me another $120 to buy Christmas for the kids plus DS' birthday gift (his birthday is on the 30th).

 

So for two kids I spent about $200 total plus the things that Sub for Santa brought. I try to keep it smart and only buy things I know they will greatly enjoy. That meant Legos and Lego games for DS (thankfully found one on sale for 50% off) along with dinosaurs (wants to be a paleontologist) and hot wheels. For DD I got her dress up clothes and a little tinkerbell activity table so she can "do school" in her own space. The only thing she asked Santa for was a bouncy ball and baby doll stuff so she got both of those for under $15 total. Those funds also bought new shoes which were desperately needed. Neither child has had brand new shoes in a while only new to them. I can't wait until this evening when they get to open their new pajamas.

[BigMamaBird]

We usually spend about $100-200 dollars. We don't put a set amount because we find what they'd like, find the cheapest price and go with that. For example. This year we spent probably 4X the amount on DS than DD because a friend gave us her old AG doll and a HUGE box of clothes. So DD was set for free :D

[Laura in MI]

$150-$400, it varies per child.

 

That also includes some clothes, usually a winter coat, and other things I put off until Christmas.

[Wheres Toto]

I'm not completely sure. Probably about $150 per kid but oldest dd is getting a new radio with Ipod connection for her car and the installation will add to the cost. DS is getting a few Wii games, which can be expensive. DD is getting one of oldest dd's old American Girl dolls, furniture and hand-made clothes, so that didn't cost us anything but is a lot of stuff.

 

Most of the stuff for the little guys will end up being shared by both of them. Including the doll since part of the reason I decided to give it to dd was she has a Target brand doll and it's hard for them to play together with one doll so fights ensue. DS seems to like playing with the doll as much as dd.

 

I'm not counting things we bought for the youngest two that are "needs" and we would have bought soon if we didn't get them for Christmas. They both are getting new pj's, new long sleeve shirts, new comforters for their beds (they just recently stopped sharing a bed).

[Mommyof4ks]

We spent about $300 a kid, but one thing we got for each of them was an iPod touch. They do not have grandparents who spoil them either, so it is up to us to buy them all of their fun toys.

[mytwomonkeys]

we spend $300 per child. we save $50 a month for christmas throughout the year. their grandparents give gifts as well, so they do have a big christmas. they don't receive a lot of gifts, but nice quality things.

[Parrothead]

There is no preset amount. After the bills are paid, heat provided (and this year money for the new brakes on the truck) whatever is left is divided pretty much 3 ways (one for each of us) and that buys Christmas. One year we had $100 to split. One year we had $1500. This year we have about $500.

[Desert Rat]

I didn't count to the penny this year, but I want to say around $250 a kid. The adults in our lives we spent around $25-$50 each. Grand total? Around $850.

[Rivka]

My 2yo's presents were about $60. My 6yo's presents were about $150. Then we spent an additional $150 on a crazy splurge - Santa is bringing a bounce castle for both of them to share. This is an unusually high-spending Christmas for us.

 

My normal rule is one big Santa present, a biggish and a smallish present from Mom and Dad, and a stocking with dollar store items. So, for example, we got my 6yo an American Girl doll (Santa), a chemistry set (us), and an Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel (us). I don't want Christmas morning to be overwhelming.

[Night Elf]

The budget changes every year because of their wish lists. I've never had all 3 of my children asking for very expensive stuff at the same time. And yes, I definitely had lesser budgets when they were little. Our budget went up as their gifts became less lego-ish and playmobil-ish and more high tech. I prefer keeping to the same number of gifts per child and not the money budget. I think it's a lot more difficult to explain why one child only got one $100 item and the other child may have four $25 gifts. I feel the need to pay more money so each child can have 4 gifts. However, I can easily do that because my children have never looked at each other's gifts to figure out monetary differences.

[catz]

$150-$400, it varies per child.

 

That also includes some clothes, usually a winter coat, and other things I put off until Christmas.

 

:iagree: At least 80% of the gifts the kids get at home are practical - clothes, pajamas, books, sports gear (this year son is getting a giraffe unicycle - very $$$ but necessary to continue in his sport), science or craft kits. They only get a couple frivolous gifts from "Santa". So I feel like a bunch of this stuff we'd get anyway over the course of the year if we didn't wrap it up at Christmas. They'll get a few more fun gifts from family (with a mix of other more practical things).

[cdrumm4448]

We spent around $300 each this year, including stocking stuffers. It used to be $100, but now they want Legos and stuff like that. DS is receiving books, a guitar and a Lego airport. DD is receiving what looks like more, since her stuff is cheaper: Melissa and Doug kits, American Girl doll clothes and knockoff furniture, books.

[Zoo Keeper]

We spent about $15 per child on a present, and each child has a new an ornament for their collection.

 

The baby just got an ornament. He also gets to smile about everyone else's gifts. :)

 

We purposely try to keep Christmas presents smaller, so that the real meaning of Christmas is not overshadowed. We also save up year 'round to give a gift to a different missionary family each year. The kids really look forward to this part, especially if it is a family they have memories of meeting and spending time with.

Edited December 24, 2011 by Zoo Keeper

[SailorMom]

Way. Too. Much.

 

When they were little - say under 10 - we could FILL UP the living room for like $50 each. Now, even having spent way too much money - the presents look mighty thin..... I miss those huge $10 plastic dump trucks.

[NotSoObvious]

It varies from year to year. When I worked, we were able to spend a bit more. We have very doting grandparents, so I never feel pressured to buy a lot.

 

This year one twin is getting a bike and one is getting Legos. They are both getting a microscope, lots of clothes (which are very needed), several books, and stocking stuffers which include socks, underwear, candy, etc.

 

DH and I don't do big gifts for each other, just stocking stuffers.

 

I don't know how much per kid, but about $700 total when it's all said and done.

[m0mmaBuck]

Ours varies by child. DSS19 typically gets one large gift (this year it is a TV) while the other two get more presents but are less expensive overall...

 

We spent about $500 this year in total.

[DianeW88]

A ridiculous amount. Christmas is a blow-out here, because I do not buy toys/gifts the rest of the year (birthdays being an exception...we spend $100 per child on birthdays). So Christmas is rather...over the top. I estimate that my total for the holiday (including everything..wrapping paper, cards, decorations, food, presents, etc.) is between $4,000-$5,000.

 

But I love Christmas and I love celebrating big! :D

[Tigger]

What I spent, about $500 for DS, baby and DH.

 

Retail would have been about $2000, but I use loyalty points to get gift cards, click through on cash back links, use coupon codes, specifically buy things when their is additional bonus dollars available to use later on other things (ie. Kohl's cash, etc.), and look for deals when I use specific credit cards (ie. mastercard had an additional $10 off a couple of times on Amazon + another $10 to use later).

 

I start planning about a month before Black Friday and look through the pre-BF ads that are released so I can plan where to shop and when. I'm also usually able to wrap up my shopping Black Friday weekend which really takes the pressure off to spend more than I would!