Guest Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) Im deleting this question. Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be personal. I was just trying to get a rough idea of what was a reasonable amount to spend on each child. I also didn't know that this should have been a poll or was a question that came up frequently. I have been extremely busy, and haven't had time to check the The Chat Board very much, so I didn't know. Edited November 23, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 How much do you spend per child on Christmas presents? How many kids do you have? I spend an amount that is within our means, that will accomplish my Christmas gift-giving goals of providing ~something to do ~something to wear ~something special to have. I don't go into debt for Christmas, nor give so many gifts that my children are overwhelmed or spoiled. We are more about happy traditions than about gifts. As to actual money amounts, I'm not answering that. Too much disparity on the boards. Those struggling to give their children a good Christmas don't need to get the impression that all the other homeschoolers are well-to-do, which is what will happen if we all start telling how much our Christmases cost. Just my two cents on that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 The perennial question. :) Most people do this as a poll. My answer: I have 3 kids and it depends. I have not ever kept them all at the same amount of money. It just doesn't work. There is a five-year age difference between middle and youngest DS. Younger kids' gifts are less expensive on average, so I wouldn't buy the youngest fifteen things so it will be financially equal to the older kids' phone or car stereo or snowboard. I just aim for an overall equitable appearance. Each kid will have at least one "wow" gift; something that they will be overjoyed to receive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 I can't answer this either. 3 kids, ranging from 5 to 25. We don't strive to spend the same amount on each. We just look to make each one feel happy and loved. Each kids gets that wow gift that they'll love, some things (small) that we think they need or will love. They might get a special clothing item, or book, or game. They get a stocking full of goodies. We don't do crazy wish lists. They (when younger) write to Santa, and they can ask for three things - but they know Santa doesn't bring everything. DS12's wish list totals $26 this year. Honestly, we'll supplement that. We mostly focus on fun traditions - so many! - and doing things together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Last year we spent $50 per kid. We spent about $30/each on a "family theme" gift -- baseball gloves, tennis rackets -- and then $15/each that were particular but comparable to the other kids. My daughter got a bag she could decorate, my son got an art pack for dinosaurs, etc. About $5/kid was spent on a group gift like craft supplies. That is included in my $50. This year I don't know what the family theme gift will be. But, I think my budget says we need to aim for about $40/kid this year. I don't foresee a problem with this number, unless we think of something outrageous as the family theme. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) I have six kids, but we don't budget a set amount per child. It varies. Edited November 23, 2016 by Kinsa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) We don't really budget either, some gifts are just more expensive than others, but no less wanted. What I was planning on doing this year is picking one special gift per child along with a stocking stuffer amount of about $30 to spend at the toy store in the after Christmas sales, so they could pick another toy or two they really wanted. They don't need much so it works out well - we have discovered that large quantities of gifts tend to kind of overwhelm the little people anyway. ETA - in the past it's worked out to about $50 per kid and we have five kids, going on six. But the baby gets less and the older kids sometimes get more. It really just depends but we do NOT go crazy on Christmas. We can't afford it and wouldn't even if we could. Edited November 23, 2016 by Arctic Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 We don't spend an equal amount. We make sure each child has something they will love, plus a Santa gift (something they ask for), along with things we think they will enjoy or use. Toys for children can be much less expensive than toys for teens. LOL plus I try to buy on clearance when I can. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) I don't know, roughly $300 per kid I would imagine, but that includes things they need, like shoes, socks, winter coat, etc.... Edited November 23, 2016 by DawnM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) The perennial question. :) Most people do this as a poll. :iagree: LOL. And then it leads to a spin off thread where someone is outraged/offended/bothered about what other families do. At least it's tradition! I'm definitely in the it depends range. I take the holidays to buy my kids 1 - warm pajamas 2 - a nice outfit 3 - warm, high quality socks. Possibly other winter wear - long underwear, hats, etc. 4 - a calendar 5 - often books or other school related things (art supplies, science kits, etc) So I kind of feel like these are all items I'd be buying periodically if I didn't intentionally kind of hold off on buying late summer/fall anyway. I might use Christmas as an excuse to get the little nice clothes/jammies, etc. And sometimes we use the holidays as an excuse to upgrade technology when that might be coming down the pike anyway. This is a birthday example but we've had things like this for Christmas too. We bought the boy a ridiculously nice laptop for his birthday last year. But he uses it a bunch for school now too and this year his birthday was super simple and cheap (and he turned 16!). I buy very little just randomly fun, impractical stuff. They might each get one or 2 gifts they think is really fun or exciting. I don't think very hard about keeping the monetary amount equal either. My kids are almost 4 years apart, are different genders, and just have different personalities and interests. I remember my mom calculating what she spent on my brother and me within like a dollar or 2. I thought that was nuts. LOL Edited November 23, 2016 by WoolySocks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 how much i spend on my kids is pretty irrelevant to how much other people spend. how much I spend has varied according to income. at its most basic - is every one has a different income and necessary expenses. I have five kids, plus a son-in-law. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 This may go down as one of the weirdest deletions of a benign thread topic I've seen on here :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Summer, you are fine. :) I like to give my child four or five relatively inexpensive presents plus one "wow" item and a stocking. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Im deleting this question. Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be personal. I was just trying to get a rough idea of what was a reasonable amount to spend on each child. I also didn't know that this should have been a poll or was a question that came up frequently. I have been extremely busy, and haven't had time to check the The Chat Board very much, so I didn't know. there's no one answer, or right or wrong answer for how much a family spends on each child. what's reasonable varies with each family. some can afford a lot, others are much more modest. a poll is just easier to collect information - you didn't do anything wrong not doing one. your fine. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 (edited) My DD asked for only three things this year. Ds also only asked for 1 thing and 2 oldest will get cash. It totals a lot less than previous years. No Lego sets or American girl stuff this year. Edited November 23, 2016 by lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisIsTheDay Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Im deleting this question. Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be personal. I was just trying to get a rough idea of what was a reasonable amount to spend on each child. I also didn't know that this should have been a poll or was a question that came up frequently. I have been extremely busy, and haven't had time to check the The Chat Board very much, so I didn't know. People ask personal questions on here all of the time! Of course, money spent on anything, whether it be Christmas gifts, graduation gifts, cars, food budgets, curriculum, housing, college, all of those will vary greatly depending on a number of things. There's no reason that this "should" have been a poll. Don't let yourself feel bad about this one. If people think it's too personal and don't want to answer, they don't have to. If the answers risk making someone "feel bad" about their own situation, well, welcome to the world. This is life. People here go on vacations all the time, pay for cable tv, go out to nice restaurants, buy Coach purses, go to professional sports games, help their kids buy cars, buy braces for their kids, and all kinds of other things. I don't "feel bad" because we don't. It's not in our budget, and that is my life. That's reality. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 It depends on the year. Some years are extravagant, some are less so. This year will probably be the most I've spent for one wow! gift. But, the kids are getting older and are not in to toys anymore and my parents are going in with my brother and I on 3 out of 4 of the kids big gifts directly, then contributing equally in components to my son's big gift, so the $ amount for the gift is larger than my contribution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 OP, I'm sorry you feel you had to delete. Hope you are still around. "How much do you spend" questions are always tricky. Things vary so much. Every now and then someone asks how much people spend on groceries, and it's the same thing - wide variety of answers. I'm not sure how useful the answers are, but that doesn't mean it's not OK to ask the question in the first place! I knew someone who, when her kids were in the 9-12 age range (about), told me they spent $1500 per kid every year. Yowza! That blew my mind. (Not in a judgmental "those people are evil for spending so much on their kids" sort of way but rather in a "I can't comprehend that" sort of way.) I think the most we have ever spent was on a smartphone for one of our kids, but that was sort of a milestone year for him and he needed a new phone badly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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