Do you buy the same number of presents.....

[npmommie]

for each child, or do you spend the same amount on each?

 

[INDISMOM]

My kids are older, so I spend the same amount. They know that if they have a big ticket item they may not get the same number of presents.

When they were little I made sure they had the same number of presents and usually spent about the same -- that's when you could go a get a little something for $5 or less to even it out!!

 

[WeDisney4]

Same amount, try to match box size too & in the end $ is usually close, dds are 9 & 7 ~ i think age matters & this may change in the future.

 

[RadioNate]

Neither but my kids will be 9 and 3 this Christmas.

Gifts that the 9 year old wants are significantly more $$ than what the 3 year old wants. If we spent the same amount the 3 year old would get significantly more presents than the 9 year old and if we did an equal amount of presents she would only get a few things.

My 9 year old understands that the xbox he wants is far more expensive than the princess shoes that she wants. We take in account what each child wants and then go from there.

They get 1 toy gift, new PJs & an outfit from us. The rest is from Santa. This year she'll get more from Santa (he doesn't believe anyway) than he will. I'm not going to buy him a bunch of junk so they have even amounts.

 

[jen0610]

We try to keep the number close and the amounts close.

Last year, that got blown out of the water, when DS15's tv started going down hill really fast, just before Thanksgiving. In his room, was the 25 inch tv that my mom and I had bought for DH the first year we were dating, so it was a 22 year old set. It had more than served it usefullness.

We already had several thing bought or ordered for him, but we found a really good deal on a HDTV 32 or 34 inch, that we got him. When he got it, we did let him know that was also part birthday gift. Even with it going towards both, he still had a few less presents to open then his sister, but for the amount spent, he was a lot more than she was.

But it's getting evened out this year. She's gonna have a few less presents, but a couple that are more costly than some of his items.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Amount.

 

[Tinkermommy]

No, not really.

My kids are 9 and 4 so different ages completely. I usually spend more on my 9 year old since she wants electronics. My little guy gets a higher number of gifts since his are much cheaper but certainly not the same dollar amount. He just doesn't need that much stuff.

They don't seem to notice the number and would certainly not know the cost.

I am sure things will even up when they are older, but for now I think they are both happy and they certainly are not deprived!

My mother on the other hand spends the same on each grandchild and if she comes up $5 short, then they get a $5 bill.

 

[lovegrumpy]

We buy the same number of presents. I'm thinking next year well be the same amount of money.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We aim for both.

 

[worm761]

I will go with neither. DS is 14 and DD will be one in a week. They are too far apart in age. DS knows that he wants expensive stuff so he gets less. Baby toys aren't that costly but she has a birthday right before Christmas. I figure in the years to come I will find a happy balance.

 

[mill4023]

We don't go by any hard and fast rules.
We just try to make it as fair as possible.
We've got 5 kids from 2 to 15, so obviously the cost of their gifts varies a lot.

 

[Magic Mom]

Now that they are both older, I spend about the same amount, but not exact (within $50 of each other.)I do not try and match the number or sizes of presents though. That seems silly to me.

I don't have step kids though. I think that is a different dynamic.

 

[npmommie]

my 10 yo is asking for more expensive things, but she still believes in santa.........probably not much longer...........

but my youngest is still in the definite believing in santa phase.

I don't believe in going overboard just because it is christmas, so my self imposed budget has always been about $200 per kid.
well now that dd as asked for a camera and a barbie dreamhouse, I am already over that limit if i get both of those things. LOL

uggg.
actually it may be a moot point since the barbie house is out of stock most places i checked. the places with it priced reasonably, if you can call it reasonable for spend over a $100 for PLASTIC.
can you tell that barbie house is a thorn in my side

 

[Magic Mom]

my 10 yo is asking for more expensive things, but she still believes in santa.........probably not much longer...........

but my youngest is still in the definite believing in santa phase.

I don't believe in going overboard just because it is christmas, so my self imposed budget has always been about $200 per kid.
well now that dd as asked for a camera and a barbie dreamhouse, I am already over that limit if i get both of those things. LOL

uggg.
actually it may be a moot point since the barbie house is out of stock most places i checked. the places with it priced reasonably, if you can call it reasonable for spend over a $100 for PLASTIC.
can you tell that barbie house is a thorn in my side

If there is a large age difference, then I don't think matching amounts is as important. You can get a heck of a lot for fairly cheap for a 4 year old....but that's harder for a 13 year old.

 

[golfgal]

When the kids were younger and didn't really "get" money, we tried for the same number of gifts, but we kept the cost close to the same as well. Now that they are older and their tastes are significantly more expensive and understand how much stuff costs they get roughly the same dollar amount. DS15 will have a bit more spent on him this year because this is his letter jacket year-the other two already got theirs for Christmas. All of this subject to DH actually doing ANY shopping this year though

 

[MIGrandma]

When our children were little I tried to make it the same number of presents, even if the last one was only $5 to "even it out." But as they got older and stopped believing in Santa, and knew it was Mom and Dad buying their presents, it was mostly just a set amount of $$. If one of the kids had a more expensive item on their wish list, they knew they might not get as many total gifts as the other.

With the grandkids I just spend a set amount. They have never questioned that "so and so got more gifts." If one did say that I would just tell them that Grandma spends the same amount of $$ on each child.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

spend the same amount

 

[Amy]

I spend the same dollar amount. When my boys were younger, I made sure they each had the same number of gifts, since they didn't quite understand "money". Now that they're older, they can understand that if one of them gets something expensive, he'll have fewer gifts.

 

[cheermom1]

We have 5 kids from 11 to 17 to we go by amount however it is not to the penny. All the kids are old enough to understand how much things cost and why it is the way it is. Such as this year the oldest wants a nook so I told her that would be all she will get! But then the next oldest wants a psp umm well that is all he will get. The others have only asked for some games so far. So it seems that the youngest will have a few more then the older 2!!

 

[Hannathy]

Approximately the same amount
As far as number of boxes no BUT my DD wants a camera for her main present and that will be a lot but so that she doesn't only have 1 box to open I will wrap up some little things like a CD and I got one of the Burts Bees gift bags from the budget board, maybe some socks, etc.