How much do you spend on gifts for your child for christmas? Birthdays?

[pennypinching4disney]

I am always curious as to what the " norm" is for what you should spend for christmas presents for your child. I only have one son who is 5. He only has one set of grandparents and they don't spoil him. In other words the gifts that I buy are all that he gets. What is an appropriate amount of $ or for presents for a child this age? What about for birthdays?

 

[PebblesMK]

I am always curious as to what the " norm" is for what you should spend for christmas presents for your child. I only have one son who is 5. He only has one set of grandparents and they don't spoil him. In other words the gifts that I buy are all that he gets. What is an appropriate amount of $ or for presents for a child this age? What about for birthdays?

I'd imagine it would completely depend on the kids age, interests, gender, income bracket. I've spent as little as $100 but this year am spending well over a thousand. It just depends on what YOU want to spend...or not spend. Kids don't care about what you spend..

Also, some kids get stuff throughout the year, while others only get new things at Holiday events. My kid gets stuff non-stop throughout the year so it makes gift giving a bit more difficult and usually on the cheaper side.

 

[mom2val]

.

 

[honeydiane1953]

We give 50. for birthdays and around 300. each per child.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We usually spend about $75 for birthdays and $250 on Christmas for each child (we have four). We don't usually buy them things throughout the year. We do have a generous extended family.

 

[KennesawNemo]

I have a 6 year old who is a typical boy. He loves robots, legos, transformers and star wars. I used to spend around $100 on his Christmas gifts. I do buy him stuff throughout the year, but total won't exceed $500 a year including books. He also gets some toys from his birthday parties.

OP's topic makes me wanting to make a mini vent:

I signed up to be a secrect Santa for an underprivilleged kid at my work. Friday, we were provided some lists to choose from. Each list was for a kid.

The lists had a "need" part which were written by the parents. Most of the items are quite reasonable. Clothes, shoes, beddings, socks and etc. It was strongly recommend we buy most of the things on the need list.

They also had a "wish" part which were done by the kids. I was shocked. I saw X-Box, WII, Nintendo DS and Bike!!! I understand no one is obligated to buy everything on the wish list. But, seriously, really?

I won't judge the kids because they are kids and they don't know better. But, honestly, what happened to their parents? Should they screen their kids' list before handing it out? IMHO, it's NOT okay to ask a $200 item from other people even if it's Christmas.

I ended up with a relative modest list, even that kid wishes a MP3 player, but I think I should be able to find one around $50.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Depends from year to year and what she wants. I will tell you what I have learned though. Don't over buy, kids can only be interested in a couple of things. The rest of the stuff gets pushed aside. One of the things that worked best for us when our DD was little was to pick a theme for Christmas. Example, one year we bought a lot of BRATZ stuff, a house, a car and a couple of dolls, another year it was a Nintendo DS and games for it, when she was real little it was a kitchen and table with accessories.

 

[PebblesMK]

Depends from year to year and what she wants. I will tell you what I have learned though. Don't over buy, kids can only be interested in a couple of things. The rest of the stuff gets pushed aside. One of the things that worked best for us when our DD was little was to pick a theme for Christmas. Example, one year we bought a lot of BRATZ stuff, a house, a car and a couple of dolls, another year it was a Nintendo DS and games for it, when she was real little it was a kitchen and table with accessories.

You're a smart cookie! I really like that idea. My kid is now 11 and it's the year of electronics for her. But I buy for my niece and nephew and tend to spend a few hundred on each of them because I keep finding things. I did hold back and bought them luggage and some travel stuff this year. Themes it is!

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

It depends on their ages and our finances...

For birthdays we do get them 1 present per year old (so, ds got 11 presents this year for his 11th bday and dd got 9 presents for her 9th bday). Some of the presents were $1, the most expensive was $60 (I think?). I think we probably average about $75 on birthdays.

Christmas is usually several hundred per child (but, I have never really kept track so this is a guess based on memory). We don't buy presents through the year, though they do get a small Easter basket.

 

[Swimalie]

Depends from year to year and what she wants. I will tell you what I have learned though. Don't over buy, kids can only be interested in a couple of things. The rest of the stuff gets pushed aside. One of the things that worked best for us when our DD was little was to pick a theme for Christmas. Example, one year we bought a lot of BRATZ stuff, a house, a car and a couple of dolls, another year it was a Nintendo DS and games for it, when she was real little it was a kitchen and table with accessories.

My son's (6) birthday is in March so sort of spaced out from Christmas which means I buy throughout the year. Around Christmas time we (husband and I) will decide which to give for Christmas and which for birthday.

Last week I went through what I had in the gift pile and wrote it all down. Seems we have a theme this year - Ben 10 and Ninjago. I like the theme idea.

I also buy throughout the year for my parents to give him - they just buy it back from me. I think right now I'm around $300 and pretty much done except for the stocking. My total is around $300 for birthday and Christmas. Usually it includes 1 big gift (like a moon bounce) but this year we couldn't come up with one so it's more smaller things.

 

[indimom]

Ours isn't set in stone. I've spent as little as $25 on birthdays to as much as $150. Same with Christmas. Probably anywhere from $100 to $500. It just depends on what they are interested in, what they need/want, and how our budget for the year is.

 

[mistysue]

For little kids, I've spent about $50 and had a stack of gifts they were excited about. I will be honest, I have gone through toy boxes and wrapped up things they don't know they had. I think it was the year DD was 5 that her big gift was a my little ponies house with a bunch of ponies- I just cleaned up a box of old toys I found in my parents' basement. It is still a favorite around here 3 years later.

The year DD was 7 1/2 I decided she was too old for that trick. I want to say we spent about $300 on her last year, but we also got her a computer (~$350) about a month before Christmas. The years where Christmas has been the most fun have been the years when I've bargain hunted and kept a stash for months before Christmas. One year I actually had a little bin of clearance toys from Easter, so dozens of little dolls and characters for $1 each.

I am a little too generous of a gift giver and have little self control when it comes to giving, so I am dreading all three of my kids being older.

People have always told me my family over-did things... there were 5 of us growing up and I seriously think my parents budgeted in the $500-$1,000 per kid range. They still budget that way. They buy us major things for our homes and now spend a couple hundred on each spouse as well. My kids walk out of their house with as much stuff as they get at home. Last year there were grills, chest freezers, Kindles and air conditioners waiting for people. (in a funny note, we went last year and everybody got a ton of stuff, I just had a couple little things so I sort of wondered if I had done something to make them angry... they had left a huge chest freezer installed in my garage when I got home.)

 

[CarlisleMom]

First off I think how much you spend depends 100% on your financial situation. We spend $150 - $200 on birthday and Christmas is usually @ $500. DD is our only child and I do have to control myself when it comes to shopping for her.

My DD9 (10 in 3 weeks) is an only and I spend about the same. My parents and sister are the only family she gets gifts from.

I use to buy toys on clearance thru the year but not this year. Her tastes are changing to much. As it is this year she only has 4 things that she wants.

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was little, for Birthdays I normally spent about 200 dollars, not including the party items. She is my only child and I was single mom, her Dad and I divorced when she was 8 weeks old. But I would shop and put stuff on layaway for the big items, so it was not chunk of money at one time. For Christmas about 400 to 600, depending on what she ask Santa for. Again I would shop ahead, and put the big ticket items on layaway for her.

 

[bababear_50]

I have a 6 year old who is a typical boy. He loves robots, legos, transformers and star wars. I used to spend around $100 on his Christmas gifts. I do buy him stuff throughout the year, but total won't exceed $500 a year including books. He also gets some toys from his birthday parties.

OP's topic makes me wanting to make a mini vent:

I signed up to be a secrect Santa for an underprivilleged kid at my work. Friday, we were provided some lists to choose from. Each list was for a kid.

The lists had a "need" part which were written by the parents. Most of the items are quite reasonable. Clothes, shoes, beddings, socks and etc. It was strongly recommend we buy most of the things on the need list.

They also had a "wish" part which were done by the kids. I was shocked. I saw X-Box, WII, Nintendo DS and Bike!!! I understand no one is obligated to buy everything on the wish list. But, seriously, really?

I won't judge the kids because they are kids and they don't know better. But, honestly, what happened to their parents? Should they screen their kids' list before handing it out? IMHO, it's NOT okay to ask a $200 item from other people even if it's Christmas.

I ended up with a relative modest list, even that kid wishes a MP3 player, but I think I should be able to find one around $50.

Remember
"A wish is a dream your heart makes"

Hugs Mel

 

[MSSANDRA]

For us, it really depends on what they ask for. Last year DS19 got an iphone for his bday because that is what he really wanted. The year before, it was a 50.00 game. There are no big items on his Christmas wishes so it will be a low cost year. I do not just buy stuff to stuff the tree. Last year all DS5 asked for for Christmas was a yellow truck. Of course he got more, but no big ticket items. Year before we bought the wii. Now they certainly might not get the big item they ask for ( DS5 wants a 6000.00 4-wheeler this year ) but it always works out. Don't spend the same on them either. DS19's wishes are just more expensive than DS5's REALISTIC wishes. We have a pretty good handle on our finances (we are debt free and are NOT big spenders ...except for trips), so we have some wiggle room on what we can buy.

 

[pigletto]

It totally depends on several factors. Some of those can be what they are interested in, what the budget is, if we have a big trip coming up etc. For example this year we decided to go back to Florida in May. Since this wasn't originally the plan, we are going lighter on Christmas and Birthday gifts and the big present will be Universal and Disney tickets. They know this and chose this route. It doesn't mean they won't get anything. But Christmas day will be 5 or 6 smaller Santa gifts (books, a video game, a board game etc.) and then gifts from extended family.

Christmas is usually anywhere from 500 to 600 per child and birthdays maybe 100 or so? However, they don't get toys or electronics etc throughout the year unless they use their allowance or babysitting money etc. We tend to go large for holidays and not too much else during the year.

 

[bjgrazi]

I have a 6 year old who is a typical boy. He loves robots, legos, transformers and star wars. I used to spend around $100 on his Christmas gifts. I do buy him stuff throughout the year, but total won't exceed $500 a year including books. He also gets some toys from his birthday parties.

OP's topic makes me wanting to make a mini vent:

I signed up to be a secrect Santa for an underprivilleged kid at my work. Friday, we were provided some lists to choose from. Each list was for a kid.

The lists had a "need" part which were written by the parents. Most of the items are quite reasonable. Clothes, shoes, beddings, socks and etc. It was strongly recommend we buy most of the things on the need list.

They also had a "wish" part which were done by the kids. I was shocked. I saw X-Box, WII, Nintendo DS and Bike!!! I understand no one is obligated to buy everything on the wish list. But, seriously, really?

I won't judge the kids because they are kids and they don't know better. But, honestly, what happened to their parents? Should they screen their kids' list before handing it out? IMHO, it's NOT okay to ask a $200 item from other people even if it's Christmas.

I ended up with a relative modest list, even that kid wishes a MP3 player, but I think I should be able to find one around $50.

As a Mom with 3 kids, they don't always realize what things cost. My youngest want's an xbox he has no clue what they cost or if it's a lot of money. They're allowed to dream too. Just because their parents may not have money it doesn't mean that they can't want things.

 

[SaraJayne]

I have a 6 year old who is a typical boy. He loves robots, legos, transformers and star wars. I used to spend around $100 on his Christmas gifts. I do buy him stuff throughout the year, but total won't exceed $500 a year including books. He also gets some toys from his birthday parties.

OP's topic makes me wanting to make a mini vent:

I signed up to be a secrect Santa for an underprivilleged kid at my work. Friday, we were provided some lists to choose from. Each list was for a kid.

The lists had a "need" part which were written by the parents. Most of the items are quite reasonable. Clothes, shoes, beddings, socks and etc. It was strongly recommend we buy most of the things on the need list.

They also had a "wish" part which were done by the kids. I was shocked. I saw X-Box, WII, Nintendo DS and Bike!!! I understand no one is obligated to buy everything on the wish list. But, seriously, really?

I won't judge the kids because they are kids and they don't know better. But, honestly, what happened to their parents? Should they screen their kids' list before handing it out? IMHO, it's NOT okay to ask a $200 item from other people even if it's Christmas.

I ended up with a relative modest list, even that kid wishes a MP3 player, but I think I should be able to find one around $50.

They wouldn't be kids if they didn't want the same things most all the other kids have. It's a "wish" section, not a "you will buy me these things".

Just because they are poor doesn't mean they stop wishing and hoping.

As far as the OP, it entirely depends on what your financial situation is. We've spent less some years and more others. This is a "more" year.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We usually spend around $100 for birthdays (February, May and December) and $250-$300 each for Christmas. My ds10 wants a laptop/netbook this year so he won't get much more (I did pick up a game, some legos and beyblades yesterday). My dd7 really has no big ticket items so she will get more smaller items and she's the one with the December birthday so I have to come up with something still for that. Dd27 wants an iPad - I will give her the money to go towards it and a couple of small gifts (video, socks, etc.).