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

[MissDaisyofTexas]

For Christmas, we budget around $150 per child (X3 kids = $450 total). I've discovered this is WAY under the average, but it's what works for us and I don't feel our kids are deprived. My older son is really into Legos, especially Hero Factory, and we can get him a lot of presents that fit in his budget.

Our kids also get presents from 2 sets of grandparents and 3 sets of aunts/uncles. So in total they get about 10 nice gifts for Christmas.

We're a little more flexible on birthdays, but typically it's $50-$100 on gifts. When our son turned 7 last year, we went over because we split the cost of a 3DS with him.

It's hard to fit the big electronics into our budgets, so we've steered away from them. We may have to adjust when the kids get older.

Taking an annual family vacation is important to me (and our entire family), so to afford that our gift budget is lower.

 

[richmond282]

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.

I usually over buy too. Last year I told DH "Do not open any packaging until DD6 requests it to be opened." Several things sat under the tree for weeks. I finally scooped it all up and returned it to the store for something like $100 worth of store credit. DD never noticed.

That being said, I am trying to only buy things I think my DD7 (now) will really enjoy. She is moving out of the toy phase but hasn't reached the clothing phase yet, so it's been challenging. She loves cats so we are going with the cat theme this year. I bought her a "grown up" jewelry box and a cat necklace, watch, and earrings to go in it.

My DD is an only and we are financially doing well. I usually spend around $100 for her BDay gifts (More for the party,) and $300 for Christmas. I'm sure those amounts will change as she gets older and requests more expensive things.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

$200 for birthdays and around $300 for Christmas. Although we've toned it down since my parents spend about the same and it gets ridiculous and we end up donating half the stuff later.

 

[luvsJack]

Dd isn't an only but she is the youngest and her brothers are both grown and on their own, so the only one living at home. I usually try to keep it around $200 on each of my sons (with younger ds's amount split between him and dil) and $300 on dd--but usually go over, that is usually just my starting point.

When dd was younger it was easy to stay under budget for her. I could always get the toys she wanted on sale.

This year dd13 isn't asking for any big ticket items, so she will probably get more clothes, jewelry (like from Clair's, not something expensive) and little things for her room. So I will stay close to budget.

Dil is getting a gift card and a promise to babysit so she can shop. And ds (her hubbie) will get something separate(they normally ask for something together).


Birthdays are $50 for the older ones and for dd just depending on what she asks for that year and what we spend on a party.

 

[luvmy3]

I spend around $100 on birthday gifts for my kids. Sometimes it is less depending on what we do. Last year we took my dd to a Japanese hibachi for dinner and then took her and a couple friends to an indoor waterpark. That was pretty pricey so she didn't get an expensive gift to open.

For Christmas I typically spend $250-$300 on each kid, that doesn't include any family gifts. This year there isn't going to be a family gift and I am going to try to keep each kid under $250.

 

[dizluvah]

OP - I love your dis name.

I find this thread very helpful - my dd is 1 this year so its easy for me - but I know it will change as she gets older. I love the theme idea.

DD is so little - I bought lots of used toys from mom's in our playgroup and/or on Craigslist that will be new to DD and she'll never know the difference. I have a bunch of stuff and have spent under $100. I purchased one new toy from Target on sale.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

 

[Desnik]

My kids get "gifts" throughout the year so we don't really spend too much at birthdays. Usually around $100 each, my kids are DD(13), DS(8). Last year we did give DD a lot more because I felt 13 was a big birthday & she didn't have a party so we gave her $500. She went on a shopping spree but did come home with some money to put away in her account! For Xmas, it really depends on what they are asking for. They also get a lot of gifts from family members & my father usually buys them their "big gift". For example he's buying DD a video camera this year, and DS a digital camera. So, I'm off the hook for those big ticket items during Xmas. Every year I spend a different amount but for Xmas this year it's around $400 each.

 

[aprilgail2]

Birthdays vary- this year I got her 2 north face fleece sweatshirts and a northface jacket so it was about 350.00.

This Christmas her big gift will be an ipad2 so I guess its about 1000.00 this year for her when all is said and done--but I have only ONE child...so its easy to spoil her!

 

[NYCDiane]

I only have 1 child.

For her b'day, I typically spend a total of between $100-$150. This year, it was much less --- maybe $50.

For Christmas, about $500 total (keep in mind, I start Christmas shopping in September). One year, I went totally overboard, though. We finally moved out into a decent place. Our last apartment was in a horrible area, completely in disrepair, it was dangerous, etc. I won't go into detail, but it was a nightmare living there. Anyway.... the first Christmas in our nice, new apartment in a good neighborhood, I was just soooo happy that I actually spent well over $1200 for her Christmas (all cash, all done from September through December). It was probably closer to $1500. (that won't be happening again!!!)

 

[tasha99]

It really varies, but in general, I buy one gift per kid for birthdays, and 2 gifts plus stocking stuffers for Christmas (a gift from me, and a gift from Santa).

In general, I'd say $50 for birthdays (though this year I gave DD19 a $250 check since I had it, and she is on her own for the first time).

Christmas stuff is generally $75 to $200 per kid, depending on what they want and how my budget is. I have gone overboard a few times in the past, but my feeling is that my kids don't need more stuff, they need more time with me and each other (single mom, long hours in the past). This year will be small giftwise because I bought tickets for DS and me to fly to Oregon to visit DD. Both kids said they would give up any gifts to be able to see each other, but it won't come to that.

 

[disneychrista]

I am below what seems the "norm" for the Dis (even on the "budget" board). I spend $75 - $100 on Christmas and $50 - $75 on birthdays. Buying presents always seems too stressfull. I don't like to waste money and it seems year after year, I buy what the kids say they want to only have that sought after gift abandoned after a week or so.

I would much rather do something with them that to buy them something.

 

[dansamy]

We 3 children & have done the same thing since they were babies. Santa brings 3 gifts, representing the wise men's gifts to Jesus. Then, from is they usually get 1-3 more presents of useful things.

 

[thebeesknees]

I guess we are cheap! We do $50 for birthdays and maybe $50-$75 for Christmas, depending on what they are into at the time. I have a feeling that will be going up as they start to get older because right now, their wants are pretty simple and they aren't really into electronics or expensive clothing yet. My parents and sister spoil them, though, so I feel like if we got any more, it would just get pushed aside. They are definitely not deprived!

 

[luvthemouse71]

Regarding the charity gifts- I feel badly for the kids involved, because they are most likely encouraged to ask for these big ticket items. If that were my kid, I wouldn't do that, only because the disappointment when no one buys it would be too great. The people who run these charity gift things should encourage the families to be realistic.

I've had family members who got gifts from these charities and some people are greedy. Not all. Again, not the kids fault. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the parents putting that stuff on the list. My relative would try to return the big ticket stuff to a store and would use the store credit on nonsense for herself, or she'd sell it on eBay.

 

[bethy]

Remember
"A wish is a dream your heart makes"

Love this!

In my personal experience there are lots and lots of people out there who want to buy a nice gift for an underpriviledged kid. I've seen it done countless times. Especially the types of gifts the kid sees all of his/her peers getting multiples of and tons of ads for on TV.

However, I really feel that if a person is going to give that it's important to give without reservation and with your whole heart. Otherwise it's best not to do it at all.

 

[MinnieForMe]

For Birthdays, my children can pick a friend party or $100 gift. If they decide on the money, I save money as friend parties usually average over $200.00.

I can remember when my kids were tiny and I was so proud of myself for keeping Christmas under $100. I am almost embarassed stating what I will be spending this year. My son, 14, is getting a bass guitar. He plays five instruments (one of which is Bass guitar) and we are getting him a better quality one as I've paid to repair (not abused) his cheap one twice within a year. Christmas for him will be about $1000.

My second son is only 10. We don't know what we'll be getting him yet. He's asked for a couple video games, legos and the new Nerf gun. He really wants a PS3 but I'm not sure he's old enough for one yet. I'm concerned that the games for that system are geared for more mature audiences. I still have more research to do.

My baby girl, 6, is having an American Girl Christmas although I purchased everything from a teen friend of my son so it's very budget friendly although it won't look that way. When all is said and done, I'll probably end up spending $150 on her but she'll have well over $350 of AG accessories. Her grandpa will be buying her a new AG doll so she'll have that under the tree too but it won't be out of my budget!

My kids also have 4 sets of aunts/uncles and two sets of grandparents who buy for them (mostly gift cards at this point for the older ones) so they are by NO MEANS deprived. We've had many lean years and I'm happy that we are in a good financial situation and can be over indulgent to them this year.

 

[Priorityonecb]

Here it depends on what the child wants for any given holiday. We don't really give birthday gifts, maybe one or two small things. My girls have always chosen an "experience" as a way to celebrate. Bowling with friends to a trip to NYC.

Christmas again depends on what they ask for! I'l admit, we buy whatever they ask for. However, they hardly ever ask for anything!! I've never seen such children!

I'd say on average $50 for birthday gifts (can be any amount for their "experience"). Christmas is typically about $300 per child. We don't really budget though.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

For Birthdays, my children can pick a friend party or $100 gift. If they decide on the money, I save money as friend parties usually average over $200.00.

I can remember when my kids were tiny and I was so proud of myself for keeping Christmas under $100. I am almost embarassed stating what I will be spending this year. My son, 14, is getting a bass guitar. He plays five instruments (one of which is Bass guitar) and we are getting him a better quality one as I've paid to repair (not abused) his cheap one twice within a year. Christmas for him will be about $1000.

My second son is only 10. We don't know what we'll be getting him yet. He's asked for a couple video games, legos and the new Nerf gun. He really wants a PS3 but I'm not sure he's old enough for one yet. I'm concerned that the games for that system are geared for more mature audiences. I still have more research to do.

My baby girl, 6, is having an American Girl Christmas although I purchased everything from a teen friend of my son so it's very budget friendly although it won't look that way. When all is said and done, I'll probably end up spending $150 on her but she'll have well over $350 of AG accessories. Her grandpa will be buying her a new AG doll so she'll have that under the tree too but it won't be out of my budget!

My kids also have 4 sets of aunts/uncles and two sets of grandparents who buy for them (mostly gift cards at this point for the older ones) so they are by NO MEANS deprived. We've had many lean years and I'm happy that we are in a good financial situation and can be over indulgent to them this year.

We spent about $1k on instruments in September. My 11 yo son plays 4 instruments and is wanting to learn 3 more. I found it was actually cheaper to go and buy used instruments than renting for the year through the school's music distributor. I feel your pain. Unfortunately, we are still stuck with buying Christmas presents as our instruments were purchased a couple of months ago. So, I don't think you are doing too bad!

 

[omghidanielle]

When I was a kid, it was the same limits every year in my Mom's house. $100 for Birthday, $100 for Christmas. Now that I'm married and out of the house, it's pretty much the same.

 

[swilshire]

At age 5, the child could car less about the cost of his gifts. He may just as happy with a $1 item as with a $100 item. Limit yourself to what you can comfortably afford, but don't be crazy about how much you spend. Just make sure he has a few things he'll really enjoy and leave it at that.

When our kids were old enough to make a Santa list, they still understood that some things were more than Santa could afford. They didn't always get their most desired item (and I was usually sad about that), but they never felt unloved on Christmas morning.

Sheila