how much to spend at christmas?

[kat83]

Hi, its that time of year again, and i was just wondering the average amount everyone spends on their children at christmas......just want to know if im spoiling or being a scrooge! obvioulsy i know it all depends on income etc...just trying to get a rough idea! Many thanks!!

[blackalbino]

�75,000....yeah we're just having a small one this year.....

[Hammer-Head]

When my boy was 12, he's now 14, he wanted a PC for Christmas. I got one from Dell for �500. He was really grateful that he was getting a PC and insisted that he didn't need anything else. He still got a few cheap fun things in a stocking.

The same christmas I realised that if I spent that on him, i had to spend the same on my girl who is a year older than him. So I gave her �500 in cash, which was what she wanted, to go to the sales after Christmas and buy clothes. In January she probably bought twice as much with the money as she could have in December.

I'm fortunate in as much as I can afford it but I don't spoil them.

[Ice.Maiden]

It DOES all come down to budget and what people can afford. A small and much-wanted pressie can mean just as much to a child as a big one. Having said that, children are children only once, and to wake up and see their excited faces on Christmas morning is part of the magic.
My eldest's having a laptop, and my youngest wants some XBox 360 games. We have a big family, so they always end up with a huge pile each. I don't feel guilty about it at all, but woe betide if they mistreat anything. They know that people have to work hard to earn the money which affords all these nice things.

[Hammer-Head]

Goodbyegirl. I have a good tip for you. Buy a Burkah, go straight to your local DSS office and they will give you whatever you ask for. You will probably come away with a �1m house and at least �100,000 a year in benefits.

[zxyvixy]

i agree with you hammerhead an example was in the daily mail.of a woman given a 1million house paid for by housing beneifit,grrrrr zooz off topic here,

[Ice.Maiden]

You're doing the best you can, gbg - and credit due to you for saving up, rather than getting into loads of debt.
I know two single parents, who must be forking our at least �1000 on their children, but they'll be paying it off for ever and a day.