How much do you spend on your kids?

[kelleighr]

We just wrapped up the Christmas gifts for our kids a couple of nights ago, and that got me to thinking.

How much money do you spend on your kids for Christmas gifts? I just want to see how we compare. I think we spent about $40 on each boy (2 of 'em). I feel pretty good about that, 'cause I know they got great stuff, but when I hear what other people spend I feel like a cheap-skate. Am I?

[Charla]

I think we're in the $25-50 range. I didn't total it up, and stocking stuffers might have put us over, but that's about what we hoped to spend :giggle:

[YvetteSanders]

we spend over $100 (easily lol), but we only have 1 child. If we had more children, it would be a differnt story!

[sinead]

We're in the $25-$50 range or maybe a little less. Both of our girls have Thanksgiving birthdays, though, so they just got a bunch of presents.

I'm probably actually spending a bit more on them this year because we're doing Christmas at my parents' house on Saturday, so I'll have a present each for them there, and then real Christmas (with Santa) at our house on Christmas day, so there will be a couple of presents there, too.

[AndreaBurns]

I totally over spent this year.... Easily in the $150 range per boy. NOT counting the family Wii.

[annscraps]

Oh boy - I don't wanna say :( It was a lot - way to much actually. But...it was less than last year...even that doesn't make it any better. We're in the over $100 for each kid range...

[bderby]

We have not spent much at all on the boys this year. They are getting SO much from their grandparents and have so much already. I have been feeling bad, but I know that they are not even 3 yet and it is more important to me that they know why we have Christmas and that we love them than to give them a bunch of presents....not that I think anyone who does more doesn't know about Christmas b/c my in laws seriously overdo Christmas and can afford to and I have to say that I enjoy the benefit of it :)

[gonewiththewind]

We usually spend between 50 and 100, but right now we're right at the 50 mark per child.

[Rynonut Mom]

I voted in the $25-$50 range, but I think it's more like the next range up now that I think about it. This year we got a Wii also and not much else for either of them.

[lizzyfizzy]

i need to know the secret to how you all get away with not spending a ton like i do. i think we spent like $350-400 on each kid this year. we have 3 kiddos, ages 10, 7 and 5.

:confused0054:

[crazygirl]

ugh.. i'm trying NOT to even think about it.
we over spent.
but felt spoiled because of dh's promotion.
but now we are buying a new house (luckily we are finished shopping) and are moving in it on the 30th.
if we had not already been 90% done with our shopping. i would have definitely spent less.

oh and that dang crazy8 store..
jeesh
my kids got TONS of clothes this year... thanks to that place.
usually they just get santa gifts, but this year there will actually be gifts UNDER the tree..
bwahahahaha

[AndreaBurns]

OK, seriously.... for those of you who spent between $50-to $100... can I ask what your kids are getting?

One of Seth's toys (a cool wooden crane) cost me $80. I'm just curious what some of you more savvy spenders are buying.

Here's what my kids are getting....

http://andrealburns.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-at-our-house.html

[kelleighr]

We have not spent much at all on the boys this year. They are getting SO much from their grandparents and have so much already. I have been feeling bad, but I know that they are not even 3 yet and it is more important to me that they know why we have Christmas and that we love them than to give them a bunch of presents....not that I think anyone who does more doesn't know about Christmas b/c my in laws seriously overdo Christmas and can afford to and I have to say that I enjoy the benefit of it :)

I could have written this, Becky! EXACTLY!

[d2vasquez]

oh my gosh I am ashamed that I too spend way more than that and wonder now if that is ok....lol! Although I do admit this year will be way less.....

[kelleighr]

Since you asked:

Grant is getting:
a $5 Lego pack
a Bionicals Lego pack
a Force Action Light Saber
a craw-dad fishing trap
a toolbox to hold his Legos
a Cars cars book
Okay, so maybe it is closer to $50.

Cole:
2 $5 Lego packs
Star Wars character pack
Spiderman suit
A new Cars DVD (since ours is scratched)
Ice Age DVD (we bought for $3 at Target!)

Yeah. I feel good about this list!

[annscraps]

I live in the wrong place. What sort of lego is $5? Lego is so expensive here - boo hoo for me! I thought I was doing so good getting Simon a $16 lego plus the sales tax (which is 10% here!) I'm closing in on $18 for just one gift.

But you know I'm just silly. Do my kids need what they are getting - NO! I totally need a 12 step program for this!

[Laura M]

Oh Lord --- probably about $150 per kid. Too much!

[kelleighr]

To be fair, they are not the top of the line Lego packs! We get them the little cars that really do cost $5, and we don't have sales tax here (in Oregon), PLUS my husband got them on sale. We got him nice $30 Lego packs last year and he lost a lot of the pieces, which drove my husband nuts. Anyone else have a Lego-maniac husband?

[mormishmom]

I think we spend WAY too much, but we've only got one right now, so I know I got totally overboard. We'll see if it levels off next year when there are two to buy for:)

[brechasemom]

[QUOTE=lizzyfizzy;242254]i need to know the secret to how you all get away with not spending a ton like i do. i think we spent like $350-400 on each kid this year. we have 3 kiddos, ages 10, 7 and 5.



Lizzy, I'm right there with you. Although, I think even more. I figured it up this morning and it's around $475 per child. (2 children) My daughter is 18 though, so everything she wants is expensive. (and I feel like I need to spend evenly now that he's old enough to know - he's 9) We always overspend at Christmas. Unfortunately, we don't have grandparents to buy them things. My father & mother in law have passed away and my mom is a cheap-skate (I say that with all the love that I can :) and my father in law is bed ridden so he doesn't purchase christmas since my mother in law passed away. Anyway, to much information but just to say that I have a hard time not getting them what they want at Christmas. They certainly don't NEED it but it's Christmas! We're good all year and then always have a great Christmas. My kids also know that it's not just about the presents. We spend alot of time doing church activities and talking about the real meaning of the season.

[AndreaBurns]

And also to clarify... we may overspend a bit at Christmas, but my kids really only get spoiled on Christmas and their birthday. We don't normally buy toys and such outside special holidays like that.

[dst212 (Daniela)]

I spent over $100, but I'm only giving gifts for my son and goddaughter this year, plus a few unexpensive gifts for Secret Santa events. None of us needs new clothes and our Christmas Eve dinner will be shared with family and friends, so there won't be a whole lot to spend there. All in all, even spending a bunch on Lucas' gift, the overall spending was pretty reasonable.

[YvetteSanders]

We (mostly me LOL) tend to go a little overboard at Christmas, but not just on gifts for DS, I also buy secret santa/charity gifts for approx the same amount we spend on him. I'm one of the wierd ones who actually loves Christmas shopping!

[bderby]

I wish that I enjoyed Christmas shopping more. My sister just loves to buy presents, she is so good to think about what each person would really enjoy. Gifts is definitely one of her love languages. Me, on the other hand, I like presents, but would love just as much to sit down and have a cup of coffee with my friend or family member and not have to rack my brain trying to come up with a gift that they will like, much less love and then worry if I have spent enough, or too much.....wow, I put alot of pressure on myself! :)

And also, I am sure that if we could financially, I know that we would spend more on our boys, we are just on a pretty tight budget!

[d2vasquez]

This is a very eye opening thread - I am know I overspoil my girls - they have everything they need but still I feel something inside to make sure they have lots of gifts under the tree so they won't be disappointed - but I am wondering if that is just me remembering the tough times I had as a girl and not seeing very many things under there because we never had any money. We do charity work and yes the girls understand there are less fortunate and what the reason is for Christmas but the pressure sometimes to get the items on the girls' Christmas list is sometimes so hard! Ok Becky can I have a cup of coffee with you now? LOL!

[bderby]

What Starbucks do you want to meet at, Darla? :)

[nicoleseitler]

Hey girls--one thing I wanted to say to everyone first: no matter what you did for your kids this year (or what you normally do) every thing you've done was PERFECTLY THE RIGHT THING TO DO! I've been thinking a lot about how we girls can be so mean to ourselves when we start to compare what we've each done... and then we stop enjoying the conversation, thinking things like "Oh, I'm not a good mom because I see some people here spent more than I did..." or "I'm not a good mom because I've gotten them too much! OMG!" :giggle: Don't do it! Don't think it! Eek! Take a deep breath and say to yourself: "I am a GREAT Mommy!"
:hosed:

There... now, back to the fun part! :fnis:

This year I had a blast trying to find lots of little presents for the kids. I'm one of those people who likes opening lots of little things (and getting a lot!) more than I like just getting one big thing. So I guess I do the same for them. My dad sent us some money to buy presents for the kids from him, so I've been having great time shopping. I think I've probably spent about $50 on each at this point. I still need to get two last things that will probably bring that up to $70 each (but with $40 of that being from my dad).

[AndreaBurns]

Nicole, I love you, you are perfectly right.

[jennamy82]

We spend about 80-100 each kid including stocking stuffers but I also spend extra on Shauna because her b-day is Dec. 26th :)

I totally agree with you Nicole--you said it perfectly!

[1girl1boy]

all totaled we spent less than $200 for both kids. between my sister, grandparents, great aunt, great uncle, etc....we don't have to do much. for that, we are extremely grateful. especially since money is so tight this year. we are only buying gift for the kids in our extended family so that helps the budget, too.

[jjstar]

After reading through all of this now, I totally agree with Nicole. What works for one family is not going to mirror what is right for someone else.

As for how much we're spending on Jameson this year, lots but since the family is getting the wii I'm not really counting that in with his gift opening. I also decided this year that Santa can spoil, even if we don't (not that we don't because I know we typically go overboard since we only have 1). Like for example he is getting this crazy 4 wheeler thing that I personally think is silly but it is the thing he keeps asking for from Santa so we got it. I have noticed that for the first time this year I've come to the conclusion that even if something is right for his age, or something he would enjoy that it doesn't mean I should buy it for him (which is what has happened in years past).

We also talk lots about the true meaning of the season and do things for others. I've been doing the shopping for some children in our community that otherwise wouldn't get any gifts (our church reimburses me the money, I just have to do the leg work). I've done 7 kids so far spending between $75-100 on each. Today Jameson went with me to pick out things for 2 of the kids. He has so much fun helping me. Not once did he ask for anything himself (which made me very proud). The part that really got me thinking was how much I was able to get for this amount when I was really thinking about how much was being spent and the variety. For one of the 8 year old girls is getting a bike, one sweat suit, 2 pair of jeans, 2 shirts, panties, gloves, bubble bath, toothbrush, paste, HSM game, sticker book, bag of M&Ms ( http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011922&id=1224336424&saved#/photo.php?pid=30241197&id=1224336424) (with a note about the meaning of the season), & a few jolee sticker sets. I think there might have been a few more things in the bag but I can’t remember. All of this came from Kohl’s, except the bike. I got there at 6:30 Saturday morning for some awesome deals!

Okay this post totally got way too long...

[bderby]

wow, Jill!! how cool is that? that is a ton of stuff that you were able to get!

I also love what Nicole said...I have been thinking all day about this thread and how easy it is to compare ourselves to what others do or have done and then completely second guess ourselves!!

[JenBinAZ]

Jace's big Santa gift is a Wii and since he probably only 'believes' for my benefit, I will still take it! He has saved his own money and asked us if we would buy half of it - I am really proud of him for saving $150 already, at age 10! BUT we had already purchased it back in Sept. and hid it for Christmas, so now he can take his money and get the games he wants. He is our only child, so we do give him a lot - and he's another close to Christmas birthday (Jan 2) so he often gets overlooked by family and I feel the need to overcompensate! This year is technology for him between the DS games, and some old XBOX games he wanted - all found on Half.com or Amazon for 1/3 to 1/2 the price for factory sealed! I am a huge bargain shopper! I got several things for my nieces and nephew as well because there has been a lot of upheaval this year with divorces, etc. I am most excited though for my niece, Harmony, to open her violin! She is in honor band in 5th grade and has been using a loaned violin and when mom told me she wanted her own, but the only one in their small town for sale was $600 - I went to Ebay and found a new one (not super high caliber obviously) but got it for $50 w/ free shipping! I can't wait for that . I love the holidays and I love giving, whether it's a handmade cardset for the teacher, or calendars or frames for the girls at work - or buying for the Christmas Angels at the Salvation Army, giving warms my heart! Thank you all for sharing!!!!! (p..s thank you photography and Outback Steakhouse commercial endorsements for paying for Christmas 2008!)

[kelleighr]

And also to clarify... we may overspend a bit at Christmas, but my kids really only get spoiled on Christmas and their birthday. We don't normally buy toys and such outside special holidays like that.

Unfortunately, we have a weakness for getting our kids little things throughout the year, so maybe that is why I'm able to get away with spending a smaller amount at Christmas. I started this thread because I was feeling a little funny and cheap, so I LOVED Nicole's post. Thanks miss sugarplum! I'm feeling better about this! Maybe I'll just stuff pillows under the tree skirt to make it LOOK like they got a lot of presents!! Ha!

[AndreaBurns]

bag of M&Ms (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011922&id=1224336424&saved#/photo.php?pid=30241197&id=1224336424)

PLEASE please please post that poem somewhere so I can copy and paste it.... lol!

[nicoleseitler]

Thanks everyone! You know... I should start a new post all about this cool book I'm reading (the book that got me thinking about how negative we can be in first place). :)

[brett_ashley]

He has saved his own money and asked us if we would buy half of it - I am really proud of him for saving $150 already, at age 10! BUT we had already purchased it back in Sept. and hid it for Christmas, so now he can take his money and get the games he wants.

I'm late here but really wanted to suggest to Jen that you go ahead and talk with your husband about letting him buy his half of the Wii. He has worked so hard to save and it's been my experience that you just enjoy it more if you've worked towards it. Don't rob him of that reward! Just a suggestion, so please take it or leave it.

[TeresaP]

I love Nicole's post too!!! It really is not about what $$$ I spend on the girls and at this point I don't focus on keeping the $$$ amount even...I just try to get what they reallly reallly want within reason. Our oldest loves space and wanted a telescope...well she is 7 and we want to be able to see some stars with her...we got her a $350 telescope and case set that she can grow into but we feel like it is an education moment too to foster something she loves and let her explore and have fun. Our youngest wants a Littlest Pet Shop Village....she has one house and we got her two or three more that she can set up like a town...then there is little things here and there to go with it.

We are giving them from us a cupcake baking set :)

We let the grandparents give memberships...one set gave a year membership to the Science Center in town and the other set gave us a family membership to the waterpark for the summer :) They sent money and I hate to just spend it on toys to just say that I did so I put it to things the family will use for the girls and that the girls love! :)

Merry Christmas friends...It will be great to see lots of little ones...first thankful for the real meaning of Christmas and then the extra fun bonus of opening presents and enjoying the love and gift of family time together!!! I am excited!!!!

[bderby]

Oooh Teresa, I love the memberships idea!! The boys got a zoo membership from someone last year and it was so nice, because we could just go up there for a couple of hours any time we wanted. I asked their Grandma to renew it this year for their birthday (in January) since we will just be coming off Christmas and there will be absolutely nothing that they need!

[Deena]

We normally spend about 100 on each kid, which really does not seem like much with all the gadget and cool stuff the kids want these days LOL...

This year I went overboard, but we had the ability to do so and normally we do not... So I do not feel the least bit guilty LOL... Also we typically put aside money each week in a Christmas fund throughout the year to make it easier on us at Christmas time with 5 kids and all. And I am with Andrea, they only time my kids really get "special" stuff is Christmas and Birthdays, so that makes it worth it to me!

[melrio]

All I'm going to say is between DH & I we have 5 kids and of those 5.....3 have birthdays right here at Christmas. And with their spouses, grandbabies, our parents....OMG, it adds up fast. I'm just thankful that we are both bringing in money to the household to afford it....at least, for this year.

[~Shawna~]

We spent right at $125 for each of the three kids and that includes all their stocking stuffers. The girls will have quite a few presents to open (13 each I think) cause a lot of their stuff I got on Black Friday at Walmart for super cheap ($5 Barbie Diamond Castle & Hannah Montana dolls, $4 Hannah Montana hoodies, pajamas, crocs & slippers). Kyle has about 10 to open I think and again he has a lot of small things like little cars and motorcyles and then 2 bigger items (Little People Raceway & Car Carrier). I'm happy with the amount we spent this year, it was less than we've spent in prior years but I think we got a lot of gifts for them for the amount we could spend!!

[Constance]

In the past we tried to spend the same on each of the 3, If the one got a $100 gift the others each got that much spent on them too. but this year I just went with a 2 gift limit, one from Santa and one from mom and dad, and this year I didn't do the amount thing. They don't know that their lego set wasn't as much as his. My sons birthday are in November and my daughter is in Jan, so they end up with more that enough at this time of year.


C

[txmomof2]

My 2 boys get 4 gifts: 1 from Mom, 1 from Dad, 1 from each other, and 1 from Santa. Plus they get gifts from 3 cousins and the grandparents. We usually spend about 60-75 on each boy, but this year we got them new bikes. They also buy a gift each for Toys for Tots, make a food basket for the food shelter, and a care package for a soldier overseas.