mommie75 Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 i have 4 kids twins 8 a 6 year old and a 2 year old.. and i am having trouble making a choice on how much to spend... as of right know i shop all year long so i always have lots of stuff put away.. i went yest bf and put lots on lay a way ,. but having trouble deciding what to give them and what not to give them.. right know they have about 200.00 a peice for to older about 150 for 6 year old and about 130 for 2 year old... but almost works out to the same amount of gifts little guy will be short couple or many depends on how i wrap the ps2 game,, the older ones have 6 a peice of those put away and but if i wrap 3 toghter then 3 big guys will have like 14 present and little guy 11 ask hubby he said just give them everything and start over for never year.. but i think that 200-250 a kid is little much plus stockings.. but we do not buy kids stuff all year x mas and b day is about the only time they really get any kind of new stuff in less they need it.. i only buy them cloths on clearnce and put them away for next season.. so shoes sock, undies and stuff for school is about all they get all year.. what do you think???
wright1baby Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 We are the same way with our 3 (10, 8, 5). They don't get to toys all year round. Christmas and birthdays are it other than the other small gift Holidays (Easter, valentine's, etc) I am o-kay with splurging on Christmas. This year we are up to about $300 each. It seems the older they get the smaller and MORE expensive the stuff gets.
laffnatu Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 Go ahead and give it to them. Christmas only comes once a year. I usually split my Christmas gifts. Daughter's birthday is the 26th and son's the 28th... so they enjoy the month of December. It's great that you find good deals all year. I try to do that, but i have misplaced stuff only to find it later in the year and give it to them then next christmas..lol. I am planning on changing that this year and start shopping on the 26th. I can find great deals on stuff and put it up in the attic... IF I don't forget it next year.
alimfp Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 There was a similar thread about this recently :) My reply is in there.
floridasun5 Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 My dd is being spoiled this year...but then again, she is an only child. She needed a new computer and instead of buying a desktop, I figured it would be better to get her a laptop, so that was $400 right there. The rest of the items are small like a mouse, small mp3 player, gift card for songs, etc. but I shouldnt spend anymore than $500 on her for everything.
motoXmom Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I'm actually not sure if I'm going to set an amount or not.LOL I guess I should make a decision soon, shouldn't I!!
decafmom Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I don't set an amount. I try to get the kids things they want and worry about that rather than spending the same amount on each of them.
ryka Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I normally spend between $250-$300 on my kids. I also try to get them the same amount of presents since kids really don't understand to much about prices. All they see is that their brother/sister got more then them.
kamilleon Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 My kids are 17/b and my daughter will be 12 on 12/15. This year we told ourselves that we were going to limit ourselves to $250. per child HOWEVER.... I was able to get my daughter the laptop at CC yesterday so right there is $200. plus a case $20. She knows what she is getting and I hate for her to have nothing to open on Christmas so I may give her the laptop as a birthday/early Christmas and take the money I would have spent on her bday present and add it into her Christmas money. The 17 year old is the rough one to buy for..... He has a laptop, iPod, etc and a car. He may just get the $$ for tires! LOL
Guest all2tired Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I try to make sure they have the same amount of gifts. My kids are little so they don't understand how much things cost they would just see that one of them got more presents than the other even if the same amount was spent.
imjustagirl Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I don't really do a set amount. My girls are young (4 and 6) I imagine if they were older they might get a computer or game system or something and that would make the $$ amount go up a bunch. I also don't do the same amount per kid thing YET. I try to go for an even amount of toys they've be happy about. Like older daughter will be getting a $100 American Girl doll for chirstmas (Ouch!) and younger daughter will get a $10 CPK. They'll be equally excited though. I've spent $300 between the two of them so far. That includes the $100 doll, Disney Princes TV/DVD for them to share, so about $100 on misc stuff.
mommie75 Posted November 26, 2005 Author Posted November 26, 2005 i am glad i am not the only one spending trhat much.. i guess i was just raised differnt than my husband his dad had great job and they got alot for x mas.. i was raised very differnt my dad did spend alot i guess but he is kind of person that buys are love still to this day.. my mom on other hand is very frugel and tells me i spend way to much on my kids for b days and x mas,, she only spend like 25 on them and like 35 on me... it has always been that way she has spent very little on use the whole time we grew up.. so i have her telling me you are spending way to much on those kids they do not apperatie what you spend and you end up throw most of it away because it gets broke or what ever... my kids do have alot of toys but there is 4 of them... on there b days i usally spend about 150 of them and she about dies..
toolmaan Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 Usually around $75 per kid, I have 2 kids. I can't spend lots of money on gifts, I have a nice house and a nice car and my wife and I are both teachers so we don't make big$$. To my family having those things is really way more important than what we get for christmas.
rchristiansen Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I set aside about $200. But I did a Discovery Toys party earlier in the year and got a bunch of stuff for free and 1/2 price. Also, I've picked up things along the way and I really shouldn't buy my DD3 any more stuff. So I only spent $145 -- but the retail value is probably more like $300.
mhystycmom Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 I'm probably going to spend $75-100 per kid. If I bought too much more than that, combined with what I know my mom has bought, we'd need a new house under the tree.
Mommie2one Posted November 26, 2005 Posted November 26, 2005 My daughter is an only child. I spend roughly $500 on her
missyjane Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I usually spend about $150 per child but this year I splurged a bit and got them both the Nintendo DS (pink and teal). I think that these will make for nice road trips! But mostly I count presents. They are getting older and the stuff they want is so much more expensive.
decafmom Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I have a friend who buys the same number of gifts for each of her kids so neither feels like the other got more. I have a hard time with that b/c I would be very upset if my kids got mad at Christmas b/c of what someone else got. Thankfully my kids aren't like that. They ask for items, and I choose some of the things they ask for and get them. I don't make sure each has the same number and I don't necessarily spend the same amount on each - one is 17 and one is 5, so their items have BIG price differences. LOL I also have three stepsons, and I do the same for them - get things they want, not worry about who got how many gifts.
Kandy Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I normally try to have them about 5 or 6 small items then one big ticket item. Sometimes its more or less depending on the demand. This year is was Nintendo Dogs DS package and a $130 race car/hummer. However my parents opted for these gifts. So everything else on their list is between $15-$30 ticket items so they will be getting everything they wanted plus a little extra this year.
biomajor Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I do 2 big ticket items out of habit--not quite sure why now since they know Santa isn't real, but I've bought 2 for so long that I forget :-) The amounts are about the same for each--roughly $400 each so far --I also pick up little stuff like CD's and perfume/cologne and games and DVD's too, so they will end up having the same number of presents too.
sheli Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I have 4 children (12, 11, 5, 1) and refuse to spend hundreds on each of them at x-mas. They get about $100 in toys/electronics each (except the baby whose needs are few.) They also get new shoes, shirts, blankets, sockss, toothbrushes ect... Necesities basically. It's not an issue of money it's about excessive spending and not giving in to their every whim. It's also about having a small house.
decafmom Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I do 2 big ticket items out of habit--not quite sure why now since they know Santa isn't real, but I've bought 2 for so long that I forget :-) The amounts are about the same for each--roughly $400 each so far --I also pick up little stuff like CD's and perfume/cologne and games and DVD's too, so they will end up having the same number of presents too. Hey, Santa is too real!! How else would we have been able to see all the ads beforehand?? LOL
ramona1992 Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I said in the other forum $600 per kid, I have three. But that seems like a high estimate. I'm going to say $400 a kid this year. They're getting older.
biomajor Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I said in the other forum $600 per kid, I have three. But that seems like a high estimate. I'm going to say $400 a kid this year. They're getting older.Exactly--the older they get, the less they "need" but the more expensive their "wants" become. My kids want cameras, surround sound, sewing machines, and a car :-)
ramona1992 Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 Exactly--the older they get, the less they "need" but the more expensive their "wants" become. My kids want cameras, surround sound, sewing machines, and a car :-)Yep! Our list includes a Gameboy, PS2 games, portable dvd players (I'm one of those crazies buying multiple items), swim backpacks (you don't wanna know ), American Girl doll items and an Itty Bitty Baby, and I splurged on a wooden Kidcraft kitchen for my youngest. It all added up so quickly!
shopping mom Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I have six and I never get to do as much as I want to do. I guess if you count clothes, necessities, stockings and gifts, I spent about 200 a kid. My kids always appreciate new clothing and even though some of them have moved out, I know they still appreciate the other things as well.
HollyBerry Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 I have 2 girls and they are 9 & 14. This year there is no more "Big Guy" so we are doing things different. Basically Older dd wants World of Warcraft which is online per month plus the game. She needs a new cell phone. Also she is going to be visiting friends over the holidays so there is $$$. Younger dd is getting 2 Nintendogs game and probably "Animal Crossing" (DS comes out Dec 5). I am getting Sirius Radio....
scrappynik Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 We don't go by setting a dollar limit on each child, but make sure they have about the same amount of gifts to open. It just seems more "fair" this way I guess and it works for us!
Guest general41391 Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 My parents normally spend around $400-$600 on me for Christmas and like $200 for my birthday
SableMMB99 Posted November 27, 2005 Posted November 27, 2005 we have 5 neices. and they range from 16-8. so as they are getting older. they want more expensive items. we dont have kids yet. but are pretty much rolling w/the idea of $50 each. (trust me im all over the sales and deals) the past 2yrs we did $75-$100 for each. we also just bought a new home..so its a catch 22 this yr.
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