how much do you spend on xmas presents for your children or partner?

[leanne_1987]

I've spent 500 on my daughter so far and still have to gte her main present but when i told my friend she thought it was over the top saying she only spends 150 each on her children. When me and my brother was younger we got alot of presents at xmas so its what i've done with my daughter, although thats the only time she will get new toys except for the odd bits throughout the year

[erin-x]

How much is her main present?! lol... I think that is a lot but if you have it I don't see why you shouldn't spend it on presents for your loved ones. I love buying presents for people and always make myself skint at this time of year! l don't have any children but my mum and dad used to spend about £250-300 each on me and my brother, and that was including our main present.

[rockyracoon]

£500, lordy, thats a lot of money, what's the main present going to be? I spend about £150 to £180 each on mine.

[pips1]

Blinking heck!! No way could I afford that!

[Jules001]

Never ever spent anywhere close to £500 on either children or partner. My children, now both in their 20's had a stocking and a main present, this varied in price depending on what they really wanted, but was never more than £100, one year when they wanted a Nintendo 64, this was a joint present with a game for each of them. However if their Christmas present was expensive, then their birthday presents would be a lot cheaper. This isn't because I am mean or can't afford more, I don't freel it necessary to go overboard with present buying. They have never complained and have always been happy with their presents. Mr Jules gets a main gift and then a surprise one or two, but again not mega expensive and he does the same for me.

[Buenchico]

I'll be trying to keep my total spending on prezzies to under £50. (I'm not stingy; just hard up!)

[paddywak]

I now only buy for Trish now and the three youngest kids, about £20/kid, Over the years I've bought Trish presents in a very wide price range and the one that she always wears is the first, a plain gold locket, was probably the cheapest.

[leanne_1987]

i'm going to get her a bike which is half price at the minute at 79.99, i do gather the xmas presents throughout the year and store them at my mums house so i dont skint myself i usually start around may time and get something each week so i usually lose track as to how much i have spent

[leanne_1987]

oh and i only get her 2 presents for her birthday, thinks its only
xmas were she gets truely spoilt

[askyourgran]

I spent £450 on my gdaughter last year and a hundred or so on my daughter. The OH and I went abroad for our pressies. This year I'm a bit skint so it will be about £50.

[pips1]

Fair play!

[craft1948]

For the daughter's 40th I spent just over £1000...........but she appreciated it.

[Barmaid]

How much do you spend? Too bloody much.

I would far rather us all clear off somewhere hot for a week, but that's impossible given current contact arrangements.

[sherrardk]

If we've got money then we spend it on the kids. They have had one or two very lean Christmases. They get very little throughout the year, maybe a comic now and then or a DVD between them, although they are alowed to spend their pocket money on whatever they want.

[Prudie]

The older my daughter has got the more I've spent. I'm wondering when the peak will come and it will start to go down again (she's 24)

[DTCwordfan]

Christmas...no way I could afford that at the moment.

Its a question of creativity.

I have two very much into dogs and pigs and one pres each involves a lovely pair that I have found in Truro selling Beads. She has a new range in a silver and "PMC" mix and she is making a silver pig with a smooth love heart and textured "Gloucester" pig - and ditto the dog, a Labradoodle for under Fifty.....on chains.

My challenge is all pressies inside £400 (two kids, four nieces and nephs, mother and sis and her partner, some family pressies for two other siblings).

[DTCwordfan]

pair = couple, apologies.

[redcrx]

DT, are the beads being made to your design? have they got a website?

[askyourgran]

Prudie not for another 20 years if mine is anything to go by.

[tamborine]

Lets say, my family think I have shares in Poundland :)

[Andyvon]

Hi Leanne,

I'm not one who says "Bah, humbug" but my wife and I have an agreement that we never buy things simply because the shops tell us we should at this time of the year. We buy each other plenty of gifts and presents throughout the year as and when we see them - not because the High Street wants to make lots of money at this time every year.

Secondly, Christmas is actually a celebration of the birth of Christ. Since the 1950s Christmas has been hijacked by the rise of the supermarket and department store who've discovered they can blackmail people into spending huge amounts every year, whether they could afford it or not. I'm surprised that many of those people who vociferously decry religion and the existence of God are the very ones who then go out and celebrate the birth of Christ (although they maintain Christmas isn't actually about Christ now!) in the same way they're also happy to have Christmas and other holy days off work! Then they try to say we don't live in a Christian country any more!

I also get rather disturbed by the number of people who can't afford to buy presents, yet they put themselves into debt to do just that! Why? Just because the retailers blackmail them into spending money they don't have. I know people with children feel especially blackmailed to spend on presents but something's gone very wrong somewhere. Spending hundreds or thousands on presents is only a modern phenomena unknown before the last war.

It all seems so mad! If people want to celebrate the birth of Christ then let's just celebrate and recognise Christmas and religion the way Jews, Muslims and other religions do. They don't get into debt or spend huge amounts simply because it's Yom Kippur or Ramadan. Recognise the celebrations without spending huge amounts of money.