Santa- How Much to Spend!

Geez people, of course it's not about Santa but there's nothing wrong with a little excitement over the guy. Let's face it, kids are not going to be excited that baby Jesus is born on Christmas but they are going to be over Santa. I have a 21 month old and bought her basically one gift this year and that's it. I also got a tooth brush for her stocking. She'll get enough from everyone else and really doesn't get it anyway. I think that I always will want to get one nice thing for her that I can record in the baby book and that hopefully she will cherish. Last year I got her a silver heart pendant on a chain and I thought that it was so pretty and not expensive and she will be able to grow up with it and will know that it's from us and that it was her first xmas present. At the same time, she thinks that xmas lights and santa are really cool. The excitement is there which is so fun and makes for a fun season. I think I spent about $40 on her this year and that is sufficient. She doesn't need anything, and when she does we provide it for her. She did just get some new puzzles which is her new favorite thing and I thought about wrapping them and saving them for xmas but since she doesn't get it anyway, what's the point? When she gets a little older, I will have her pick out something to donate or play secret santa for a needy family or something but until then, let's just have fun with our kids and forget about how much we spend on them or worry that they are not all getting an equal amount, etc.

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I spend about $100-$150 for each of my older kids(6 & 15). For the my 20 mth old I spent maybe $50. I think when you spend a small fortune on each child the true meaning of the season is easily lost. For Easter I spend no where near that amount. They get a basket, and a small item like a movie, toy or an outfit. Birthdays again I spend very little. The parties are usually so expensive that I don't spend much extra on gifts.

I have two boys, 3 and 4 years old with another on the way in March. In the past we've spent around 150 - 200 on each for Christmas, but this year we limited it to 100 each. I would like to have spent more, but with the medical bills and the baby coming we just couldn't afford it without using the credit cards. Besides... they have so many toys already and they'll get more from the rest of the family too. They each get one special one from Santa, and then the rest are from Mommy and Daddy and each other.

Wow, I guess we went overboard with my daughter this year. She's 2.5 years and we spent around $650. But she's an only child and only has one grandma and one aunt and one uncle and that's it besides mom and dad. Plus we don't have alot of people to buy for- we have a long standing agreement that we don't spend more then one hundred on each other. I think Christmas is about our family and seeing her happy makes us happy. She knows about Jesus and the Nativity story and all but we are letting her think there is a Santa. I remember the magic of Santa when I was a kid and how excited I was and I want that for my baby. Spending so much on her I think comes from neither her dad or I had much growing up and we go overboard making sure that doesn't happen for her. Plus it's so much fun seeing her little face when she gets stuff. We didn't get her all toys- she got a ton of new books and some clothes and a new table and chair set and a new snowsuit as well.

If you have other people coming over for christmas, they will bring gifts and you don't have to buy, especially that you already have so many toys.
We never buy any toys, we put money in their accounts on b-days, xmas etc. They get plent of toys from other people...

I think it depends on the age of the children. I have the impression it gets a lot more expensive when they get over 10.

It varies from year to year, but we probably spend around $100-150 for each kid for my 4 and 7 year old. This year we spent less than we did the year before, just because they didn't really have any big ticket items on their lists. My mom is buying them each a "big" item that I probably would have gotten for them if she hadn't, too. (by "big" I mean about $50 - at this age, it's almost hard to spend more on a single toy, unless you buy a game system or something like that.)

Our daughters are 9, 6, and 5. We spend about $75 - $100 each. We try to get everyone equal amounts of presents.

I hear ya on the too many toys! We get a few toys, but the girls also get arts & crafts kits, books, calendars, and clothes.

Happy Holidays to you too!

We spend a total of $200.00 on each child. Since we could never agree on what to buy them, we have 2 teenagers, my husband spends a hundred and I spend a hundred on each child. When they were little there were tons of presents under the tree. Now that they are older the gifts cost more which they understand, so there's only a few gifts for each of them.

Hi G.
Well I only have one boy so far but I spent around $150-200 on him this Christmas. Last year I spent less b/c he was only a couple months old and didn't give a hoot about it. I got him some big and small toys approriate for his age group and clean out or donate the ones he doesn't play with anymore. Maybe have your kids donate some old toys they don't use anymore. that way, you get room for the new ones and you teach them about giving. Good luck :)

In our house I spend 1/4 of my spouses monthly salary. We use a christmas club account so the impact does not hurt the budget. I spread that amount between 13 ppl. It's hard. What ever you do don't use credit. Save it. Buy now pay later is to tempting for any woman, lol Make it a % amount not a dollar amount and make due with what you have. That's the secret.

G.,

We have 2 boys (2.5 and 4 months). We spent about $200 on the 2.5 year old, but that includes a lot of clothes which he really won't care too much about. Toys, we spent about $125 on him. Our 4 month old (it's terrible to say), has sooooooo much from son #1! So, we bought a couple of new toys and some new clothes. Probably spent about $75 total on him. He won't know the difference at this point anyway, I guess.

As they get older, I will spend equal amounts on both of them. It all depends on what we buy. We bought the Smart Cycle for the older one this year and it was $85. That was a big part of the spending. On the other hand, he loves Matchbox Cars, so we bought a TON of those for him and they are about $1 each.

As they get older, the toys will get more expensive, too. They will actually ask for more and we would have to stay in line with what we feel comfortable spending, you know? In my personal opinion, I don't spend any more than we can pay for with our cash/debit cards. I don't want to get a Christmas Bill in January. I admit that I did fall into the "save 10%" scam at Target and opened a card. We saved a lot of $, but I already have the check written to send. Again, I hate Christmas Bill's in January!

Hope that helps a little bit.

T.

I have a 3 yr old and an 18th month old and I this year I have spend almost $900.00. I realize that is crazy but I guess it goes back to when I was a child and we never got too much for xmas. I used to hate going back to school and hearing what all the kids got. Don't get me wrong I had a fabulous childhood but mom and dad did not believe in going over board for xmas and they still don't. I guess that is why christmas clubs are so great.

I have 4 children so it gets really expensive. I never really looked at the amount until this year because now that they are getting older - the amounts are getting higher! Also, it is getting harder to buy for them because for most toys we have either had it, broke it, lost it or threw it away.

I spend 300 - 400 per child ( it is only 3 - 5 presents per kid)

I have a Christmas club which makes it easier financially where I have 150 taken out of my paycheck each month and put into a savings account and on Nov. 1 I get a check from the bank.

Merry Christmas and happy spending!

S.

I think it really depends on how much you can afford and how much you have room for. If you're running out of room to store all of the toys, then it's probably time to cut back. Also, do you have a lot of relatives who will also be buying your kids presents?

Personally, I want to teach my daughter that Christmas is not about presents, but I also want her to enjoy the magic of Christmas. For us, that means that my husband and I are giving her one toy for Christmas that I know she'll really like, and that's it. And I know the relatives are going to spoil her. And we already have a house full of toys from a summer's worth of garage sales. (By the way, she's only 18 months old, so not old enough to feel left out. Next year we'll do the "Santa" thing and she'll get presents from both Santa and Mommy and Daddy. But nothing crazy. I remember as a child my cousins got so many presents each year that they grew tired of opening them and there would still be unopened presents when we arrived at their house for Christmas dinner.)

Hello G.,

WOW, I see what others are spending on their children.... Well I guess that I just need to have a job like theirs....lol anyways the way I do it is each child will have at least 3 gifts under the tree from mommy and daddy. The cost is only if we have extra money left over after we have enough food in the house and all the bills are paid. So yes these gifts are probably going to be small.

I am also very honest with my kids. (cover your childs eyes if they can read this) My kids asked if Santa was real or not. I told them the truth. There is no Santa. The reason for the season is Jesus Christ. I don't mean to get all religious on anyone. But Christmas has just become all about how much or how many presents are under the tree. That to me is just to stressfull. There is no Joy in being all stressed out because you don't have the money to get everyone a present.

I was taught at a very young age that giving than receiving is a lot more important than what you have under the tree.

Give them all the love that they need and the knowlegde that they need to know about the true meaning of Christmas.

Sorry if I have stepped on any toes. But this is just the way I am able to let my children understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Merry Christmas