Anonymous wrote:Wow I spent more on dinner than most of you do on your kids! I take it no one lets their kids play video games because those cost $60 not including the actual system. No one's kid has a bike. No Legos. No movies. No need guns. What exactly is the one $50 toy people buy heir kids? It must be a hell of a toy...a single tickle me Elmo perhaps? Obviously no one's kids have a computer, laptop, tablet, cell phone, their own TV, stereo, MP3 player, doll house, etc.

Yes, you're right - my 4 year old and 2 year old don't have any of those things except for the doll house and Legos.

I don't have children but I spent yesterday shopping with my friend, a single mom with a 9 yr old girl so far she has gotten her
Bike 215
iPad/ accessories 700
2 Lego sets 70
Fusion beads 20
Paint maker 20
Draw on purse 18
2 elite socks 30
Jordan's 70
Ornament 12
iTunes card 20
Hair ties/ lip gloss/ nail polish 25

Anonymous wrote:Wow I spent more on dinner than most of you do on your kids! I take it no one lets their kids play video games because those cost $60 not including the actual system. No one's kid has a bike. No Legos. No movies. No need guns. What exactly is the one $50 toy people buy heir kids? It must be a hell of a toy...a single tickle me Elmo perhaps? Obviously no one's kids have a computer, laptop, tablet, cell phone, their own TV, stereo, MP3 player, doll house, etc.

You are right, we don't have a gaming system. My kids do have a bike, but they get handed down and were given for birthdays when it was nicer out for riding them. Same with laptop & MP3 player - handed down. No tablet, their own TV, etc. A doll house was given to DD when she was younger but was found at a consignment sale for $40, all wooden and all furniture included.

The toys this year are a basic kindle to replace the one DD had (a friend had given it to me when she was given another one as a gift, and I used the Christmas money that year to fill it with books for DD - but the screen died recently.). Amazon was selling them for $49 on Black Friday. For DS I found all three junior erector sets at a consignment sale for $15, and bought a toolbox to keep it all in for $18. Both gifts I know they are going to be very excited about and spend many hours enjoying.

Need gun = nerf gun

Need gun = nerf fun but I suppose incould add super soaker water gun to it...

Wow I spent more on dinner than most of you do on your kids! I take it no one lets their kids play video games because those cost $60 not including the actual system. No one's kid has a bike. No Legos. No movies. No need guns. What exactly is the one $50 toy people buy heir kids? It must be a hell of a toy...a single tickle me Elmo perhaps? Obviously no one's kids have a computer, laptop, tablet, cell phone, their own TV, stereo, MP3 player, doll house, etc.

$50 each, basically a toy amd a book.

Anonymous wrote:I spent $50 on my 9 year old DD, and $33 on my 5 year old DS, one gift each. DH will get stocking stuffers for them, spending about $30 total for that.

I was raised the same - one gift & a stocking. I can't even imagine how to spend the amount some of you are spending! Where do you keep all that stuff? (Assuming that's the way it is every year and on birthdays, that's just a ton of stuff!). I realize we are on the very minimal end of the spectrum but we still feel like we have too much stuff.

Never had a problem finding space for new toys. Each child has a large room. Also having a huge 1,300 square foot basement playroom helps.

Anonymous wrote:I spent $50 on my 9 year old DD, and $33 on my 5 year old DS, one gift each. DH will get stocking stuffers for them, spending about $30 total for that.

I was raised the same - one gift & a stocking. I can't even imagine how to spend the amount some of you are spending! Where do you keep all that stuff? (Assuming that's the way it is every year and on birthdays, that's just a ton of stuff!). I realize we are on the very minimal end of the spectrum but we still feel like we have too much stuff.

I spend a lot on my teens because I tend to wait and call everything a Christmas gift! Much of what they get is "experience gifts", like a special arts class or a gym membership, so there's not a lot of stuff to keep.

We aren't a wealthy family, but this year I'll probably spend about $1200 on each, but still won't add a lot of "stuff" to the house. For example, one of my teens will get

A series of personal training classes in her sport during the off season (she plays for free at school)
Some new equipment for her sport, to replace things she's outgrown
A subscription to Audible, giving her one audiobook a month for the year (she gets this every year)
A new cell phone (which she needs, her old pay as you go phone is 3 years old and doesn't hold battery any more)
A new comforter, to replace the one she currently uses, which was mine in college but is now stained from a bad nosebleed.
A few books, a funny Tshirt, some fun toiletries, and some snacks for her stocking

Her brother's list will be similar. Lots of money, but not things I consider extravagant (except maybe the private sports coaching), and not a lot of "stuff" coming into the house. The two items that iarge physically the biggest are the comforter, which will replace something being thrown out, and a giant package of cheese balls (kid love cheese balls, and I don't usually buy them), which will get eaten.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Entirely too much. Probably $700 on a 2.5 yr old.

How do you spend $700 on a 2.5 yr old? What do you buy him or her? We have an almost 3-year old and are spending maybe $75.

The bulk of it is a train/activity table and storage + trains/tracks and magnatiles. The rest of the stuff is small but adds up. We're thinking about saving some of it for bday bc it seems excessive now that it's all here.

Anonymous wrote:Entirely too much. Probably $700 on a 2.5 yr old.

How do you spend $700 on a 2.5 yr old? What do you buy him or her? We have an almost 3-year old and are spending maybe $75.

About $500 per kid. They're 11 and 13.

I have four kids. We are spending a shit ton this year. We are flying two kids from the west coast here and then flying six people to Europe. The oldest wants some cooking stuff, and the two youngest are getting a horse to share. Not sure what the middle kid is getting. But yeah, we are for sure breaking five figures this year.

Probably $250 for one 7 year old.

Each kid gets 1 large gift, 1 small gift, a book, a movie and a craft. We try to keep it on average to less than $100 a child.

We spend the holiday at my in-laws and the craft is usually done while we are there. The movies are given since we take a lot of road trips and I need fresh material for the DVD player in the minivan.