Mum says kids feel 'hard done by' at Christmas even after spending £700 on each child

A mum has sparked a debate after asking how much parents spend on their kids for Christmas, revealing that her kids feel ‘hard done to’ despite her spending £700 each on them.

With the big day almost here, one mum was curious to find out how much parents will be spending on their children this Christmas and it's fair to say there's quite a lot of range among budgets.

In a clip posted to TikTok blogger Karen explained that she combines her kids Christmas and birthday presents but doesn’t scrimp when it comes to gifting.

In the clip she says: “I want to ask, if anyone will be honest enough to say, how much they spend on their kids at Christmas. Do you have a rough figure in mind?

“Because my kids feel as if they’ve been hard done to… their birthdays are straight after Christmas so they have birthday and Christmas money which they are choosing to combine together to buy some expensive things. So, their combined total is £500 - that's for Christmas and birthday.

“I am getting them a few extra bits, so it’s going to roughly work out to £700 each, but that is for Christmas and birthday. How much do you guys spend for Christmas and your kid’s birthday - just out of curiosity.”

As you can imagine, the question prompted a flurry of replies from parents, with some admitting they were tightening their belts this year; others who are more than happy to splash their cash, and some suggesting it was best to just stick to your own budget and not worry about what others are spending.

One person commented: “£1000 each spent for Christmas. Birthdays are January and February about £300 each”

Another said: “I'm going to sound tight, but my kids get £100 each at xmas and birthdays! Mostly because other family [members] buy for them as well.”

A third wrote: “I’m surprised everyone spends more on Christmas than birthdays. I spend more on birthdays because it’s their special day, with presents, party, family dinner I usually spend around £350 and Christmas £250. I am curious what people buy to keep it to £50.

"My total includes new pjs, clothes, smellies etc. but they don’t get extras through the year.”

While someone else said: “You spend what you can afford. It doesn't matter about everyone else.”

Others said they didn’t set a specific budget and would stop buying once they felt they had ‘enough’ presents for their kids.

What do you think about splashing the cash during the festive season?