We normally don't spend that much at all !! We have 4 children and that would just be CRAZY!!! Each year the kids pick out a few things that would like and we kind of go from there. There has been certain years though that we do things a little differently. This year we plan on buying the whole family annual passes to Universal Studios. ( we live in Florida) so obviously that will be much more than we normally would spend. The way we look at it is this gift is one we can enjoy all year long together as a family. Many benefits to that gift. We would never spend that crazy amount on toys or things like that.
This number terrified me at first. But, adjusting for inflation, my parents probably spent this much on us. We didn't get much throughout the year, though. And we got practical things like clothes and shoes under the tree. My son will be six months old, so I'll wrap stuff he already has in pretty boxes, mostly.
That seems like a lot, but probably pretty close to what would be spent by a lot of middle class families for their own children. Personally growing up, the number was probably pretty close to $300 on my brother and myself. I don't think this applies to outside immediate family members though. I think most people usually spend $20-$30 on nieces and nephews and such.
I would spend that amount of cash buying Christmas gifts for just one kid. The most I'd spend probably is $60. It's much better IMO, to buy kids cheap gifts all through the year rather than get numerous or expensive gifts all at once on their birthdays or during Christmas time. They'll appreciate the gifts more if they don't get too many of them [gifts] once a year.
I don't think I will be continuing the "huge Christmas" tradition we had with my son. Once he gets to school age, it's hard to avoid with the Santa comparison stories. I don't like this aspect of our culture, but I also don't want him to think he is "less good" than the other kids in his class. Once he outgrows believing in Santa, he can start to understand about budgets.
I couldn't afford that much. I spent 250 on her birthday present one year because she really wanted a power wheels car, she even tried to sale all her toys so she could get one. I talked some people on sharing the cost with me and I only ended up spending 50 dollars on it. That seemed like a crazy amount to me. They would have to be some really spoiled children.
The cost of games can easily make the average cost per child that and more. If the child is getting a new phone there goes the budget. The cost of new electronics will quickly put a dent in most peoples budget. I know each year my daughter spends that and more on her two teenage boys.
I wonder if this statistic is per parent or if that is what each child receives in totality from everyone? Also, I remember from my statistics class that the median amount is more significant than the average in these cases. An extremely wealthy person may spend several thousand dollars on one child and throw off the average for ten middle class or lower families. I just find it hard to believe most parents are really giving that much for Christmas, especially when not everyone in America celebrates the holiday.
