Mum 'refuses to spoil children' as she spends £100 on Christmas presents

A mum has defended herself for only spending £100 on each of her children for Christmas this year.

Samantha Mary, 35, decided to set a decided to set a budget for main presents and stocking gifts for her one-year-old son, Jack, and nine-year-old step-daughter, Isabella. She spent £20 on stocking presents – filling them with items including scrunchies, car toys, and shower gel – and £80 on main presents.

Samantha spent September and October picking up the presents from supermarkets, Primark and Amazon. She bought her son a railway set and toys for his kitchen set and found her step-daughter an art set and Lilo and Stitch vest and pants. However, Samantha said some parents on TikTok labelled her presents as “essentials” not gifts.

She said: "There were a lot of people against it. I have put essential items like shower gel in the stockings. Christmas is about so much more. It's about what the children want as well."

The mum from Shoreham-by-Sea, defended herself and said they are things she knows her children will love and doesn’t want to “spoil” them. The primary school teacher said: “I felt £100 was a realistic figure. Christmas is getting out of control. There is pressure to buy Christmas Eve boxes and elf on the shelf. It gets bigger and bigger.

“We want the children to be grateful for what they have. Less is more. We don’t want to over spoil the children. Christmas is about so much more.”

Samantha decided to set a budget this year with husband, Richard, 40, who works in local government. She added: “We're in a cost of living crisis. Things cost more.”

Samantha wouldn't choose to splurge on something like an iPad for Christmas or have a high budget for their gifts, even if she could afford to. She explained: "If you spend a lot of money that becomes an expectation. But it's up to parents what they spend on their children."

For her son's stocking she bought biscuits, a water bottle, chalks, a bouncy ball, a book, a puzzle and a vehicle set. Samantha has bought some scrunchies, biscuits, shower gel, a Christmas cup, sweets, stamper set, hair clips, and a Lilo and Stich brush for her step-daughter.

For their main presents – Samantha bought an art set for her step-daughter for £30, a body warmer, some Lilo and stitch pants and vests, a Disney bag, a pair of fluffy leggings and a hat. She found her son a railway set, toys for his kitchen set, a book, animal puzzles, bouncing bunnies, Play-Doh and blocks.

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