'I'm only spending £100 on each child this Christmas - it's a fair amount and I'm standing by my own values'

• One mum limits Christmas spending to £100 per child, prioritising ‘memories over money’
• Samantha Mary introduced the budget last year for her son and stepdaughter and plans to continue it
• She spends £20 on stocking fillers like socks and bath bombs and £80 on main presents
• Mary says the £100 budget is ‘fair and reasonable’ despite pressure to spend more

A mum who limits Christmas spending to £100 per child says she is "standing by her own values" despite external pressure.

Samantha Mary introduced the budget last Christmas for her two-year-old son Jack and her 10-year-old stepdaughter Isabella.

After finding success with the approach, Mary is continuing it this year, emphasising the importance of "memories over the money spent."

She allocates £20 for stocking stuffers, choosing practical and fun items like socks, gel pens, and bath bombs, and spends the remaining £80 on main presents.

This year, she bought Jack a London bus toy set and a toy coffee machine, while Isabella will receive a bubble tea set and a crochet kit.

Mary, who has shared her budgeting journey on TikTok, describes the £100 limit as a "fair and reasonable amount."

A primary school teacher from Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, Mary said: "It's the same values that we had last year. We feel it's a fair and reasonable amount of money to spend and the kids were happy with what they got last year.

"I think you know your kids the best and I knew they would be happy with what they've got. I think it's easy to make judgments and you know yours better than anyone else.

"It definitely reaffirmed that we didn't need to be spending significantly more. I'd never let comments from other people influence what I do as a parent.

"I also did a video talking about the average spend on a child in the UK and I think it was around £470 - I asked people to comment on what they spend and that was quite enlightening and shocking. Some people under that and a lot quite a bit over."

Initially, Mary and her husband Richard decided to adopt the £100 budget to be more conscious of their spending - previously around £150 to £200. But after the success of last year, they now plan to stick to it.

Mary said: "The magic of Christmas for us is not on the money spent, it's the memories. I think it's about standing by your own values and I think a lot of people do feel the pressure because of others.

"I think a lot of people have the misconception that their child will hear about what others have got and feel they have to match it. But as a primary school teacher I don't think that's the case - I don't think a lot of children go in comparing.

"There's also an awful lot of comments on my TikTok this year saying that their kids have asked for a lot of simplistic things. It's not about what they've got often, it's about the anticipation of Santa arriving and what they've got.

"I think if you ask any child what they got for Christmas last year, I think a lot would struggle to tell you."

For Jack's stocking, she bought socks, a bubble bath pack, gingerbread, bath bombs, chocolate and some squidgy pets. For her step-daughter, Isabella, she bought socks, gel pens, a pencil case, bows, chocolate and some gingerbread.

For their main presents – Mary bought a bubble tea set, a crochet kit, toy pillows, slippers, pyjamas, a pic'n'mix set and a loom-band bracelet set.

She found her son a second-hand London bus toy that he wanted, a toy boat and fairground game, pyjamas, toys for his kitchen set, toy pillows and Thomas the Tank Engine trains.

She said: "One thing that I've done this year is I've got some second-hand bits for my son. He wanted a London Bus toy and I found a huge bundle of this particular brand of toy on Facebook marketplace.

"So I bought that bundle, kept the toys I wanted and resold the ones I didn't - I think I ended up paying just £5 for the toy because of that. Being a step-mum a lot of the criticism I get is whether I've treated them equally - which I always do."

To cut costs further, Mary and her family avoid other Christmas-related "cost-heavy" traditions. Though she is keen to state that everyone should do what "makes them happy" and doesn't judge.

She said: "Christmas December Boxes - which are boxes that parents put together for their kids with toys and stuff for the kids to do throughout December. We don't do these - there are a lot more cost-heavy traditions now. We stick with the traditional chocolate advent calendar.”

What do you think about Mary's £100 Christmas budget? Do you agree that memories matter more than money, or do you prefer to go all out for the holidays? Share your thoughts and traditions in the comments section.