A mum who spends just a £100 budget on each child's Christmas present says she is "standing by her own values" despite pressure from others.
Samantha Mary, 35, implemented her budget for presents and stocking fillers last Christmas for her two-year-old son Jack and 10-year-old step-daughter, Isabella.
After the success of last year, Samantha has decided to do it again - valuing "memories over the money spent."
She spends £20 on stocking presents – filling them with items including socks, gel pens, and bath bombs – and £80 on main presents.
This year she bought her Jack a London bus toy set alongside a toy coffee machine and for Isabella a bubble tea set and crochet kit.
The mum - who has shared videos about her decision on TikTok - says the budget is a "fair and reasonable amount."
Samantha Mary, 35, implemented her budget for presents and stocking fillers last Christmas for her two-year-old son Jack and 10-year-old step-daughter, Isabella.
After the success of last year, Samantha has decided to do it again - valuing "memories over the money spent."
She spends £20 on stocking presents – filling them with items including socks, gel pens, and bath bombs – and £80 on main presents.
This year she bought her Jack a London bus toy set alongside a toy coffee machine and for Isabella a bubble tea set and crochet kit.
The mum - who has shared videos about her decision on TikTok - says the budget is a "fair and reasonable amount."
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FunTranscript
00:00We set a £100 budget for each child for Christmas, so this is everything that I got for my two-year-old.
00:05I'm talking stocking, gifts from us, and gifts from Santa.
00:09First up, these are the stocking fillers. We have got some bubble baths from B&M,
00:12we've got quite a few bits from Teami, we've got a set of socks, a little bath sponge,
00:17we've got some of these squidgees, two cookies, a little gingerbread maker kit,
00:24some bath bombs, some little foam stickers, gold coins, a harmonica and just a roll of animal stickers.
00:33And then these here are his main gifts.
00:36Now I actually ended up paying £5 for this set, and I've got a whole bag over here of all the little people too.
00:43I bought a £20 bundle off Facebook Marketplace, took the bits out I needed and resold the rest on,
00:48so I ended up only paying £5 for what I've got there, so that was an absolute bargain.
00:53We got him the Bluey recycling truck, which was from Smiths.
00:56From the wooden toy events, we're going to give him a wooden teal shopping basket and a coffee machine.
01:02I got him two little Thomas trucks.
01:05We've got this little doggy buddy, which is battery-operated, so it moves.
01:10We've got a couple of the little vegetable toys from Aldi, a shopping trolley, which he is going to be obsessed with,
01:17and then also this little game from TeamU.
01:20Now I know a lot of people say £100 is not enough, but I feel like that is absolutely plenty of things for a 2-year-old.
01:28He's going to absolutely love it. I can't wait to see his face on Christmas Day.
01:31This has to be the most controversial video that I posted last year.
01:36I am doing it again. This is everything we got my 10-year-old stepdaughter for Christmas for £100.
01:42This is her stocking, so she's got a little Percy pouch there.
01:47She's got some highlighters, she's got some pens, cookies, hair ribbons, lip balms, a little lip gloss, a hot chocolate,
01:55some socks, some glittery felt-tip pens, and some little post-it notes.
02:00All of that there was literally less than £15.
02:04These are all of her main gifts.
02:07She has requested, this was on her Christmas list, a loom band kit, which is from Amazon. These are so cheap.
02:12I got her some penny sweets because I know that she will love that.
02:16This here is a pack of those little squishy things.
02:21Again, from Team New Super Cheap.
02:23We've got her a couple of packs of Lilo & Stitch diamond painting kits.
02:28She, again, this was on her Christmas list, she wants to start collecting these mini brands, so there's two in there.
02:33They were the home ones, which again was her request.
02:36Another thing that she is obsessed with at the moment is bubble tea, so that was on the Christmas list to get her a bubble tea set.
02:43I got her a couple of these little squishies from Aldi.
02:46A cushion for her bedroom, again, that was a request.
02:50I got her some Squishmallows little body sprays. She's very into body spray at the moment.
02:55Of course, we've got pants.
02:57We have got some slippers, because again, she needs a new pair of slippers ready for this year.
03:02I thought they were super cute.
03:03We've got her a pair of cosy pyjamas.
03:06And then the last thing that I got her, this. This is a request.
03:09So this is a punch needle kit. We saw a video of it a little while ago and she requested one, so I got that from Amazon.
03:15And then her actual main gift this year is we have got her a ticket to go and see Six The Musical in London.
03:22We managed to get a ticket for £35.
03:24Obviously, myself and my husband will take her, but that won't be included in the price of her Christmas bits.
03:29So that is her main present.
03:31So that is everything I got.
03:32I have to admit, I have had to shop savvy.
03:35I have had to be super careful.
03:36This is probably marginally over £100.
03:39I'm going to say this is probably about £110, possibly £115, but I think we did really well.
03:43I think she's going to love it.