Opening her Excel spreadsheet Whitney Ainscough checks the Christmas gift list she has made for each of her three children and partner.
Her daughter Cora, 11, son Addison, six, and second daughter Adley, two, will be getting at least ten ‘big’ Christmas presents each as well as dozens of stocking fillers and pre- Christmas treats.
But Whitney, 30, who has been surviving on benefits of just under £1,200 a month for much of the past year isn’t penny-pinching or bothered by the cost of living crisis.
Despite being on Universal Credit until early September – when she started making enough as a TikTok influencer to declare an income – she will be spending a staggering £10k on her family’s presents.
She knows it will irritate some people – especially since a lot of the case will have come from savings accrued through benefits – but doesn’t care.
“I don’t care what the trolls think,” she said. “I’m a benefits mum, living in a council house who’s spending thousands on her kids for Christmas and I’m proud.
“I am spoiling my kids because they deserve it. My daughter wants a £1.2k solid gold bracelet, my son wants a top-of-the-range VR gaming kit and the latest iPhone and iPad.
“I’ve saved my benefits. It’s been a hard year. We deserve posh presents. I told the kids they can have whatever they want.”
Whitney – who previously revealed how Cora was told off at school in her first week for wearing £100k Vivienne Westwood ballet flats instead of regulation shoes – said she might have ‘Britain’s most spoilt brood’.”
And although she’s not claiming benefits now, she didn’t care that she had for most of the year.
“Why not?” she said. “I was legally entitled to. I worked in a chemist for many years and only stopped because the wraparound childcare costs after I had my youngest made it too expensive. I put in so it’s fine to take out.”
Whitney, who lives in a council house, said although she splashed the cash on her kids she didn’t on herself.
“I adore my kids and I am planning to spoil them rotten. But I don’t feel the need to spend on myself, ironically. Seeing them happy on December 25 is all I need. I don’t actually want lavish gifts.
Answering questions she knows people will have, she said it wasn’t a waste of cash to get a child a solid gold bracelet.
”She’s been asking for it all year and I know it will be an investment for her,” she said. “She loves fancy things and she’s a good girl who is kind and polite.”
She’s also spoiling her with £160 Ugg Boots, designer clothes, a new laptop, perfume, makeup and a nose piercing.
Already this year Whitney bought Cora a £230 Michael Kors handbag instead of a backpack and £170 Adidas Pro trainers instead of run-of-the-mill trainers.
“She’ll also get more acrylic nails and hair extensions for the holidays,” she said.
Addison will get a Meta Quest 3 VR headset for £470.
“He will be getting a new £330 Nintendo Switch OLED too, as well as designer trainers and clothes”
And Adley isn’t missing out.
“I am planning a two night stay at Peppa Pig World for her and it will be first class all the way,” she said. “I’ll probably get her a iPhone too.”
“I am budgeting around £2k per child and that doesn’t include their day trips. It’s going to be huge.
Whitney’s partner, painter Joel Christopher, 32, will get less extravagant gifts – she’s previously said he thinks she’s bonkers over-spending on the kids.
Whitney, who styles herself as a ‘Bad Mum’ on social media, boasts 220k TikTok followers and 59k Facebook fans.
“I really don’t care what people think of me,” she said. “It’s honestly water off a duck’s back. I love my kids and I want them to have the best.
“To me that means giving them presents they want. That might not be every mum’s choice – fair enough. But it is for me.”
