How much $ do you spend on kids' friends' birthdays?
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Cloud
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Sorry if it's been asked before. I searched briefly and couldn't find any threads on the topic.
I'm struggling with how much to spend on a kid's birthday gift. Does it depend on the age? On whether they're a close friend? Same question for my nieces and nephews. When I was a kid $20 was normal but what's "normal" now? |
Anonymous
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Close friends and family - $15-20ish for Christmas, slightly more for birthdays.
Classmates - $5-10ish |
Anonymous
Sorry - that's what WE do. I'm sure what others do is different and it varies quite a bit. |
Anonymous
| $35-$40 |
Anonymous
| $15-20 for friends, a bit more for close friends and cousins. Based on the gifts DD has received, I think there's quite a range of what people spend, and it doesn't always correspond to income level. Honestly, little kids don't care. DD was more excited about a set of colored pencils than she was about a big cooking set or a nice doll. I'd say spend what you can afford and don't stress too much about it. |
Anonymous
| I try to stay really close to $20. Sometimes, I want to spend more, but I am really trying to stay in budget. I hope no one thinks that's too cheap. |
Anonymous
| $15-20. Sometimes closer to $25 if it's a very close family friend. |
Anonymous
| $20. I think certain (not all) people expect us to pay more because we happen to have a "nice house", sadly. I would rather keep it the same across the board for fairness sake. Family is more, understandably. We have obligations that others don't know about, so it is funny to me when we get judged so easily. |
Anonymous
| for classmates, generally in the $10-$20 range, more like $20-$30 for particularly close friends. Family are more (we only have 2 nieces/nephews total) |
Cloud
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| Thanks all. That helps! |
Anonymous
| I aim for $10 for classmate gifts and $25 for family gifts. |
Anonymous
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$15-20 for classmates.
About $25 for best friends. We used to buy expensive cards to go with the present, but now DCs make a home-made card, which is more personal and frees up the whole budget for the actual gift! As for the gift, lately we've been buying a lot of Lego or Playmobil sets for the K crowd. |
Anonymous
| When we go to the "everyone's invited" kind of party we spend less unless it's a friend that our kid feel close to. For our older kids, who go to smaller parties, we spend @40, because these are their close friends. |
Anonymous
| I go to Target or Toys R Us after New Year's Day and find toys that are discounted. Then I buy around 12-15 presents that were originally 20 to 40 dollars, marked down to 10 to 20 dollars. I have found really nice matchbox and lego sets. I store the presents in the garage and that takes us through all the summer parties at least (my kids are 3 and 5). I hate shopping for presents the morning of the party. |
Anonymous
| $10-$15 for classmate gifts. This is the norm where we are in NW DC. |