Birthday party expenses are outrageous

[Anonymous]

It also depends on how many kids you invite. You can just invite a few.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, birthday parties have always cost us around that amount, whether we have them at home or a venue. But we really don't ever host events or get-togethers (other than play dates for DS), so I don't mind that much - it is a once a year special event and chance to see people. We are certainly not rolling in money (by the standards of DCUM), but I don't mind spending it on the birthday party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Is this fruit you've picked from your personal orchard? And like bologna sandwiches? Because I fail to see how you could feed like 10 kids on $25. And I have under 5s, so I'm feeding 10-20 adults, too.

You said that your child is turning 6yo. For a 6yo birthday party, IME parents drop off their children - so there would be no under-5yos at a party for my child turning 6yo. And therefore no adults to feed.

For our children, we generally limit the number of guests to the child's age - so my 6yo would be inviting no more than 6 guests.

If you do add adults and preschoolers to the mix, then yes, you need more food. I would feed them:

Array of sandwiches (PB&J; cheese; turkey; ham & cheese)
Cut-up fruit
Chips and salsa
Cake

We are still talking under $100.

[Anonymous]

I didn't go to a party outside of a park or someone's house until I was 10. We still had lots of fun, picked up a favor bag with $1 worth of oriental trading company things and went home. Of course this was 20 years ago and I grew up in a blue collar area. Most kids in this area are going to swimming lessons, little gym etc. how often do they just get to hang out at a friend's house and be silly? I plan on letting other parents throw the big shindigs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Who uses 2-3 pounds of butter for a 9x13" cake? At most, you need one pound of butter. At MOST.

[Anonymous]

This is the cake I usually make for a kids' party - a doctored cake mix.

Butter needed only for the icing. One stick.

That's it.

http://www.food.com/recipe/darn-good-chocolate-cake-cake-mix-cake-87205

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Who uses 2-3 pounds of butter for a 9x13" cake? At most, you need one pound of butter. At MOST.

And you probably already have flour, sugar etc. if not a box mix is $1 on sale and takes 5 minutes of prep.
I always do a box mix and homemade frosting, 30 minutes or less of active work, cost around $6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$0 - gather at the very nice park down the street, where there is play equipment. Plan for a few party games as well (races, pin the tail on the donkey).
$20 - paper plates, cups, napkins. I use old table cloths from home. No need for hanging decorations,

$5=10 - cake, made by me
$25-$50, depending on how all-out I want to go - sandwiches, made by me; chips; cut-up fruit and assorted snacks.

Birthday presents from us will be another $50 or so.

You do have choices, OP.

Unless you are using a box mix and canned frosting it costs more than 5-10 bucks to make a cake. Butter is 4-8 bucks a pound depending what brand you use. It takes me at least 2-3 pounds for the cake and icing.

And that doesn't count the cost of your time, etc.

Who uses 2-3 pounds of butter for a 9x13" cake? At most, you need one pound of butter. At MOST.

And you probably already have flour, sugar etc. if not a box mix is $1 on sale and takes 5 minutes of prep.
I always do a box mix and homemade frosting, 30 minutes or less of active work, cost around $6

Yes, this. If you prefer a from-scratch cake, here are a few cost breakdowns:

http://www.thekitchn.com/make-or-buy-cake-mix-vs-homema-145426

http://www.cakecentral.com/forum/t/597221/how-much-does-it-cost-you-to-make-a-cake

http://kathsp.hubpages.com/hub/The-Cost-of-Making-Chocolate-Cake

RE time, I *like* spending time making a special cake for my kids. They get to request whatever kind they'd like, and love that I make it to order. Last year my son wanted a three-layer German chocolate cake - I had never made one before, but I did it from scratch and he loved it.

For the record, I am a FT WOHM.

[Anonymous]

$500 for a birthday party?? That's nuts.

Do it at home, (or a park, etc.) make the cake. Do some of you have no baking ingredients in your house? Oil, eggs, flour.. they're all here anyway. I might need to buy real butter but that would be it. If you have to go buy it all then it's not worth it. Buy the cake.

You don't need to decorate, you are choosing to decorate. Get a few balloons.. done. Paper plates etc from Dollar Tree. Order pizza.

Some years I buy the cake, it all depends on how much effort I feel like putting in. I don't think I've ever spent $500 on a birthday party.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

You don't need to spend $500.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

It takes five minutes and a couple of bucks to make a box cake. This is a cake for six year olds. Why do you really need a fancy cake?

[Anonymous]

There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You forgot to add:

- I am desperately concerned that others not look at me as a less-than-perfect mother.

- I am desperately concerned that I am a less-than-perfect mother.

[Anonymous]

You said that your child is turning 6yo. For a 6yo birthday party, IME parents drop off their children - so there would be no under-5yos at a party for my child turning 6yo. And therefore no adults to feed.

I have a 6 year old, and this has not been my experience. I wish it were different, because I would love to have an hour and a half to myself to read, have coffee etc. vs. being at a child's party.