What do you spend on a classmate birthday present?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's awesome that there's people who are able to save money by buying all these generic gifts ahead of time but I'm not able to do that. My kids just don't get invited to THAT many parties. I think between both my kids (4 & 7), they were invited to maybe 7 bday parties....there were less with covid in my area.

We try to keep it around $20.

At our school everybody invites the whole class pretty much so between my two kids we go to like 25-30 parties a year.

[Anonymous]

For just a classmate with a low key park/home party, $10, definitely less than $15. A little more up to $25 for a kid he considers a friend, or if it’s a nicer party at a play place or a nice home party with bounce houses and actual food.

[Anonymous]

$10-$15 for elementary school (price I pay, but look for things on sale). I also use Kohl’s cash on things like Lego (that I know I will use for a future gift) if I have the Kohl’s cash but don’t have a pressing need for anything.

[Anonymous]

25 bucks, and I include the Amazon gift receipt so they can return or exchange it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For just a classmate with a low key park/home party, $10, definitely less than $15. A little more up to $25 for a kid he considers a friend, or if it’s a nicer party at a play place or a nice home party with bounce houses and actual food.

wow. I get the friend thing but a person hosting a lower cost party gets a cheaper gift from you and that’s why?… unbelievable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a standard gift that we give every time. They normally cost 20-$25, but I shop sales and buy them for $15 and stock up.

Can you share what it is?

I don’t want to out myself, but basically it’s a company that makes science kits. So they work for boys, girls, big age range, etc. I stock up and get like 6 at a time then wrap them all and add a sticky note to indicate that it’s like rainbow themed or dinosaur or whatever so we can somewhat personalize our choice.

Wow you sound organized!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For just a classmate with a low key park/home party, $10, definitely less than $15. A little more up to $25 for a kid he considers a friend, or if it’s a nicer party at a play place or a nice home party with bounce houses and actual food.

wow. I get the friend thing but a person hosting a lower cost party gets a cheaper gift from you and that’s why?… unbelievable

Yes, all else being equal, the kid having the nicer bday party will get a slightly nicer gift. It is what it is. I’d do the same for weddings too, again, all else equal.

[Anonymous]

I always get a $25 visa or Target giftcard. If it's one of my children's BFF we spend $50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Probably about $20, and up to $50 for a best friend. I don’t worry about the price too much / it’s more that you didn’t grab a piece of plastic crap at the chain drugstore.

Really?! I’m floored. Kid is five, so we’re new to the birthday party world. His old preschool didn’t really do them. May I ask your HHI? I’m just trying to determine if that’s a wider norm, or just people who live in a nicer part of town than we do.

$90k is my salary.

I agree with this poster and I have the same salary. Except $50 would be for cousins, so maybe same-age cousins.

[Anonymous]

We don't go to a ton of parties, and with COVID, there were very few for a few years.

I typically spend $18-25 for acquaintances and friends, usually a Lego set. DS's BFF is really into Minecraft and Lego, so we bought him a $60 themed set that was on sale for $40. But that was unusual. And this family had my son over for a sleepover recently that lasted 24 hours. My son wanted to get him something special and the friend was thrilled.

I like to give gift receipts because I like to receive them, so I don't stock up on toys. I think we only received one gift with a gift receipt at my older son's last birthday, so perhaps I shouldn't care.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by the parties are getting more elaborate? And why does that matter? It’s a gift for a 5 yr old. It really doesn’t matter what you spend- at all. So do what you want. The parents (and certainly the kid) don’t care if they get a $25 gift or a handmade card and nice drawing from your child.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry but I think the idea of stocking up on clearance items to give as gifts is weird. I like to get a gift for the specific person. Not every kid likes the same stuff and I can't think of any kid who would be excited about opening some random scarf from Old Navy or a water bottle? And if I'm your cousin's girlfriend or whatever and I'm coming to your house for Christmas, I don't expect or want you to give me some random item from your generic gift closet.

You save a lot of money on the actual items you're stocking up on but it still seems wasteful if you're just buying a bunch of generic stuff that you don't actually know if anyone would want/like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but I think the idea of stocking up on clearance items to give as gifts is weird. I like to get a gift for the specific person. Not every kid likes the same stuff and I can't think of any kid who would be excited about opening some random scarf from Old Navy or a water bottle? And if I'm your cousin's girlfriend or whatever and I'm coming to your house for Christmas, I don't expect or want you to give me some random item from your generic gift closet.

You save a lot of money on the actual items you're stocking up on but it still seems wasteful if you're just buying a bunch of generic stuff that you don't actually know if anyone would want/like.

You are spot on in your judgement. I'm not that poster you are responding to, but a few years ago, I went crazy and did the stocking up on baby toys and older kids toys when Walmart had their toy clearance. Very next year, none of those older kids toys were really giftable since the kids moved onto some other kind of toy. I now wait for occasions like casual get togethers with family or friends who have kids that are younger and give these away. In the meantime, it is occupying space. The baby toys had been useful though since many people I knew had baby showers and then after the baby was born or whenever we visited, I just took a gift from the closet and gave it.

[Anonymous]

HHI 130K. We go to 5-6 parties a year and invite 10ish kids to ours. Gifts we have given and received as always $25 GC + $1 card. No gifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Veteran gift giver and receiver
I think most of the previous suggestions are a bit high. Here are my general guidelines for preschool/elementary school:
$8-$10 for a classmate or acquaintance--basically the cost of a book, action figure or doll, small Lego set, small stuffed animal etc.
$10-$15 for a friend, small party or someone with judge-y parents. Usually a craft kit, 2 books, larger stuffed animal, board game etc.
$20-$25 for a best friend. I let my child make the choice on what to give, and only give input if it's wildly price inappropriate. (This can mean too cheap as well as too expensive--one time my kid just wanted to give his best friend a cheap keyring attachment that cost $3 at CVS.)

Price limits go up slightly as the kid gets older, since there are fewer parties and the kids are usually closer friends. Rarely over $25 though.

This is pretty close to what I do including the price ranges. My go to gifts are books, small Lego kits, craft kits and art supplies.

This is what I do too. I am kind of shocked at what some people are spending. Definitely not the norm in my circle. My kids are little though so maybe that's why!