Anonymous wrote:My kids are pre-k and 2nd grade. I usually spend $20ish.

My go to is a pack of 100 glitter gel pens from Amazon + a nice sketchbook. I get the books on sale at Michaels.

NP. This reminds me of one of the greatest little gifts we got from a preschool friend at a real hippie school where everyone says no gifts/no gifts necessary & most kids bring a card or something very small. It was this ~8-pack of nice crunchy-mom* colored pencils with two ends-- one side was a neon color and the other side was a metallic, so 8 shades of each.

It probably cost like $10 max, but it was the kind of thing almost no kid has, AND fun AND useful. My kid still has and uses them here and there, 4 years later. I just know the parents had a stash of them for every birthday party and it was genius.

Something like these, but what really made the gift we got was that they were metallic/neon-- not colors most kids would have.

https://amzn.to/3muTcvW


*It was sustainably grown unbleached wood or something, IDK.

I post this all the time, but the answer is:

Friendly acquaintance/not super-close: Retail value $20-30, I spend $4-8 max. These folks especially are getting generic but hopefully fun/decent quality gifts that I've stocked up on when they were on clearance for 75-90% off.

Closer friend: Same thing, but probably up a notch to $40 value, $10 spend.

Closest 2-3 friends and godsisters: Here I may go out of my way and buy something very specific to their interests and pay closer to retail, at least for part of the gift. Value still around $40, maybe $50, but I might actually spend $20-25.

I like to give something substantial in all cases, but there's no way I'm sending my kid to 15 birthday parties a year and spending $500!

I guess I end up spending more like $175 annually.

HHI is $120k in DC.

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.

$15 if I am getting a gift card … if not a gift card, $10-$15

Y’all are nuts. $5-$10 unless it’s actually a friend. In which case probably $10-15.

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.

$15-$20 for a classmate.

My kids are pre-k and 2nd grade. I usually spend $20ish.

My go to is a pack of 100 glitter gel pens from Amazon + a nice sketchbook. I get the books on sale at Michaels.

PP here. For a close friend $25, classmates $15- $20

$15-$20.

$25. Usually a $20 gift card and a $5 something DC picks to wrap.

$10-25 depending on the friendship. Casual friend $10-15 is normal. No one spends $50.

$20-30 for a classmate and up to $50 for a close friend.
I usually do 1 very small gift (unique candy/snack, slime, fidget toy, or book) + gift card.

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.

DD has birthday party invitations for the next three weekends, so I'm gift shopping. What is an appropriate amount to spend per kid?

I feel like we used to do $10-15 but the parties are getting more elaborate as the kids get older. I don't want to be cheap.