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Apr 20, 2024 14:01:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 23:01:14 GMT
My son's 6th birthday is next month, and I'm having a terrible time narrowing down what to get him. My wish list for him is worse than the one I used to have for myself, lol. He's not too into birthdays yet (getting there, but not a ton...he's developmentally delayed a bit) so...
I have a number in my head of what to spend, but before I approach my dh (who is a much more conservative spender on birthdays than I) I would like to see what the average number is that the refupeas spend on their kids' bdays.
(BTW, I am not a huge spender on parties. Sometimes, we don't have one at all. We are planning on having a low budget one this year though!)
Edit: Ignore the first block please. I obviously am not good at polls, lol.
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Post by leannec on Jul 10, 2014 23:09:33 GMT
We always do some sort of activity at that age ... I only have girls so it was often "fairy parties" ... pricey but fun! Other favs have been bowling and mini-golf ... Depending on how many kids you invite the price can add up ... I've done some fun at home parties as well where we just made pizzas, decorated cupcakes and watched movies ... oh, and they all went in the hot tub - great if you have one
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Post by red88 on Jul 10, 2014 23:12:42 GMT
my kids are all adults, I usually spend $100.
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Post by kristi on Jul 10, 2014 23:13:45 GMT
We spend about $200 on the party/entertainment/food/cake. As for gifts, they get something small under $25.00.
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
Jun 26, 2014 18:51:17 GMT
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Post by perumbula on Jul 10, 2014 23:17:22 GMT
The question is not what other people spend, it's what you can afford to spend. Birthday's should be a bit of a stretch, but not ever go on a credit card. What fits your budget is best. For some of us that's the $0-50 range. For some it's the $150+. Whatever you can do is fine. Your kid doesn't care as long as they get attention and fun on their big day.
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Post by dulcemama on Jul 10, 2014 23:19:28 GMT
We generally have low key parties at home. (except for DD's golden birthday when she had a swim party at the Y) DD can invite 2 or 3 friends and her grandparents come, we do an activity, I make the cake and we serve a simple meal. I would guess it usually comes to about 30 dollars. As far as the gift goes, we usually have something in mind that we want to get for her so whatever that thing costs. We have spent as little as 20 and as much as 80 on her gift.
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Post by myshelly on Jul 10, 2014 23:20:56 GMT
Do you mean on the bday party or on bday gifts?
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andis
Full Member
Posts: 105
Location: South Florida
Jun 26, 2014 17:10:57 GMT
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Post by andis on Jul 10, 2014 23:21:08 GMT
always way more than I originally plan on spending. Btw, today is my daughter's birthday and even though we didn't have a big party we more than made up for it with the pricey gifts.
edited to add- after everything my daughter has dealt with this past year (depression, self harming) I'm just happy she's here to spoil on her special day. I don't know what tomorrow will bring as we deal with her ongoing issues, so that's my reasoning for the big splurge.
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Post by seriousscrapper on Jul 10, 2014 23:23:21 GMT
Our sons are older- 29, 24 and almost 20. A couple of years ago, they decided they would rather have cash, so we now give them a hundred dollar bill.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Jul 10, 2014 23:23:42 GMT
For me it really depends on the kid, the year, what they want, what's happening that year, any number of things.
Example: this year was dd's 15th birthday, we told her it would be smaller since she wants a 16th birthday party with friends and family and we are renting the VFW. So this year it was 3 friends for dinner and a movie and I can't even remember what we gave her as a gift. Probably something under $40.00.
For my other dd's 25th birthday that was also this year we took all the siblings and their children out to dinner and got her a larger gift. For ds's birthday his girlfriend asked if we could help her with her gift so we did that.
So we are basically all over the place and have no set amount.
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Post by 2peafaithful on Jul 10, 2014 23:28:20 GMT
$150'ish plus dinner and dessert which we usually have at home.
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Post by walkerdill on Jul 10, 2014 23:28:21 GMT
We don't do parties and haven't since the kids were 4 or 5. My kids birthdays are 9 days apart so we usually do a long weekend some where in between. This year its the tradewinds in St Petersburg and last year was Disney. We have also done Daytona beach, Universal Studios and Nickelodeon hotel. Gift wise we spend around $200 per kid. My parents usually come for the weekend with us and pay for part of it as the gift to the kids.
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Post by roxiemarie0524 on Jul 10, 2014 23:28:39 GMT
It depends, but usually around $100. Instead of a big party, we will let ds invite one or two friends to do a birthday activity of his choice. So, it really depends on that activity. Last year ds wanted to take a friend to our state fair for his birthday. Our state fair is really spendy, but I was able to get free entry tickets for all of us and a free coupon book as well. That cut the cost down quite a bit and only ended up spending about $80.
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Post by maryland on Jul 10, 2014 23:29:21 GMT
It all depends on our financial situation at the time. We have done as much as $150 and as little as under $50. We go to the beach for a month in the summer, so the kids agreed that a beachfront condo for 4 weeks is worth the sacrifices throughout the year (birthday, Christmas), so that also is part of the equation for us. We also buy throughout the year instead of just at birthdays/holidays. So they may not get as much as other kids, but we will buy them a new shirt at Kohl's just because. So it all evens out.
We have also re-done their rooms (new Pottery Barn quilt, paint, etc.) for their birthdays. We don't treat any birthday as more special because of the year, we just look and see what they want/need each year. A lot of boys and girls have had big 13th/16th/18th parties, but my girls have no interest in that. They would rather have cash than a party.
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Deleted
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Apr 20, 2024 14:01:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 23:55:57 GMT
We spend about $100 on birthday gifts. We also do a party.
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garcia5050
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Location: So. Calif.
Jun 25, 2014 23:22:29 GMT
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Post by garcia5050 on Jul 11, 2014 0:19:40 GMT
I have two kids, and they only get parties on alternating years. Sometimes, the kid doesn't want a party, which is just fine. I typically spend about $400 for a party (doesn't matter if at home or at a place). If just a gift, I've spent anywhere from $50 to $150.
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Post by scraphollie27 on Jul 11, 2014 0:21:29 GMT
At age 6, I would not have spent more than $30 on a gift as g-parents were spoilers. I also did not splurge on parties at that age either because running around the backyard with your friends for two hours was considered great fun. Mine are teenagers now and the gifts have gotten expensive ($200+) and there are no parties. Now hanging out in the basement all night with your friends is considered great fun so I throw pizza downstairs and hope they all get picked up by 11:00 am.
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Post by mdoc on Jul 11, 2014 0:37:57 GMT
There has never been a set amount. There have been years when one of the kids desperately wanted something inexpensive, and other years when we picked out some very expensive gifts. At that age, it's not what you spend - a six year old will like things in a wide variety of price ranges.
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Post by melanell on Jul 11, 2014 0:39:25 GMT
There have been some that were over $200.00, but over the years I keep toning them down. So now I would say they run between $100 and $150.
Every so often I can pull off a party that comes in at under $100. But those are rare.
Only once have I ever had just a cake & ice cream type party, (And I vowed to never, ever do it again.) so it's typically the food that runs me all of the money.
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Post by melanell on Jul 11, 2014 0:40:39 GMT
I'm thinking of renting a hall and hiring a video game truck for DS's 13th bday, so that party will definitely go over the $150 mark, but that's because it's a special party.
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Post by lumo on Jul 11, 2014 1:08:01 GMT
Timely question! DD is turning 6 on Saturday, and I've just been finishing up shopping for her. With her cake (My Little Pony, thankyouverymuch!), I will have spent right around $100. Keep in mind, we keep it pretty simple, party-wise...just family.
Last year, though, a trip to WDW was part of her b-day present (we went a few months later), so we don't always keep it quite so cheap!
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Post by magenta on Jul 11, 2014 1:16:41 GMT
We rarely spend less than $500 to $600 for a party, but we only throw one for each kid every few years. If there's no party that year then we usually start at about $75 for gifts.
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Post by sues on Jul 11, 2014 1:28:07 GMT
Without giving a dollar amount, I will say that it was so much easier when the kids were younger. In terms of gifts, parties, everything. The older they get, the more expensive everything is.
Now that they're older, we go to a nice restaurant instead of having a party. They maintain an updated Amazon wishlist so I have a variety of choices in terms of gifts. If things were tight financially, I'd cut back- but I'd still have to try and make sure they had a little pile of gifts to open.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 1:31:24 GMT
Lumo, I always think of your little girl around C's birthday, because we were on the expectant mother pea thread together, due close to the same time. I hope she has an awesome party! We're going to have a simple snack, cake, and ice cream party at my neighbor's house across the street. She has a pool, and loves my son, so we are having a pool party there with about 5-6 kids. Next year, for his 7th birthday, I figured we could do a Chuck E Cheese party because I know how much he'd love it, and I thought that would be an awesome age to do it.
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Post by maryland on Jul 11, 2014 1:40:54 GMT
Yes, it was so much easier (and the gifts were so fun) when they were under 10. I had no problem picking out gifts for my kids when they were little, even if we were on a budget.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 11, 2014 3:25:55 GMT
I cut back a bit this year and each kid got about $200 in presents. Birthday party for friends are another 100 or so and family party usually cost 50-100.
I have a specific savings account set up and a certain amount goes in every two weeks. Since both boys are about 6 months from Christmas, the first half of the year goes to birthdays and the other half goes towards Christmas.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 11, 2014 3:34:40 GMT
We rarely spend less than $500 to $600 for a party, only throw one for each kid every few years. If there's no party that year then we usually start at about $75 for gifts. May I ask what kind of party or how many guests? I know some regions are more expensive, but I can't I can't imagine what kind of a party that is.
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Post by magenta on Jul 11, 2014 5:33:43 GMT
We rarely spend less than $500 to $600 for a party, only throw one for each kid every few years. If there's no party that year then we usually start at about $75 for gifts. May I ask what kind of party or how many guests? I know some regions are more expensive, but I can't I can't imagine what kind of a party that is. LOL... I have a big family! We don't throw family parties at the house very often but I can have about 40 kids and 40 adults because we combine family and friends. Kids' friends come earlier in the day and stay for about four hours and family members come whenever and stay late. Food and drinks, entertainment and decorations and a cake add up. We have to have enough food for the entire day. Just to give you an idea of prices in our area, a large jumper with a slide cost about $170 back then, and we had a balloon twister who charged about $130, not including tip. Our last house party was about four years ago. My other DD turned 13 and asked for a party at Pump it Up. Saturday afternoons only have the 25 kids size option which start at $359. We had to buy food from them, (no outside food allowed except for the cake and water) which cost about $200 (pizza, sandwiches and drinks) for the kids and some parents. Luckily I didn't spend too much on party bags since I had some left overs from past parties. Parties like these are totally normal in this area. I just went to a 10 year old's celebration where the parents spent over $3000! Not going to happen for my kids! That's way over the top for us!
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Deleted
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Apr 20, 2024 14:01:43 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 6:01:02 GMT
Parties like these are totally normal in this area. I just went to a 10 year old's celebration where the parents spent over $3000! GULP! is right! That would go over like a big old lead balloon at my house, lol. My in-laws never had a birthday party for my husband, so he doesn't think they're necessary. I have tried to keep the peace by keeping expenses to a minimum, but my boy's having at least a few birthday parties!
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naniwebbemt
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Jul 10, 2014 0:50:12 GMT
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Post by naniwebbemt on Jul 11, 2014 8:50:39 GMT
We do whatever we can afford at the time. They get a memebership to the Zoo as a combined gift, and a few smaller gifts. Their birthdays are right after Christmas, so we don't go overboard. Usually we try to feed dinner to all the guests, and that makes an at-home party well over $100 for us. Last year was the last time we did that. We are cutting back on Christmas and birthdays this year. DD is only 5, so we are still working out the kinks in holiday spending/celebrations. Last year I was so stressed about the holidays and birthdays, from Oct until Feb. My goal is to buy/spend less, so there is less stress to get everything in time. I don't think the kids will ever know the difference.
Anyway... I think experiences are better than gifts, and the ones we like best are educational too. They tend to be at least $100 memberships, but worth it IMO. So I clicked the $150+, because I included gifts and party.
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