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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 11:25:20 GMT
No set amount, some years it's been $100 other years $300... As he has gotten older his gifts get more expensive, but the parties get smaller. We are down to just taking a friend or 2 out with him for dinner/movie, etc. He wants a laptop this year, so I'm sure it will be more than $300.
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Post by epeanymous on Jul 11, 2014 12:15:06 GMT
I apologize, because I thought you were asking how much to spend on gifts, and now I think you are asking actually about party and gifts?
Anyhow, I usually get a child one nice present for a birthday, and the price varies, but usually is around $50-$150. As for the party, I have spent as little as $60 (party at home with pizza and cake) and as much as $250 (big bouncy house venue party with pizza and cake). It really depends on what the kid wants and how many guests they have. I did stop doing the whole-class parties once I had kids three and four--the main limit on the budget is that my kids are inviting only people they are actually friends with.
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Post by LovMelrose on Jul 11, 2014 13:14:56 GMT
We'd spend about $100 on gifts when our kids were younger and have a party with friends and a separate one with just family. Now that they're older its about $200 ($300 if its a special one) and we only get together with family to celebrate.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 13:29:00 GMT
Epeanymous, sorry.
Gifts were what I was originally asking about, but I am like reading about the parties too.
You all have helped immensely with what I was wondering! Thank you!
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Post by quinlove on Jul 11, 2014 13:49:29 GMT
I believe the amount is relative to your income and situation.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 13:52:17 GMT
Depends on the age and the needs that year...sorry I am not more helpful!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 13:59:28 GMT
Depends on the age and the needs that year...sorry I am not more helpful! Thanks for participating. I mainly wanted to see if what I wanted to spend (@$140 on gifts) was a lot higher than the norm, and I see it's not. I'm having a hard time narrowing down what to get him...I always do, lol.
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Post by anxiousmom on Jul 11, 2014 14:01:58 GMT
I have a kid who is both a bit of an introvert and fairly empathetic. From the time he was around five, he has preferred to pick his "perfect day." It generally involves going to lunch, book stores, movies, ice cream, the beach...with either just me, me and his brother, or me and his grandmother (and her credit card LOL)
This is going to sound like the poor pitiful mom thing, but it isn't meant to-more to illustrate that this particular child is very sensitive to *my* moods. He just had his sixteenth birthday. I asked him what he wanted to do, or what he wanted and he said that he wanted to invite his girlfriend over, watch a movie, have a dinner of his choice and cake.
It happens that I am currently unemployed and have zero extra income. All of what he chose would cost me hardly anything. I think he knew that and chose accordingly.
We had fun. He said the day was "perfect." I know it probably wasn't, but it was nice. Really nice. He also "allowed" me (hahahaha) to invite a girlfriend of mine and her son.
I feel awful that I couldn't buy him a gift. Simply awful. But I am so incredibly grateful for his attitude.
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Post by melanell on Jul 11, 2014 15:25:30 GMT
I totally misread this question as how much is spent on a party, not on gifts!
I have no budget for gifts and no idea what I have spent in the past.
He tends to get so many gifts each year that we don't really need to go crazy ourselves. So the party is our 1st gift, and then we just make sure we have at least one wrapped gift for the day of the party and one for his real birthday.
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Post by jeremysgirl on Jul 11, 2014 15:27:47 GMT
I have a budget of $60 per child for gifts. We have five kids. My 14 year old DD usually wants clothes so we just go shopping. My 12 year old DS usually wants some videogame. And the littler ones are still into toys.
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Post by whipea on Jul 11, 2014 15:59:21 GMT
No children, but yesterday I spent about $50 for my dog's 2nd birthday. He spent the day at the dog resort which includes a pool, lounge chairs, fountains and a big field with agility obstacles. Then a special dinner including cheese burgers and a few new toys. We did not invite his "friends", it would have been a bit too pricey.
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Post by finally~a~mama on Jul 11, 2014 17:14:32 GMT
Our children are still little. Gifts have probably averaged about $50. One year I remember it was $35 and for DD's 5th it was probably closer to $100. This year was more $ because I realized everything I bought her was educational related and not something to just play with so then we added a couple small toys.
We do big family parties and those run about $150-200 for supplies, food, and cake. I buy a cake from a bakery because I want something pretty for pics, not the crap I can make. :
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 11, 2014 17:26:06 GMT
At that age, I really didn't spend a lot on presents. Part of that is family dynamics. With grandparents and other family purchasing gifts, they were already going to be getting a fair amount of presents. The presents at that age are also typically not that expensive - so $150 is probably quite a few actual gifts. We're not big fans of a mountain of presents, and it often takes away from their enjoyment of any of the actual gifts.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2014 17:44:59 GMT
You're right Darcy. It's just that I don't buy him much except on birthdays and Christmas, so my list of the things I want to get him gets rather large.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Jul 11, 2014 19:22:51 GMT
Can you pass on some ideas to family jodster? My kids' grandparents are always looking for ideas - well except my MIL when it comes to my daughter - than it's clothes, clothes and more clothes. I thought once she outgrew the "cute" clothes stage, she would start buying other things, but not so much. Lucky for me, I hate clothes shopping, and shopping with a tween is even worse!
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 13, 2014 4:20:25 GMT
We usually buy one big present for birthdays, so usually $150+.
We also do parties every year and spend about $250 on the party.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2014 4:45:15 GMT
We do a family party at home, with the birthday person choosing the theme and menu. Games, cupcakes, food etc we don't really do big gifts. Everyone pitches in...grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc
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Grom Pea
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Jun 27, 2014 0:21:07 GMT
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Post by Grom Pea on Jul 13, 2014 6:08:31 GMT
I picked 150+ because I thought you meant the party. I can easily spend $150 on food alone. Around here its popular to go to a party place which is roughly $300. Our parties still include parents and our friends though. Gift wise I'd love to spend a lot but we have one son who its an only grandson, so he gets way more than he can play with, so I've spent very little to keep the clutter down. I'm sure I'll make up for this when he's a teenager and wants a guitar or a computer etc. right now I love throwing parties but hopefully kid #2 won't get the shaft of me being burnt out on parties.
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Post by ptamom on Jul 13, 2014 6:40:49 GMT
Early years, we did some kind of birthday place.
Chuck E Cheese. Pump it up. Boomers. Places that hosted the party, provided the entertainment and food, and kids were picked up within two hours. Probably $200 total for a party.
DD stopped wanting place parties at 8 yo, she wanted a sleep over, with entertainment.
We bought lots of art kits for the kids to do, and hired a teen to help out. Made an elaborate dinner, involving Fondue. Not cheaper, but longer. Teen helper went home when we were getting the girls ready to sleep, but they didn't really sleep, and in the morning, we made breakfast. Long party.
Last year we talked DS into taking a few friends to an amusement park for a day, in lieu of inviting a bunch of aquaintances to the jumping place for a few hours. So much better.
Will do that again this year.
But I think overall it costs about the same.
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tagsie2000
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Jun 25, 2014 21:05:21 GMT
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Post by tagsie2000 on Jul 13, 2014 8:47:57 GMT
It really depends on whether there is anything specific they need or want. Gifts have varied between a DS and accessories with a couple of games to some craft stuff and books, depending on the wishlist. We tend to spend more on Christmas than birthdays.
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Post by fruitysuet on Jul 13, 2014 10:23:09 GMT
Originally I put 100-150. But realised mine are older now and looking back I think that generally the younger they are the cheaper you can get away with. So I've amended it to 50-100 for the age of your DS, especially if he is developmentally delayed. My DD was/is and she has always been happy with simple gifts (top of her santa list one year was a McD's happy meal!).
Also we have always had parties from when they started school so I always factored the cost of those in with whatever we could afford overall (mainly our parties were home based until they hit around 10 or 11 and then outings were always restricted to what I could fit into a 7 seater eg self, kid, 5 guests).
ETA the cost of the party is not included in the cost of the gift of your poll, but a more expensive party would mean less money to spend on the gift if you get what I mean.
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