If your DC is in a London private primary, how much do you spend on schoolmates' birthday presents? (light-hearted and superficial)

[Primafacie]

Title says it all. DD is in reception and we have a gazillion class birthdays between now and Christmas. What's the normal spend on presents? I am aiming to be firmly in the zone between 'cheapskate' and 'show off' :o

Thanks

[HormonalHousewife]

How old ?

£10 in prep and £15 in senior

(not in London though...

[celestialsquirrels]

Oxford
£15 in prep (£20 for best friends)
At senior they buy their own presents for friends from their allowances which makes life easier for me!

[Primafacie]

Thanks Hormonal and Celestial (two words I don't often put in the same sentence :)). That's very helpful.

[celestialsquirrels]

??

[celestialsquirrels]

Whoops I meant

[EverybodysStressyEyed]

I get presents worth 10 but try not to pay more than £5-6

[SanityClause]

For a "whole class" party, £10-15; for a close friend, often more, depending on what the friend likes.

DS has a lovely friend whose parents are very generous with DS. DS was talking to him, and he said he'd like a specific Wii game. This was nearly £30, but under the circumstances I was happy to spend the money.

Hama beads are often popular at that sort of age, a good price, and good for fine motor skills.

[areyoutheregoditsmemargaret]

No more than £10

[DowntonTrout]

En masse, whole class parties. Up to £10.

Close friends up to £15.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Around £10-15

[Mominatrix]

For the lower years, up to £10. Upper years of primary, they seem to have smaller more selective parties and I spend £15-£20.

[Marsupialsrule]

£10-15 on the private school friends and £5-10 on state school friends, puts the oiks in their place

[Primafacie]

Marsupial, that's really clever - I hadn't thought of doing it that way. Thanks.

[Fridayschild]

No more than £10. If the party is a shared one I ask for one present per guest total, if you see what I mean. Birthday kid still gets about ten presents, which is more than enough.

The families who like to show how much money they have spend twice that.

[sapfu]

lol at marsupial's clever idea

I shall henceforth give the state school urchins some rags to clean their dirty faces, and perhaps a small book called 'Peter Pickpocket' or 'Charlie Chimney Sweep' to give them career aspirations. Frankly, we're trying to lose that kind of friend, one's children might catch mispronunciation of the letter 'h', or start watching ITV. [horror]


Meanwhile, no more than a tenner for school friends, and a bit more for best pals.

[ripple11]

Small class size, so everyone is invited.
Parents take it in turns to buy one big present based on £5 each child...therefore one headache a year ;-)

[littleoaktree]

We've only had a couple of parties so far (ds1 is reception in London pre prep), I've spent £5-£10.

[witchremix]

We are in London but not private. Presents generally £15ish or cash/ voucher for £20 in card.

I read on here of presents £5-10 but what do you actually buy for that?! I can't ever see anything for that price in the toy shop!

[EverybodysStressyEyed]

www.amazon.co.uk/Includes-Storybook-Playmat-Figurines-Princess/dp/B008O4B06M/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1384119951&sr=8-8&keywords=disney%20figure%20book&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

I got a book like this (different characters for boys) on special offer in smiths so they were 2 for £10. I generally buy a load when i see things and keep a stock!

[MajesticWhine]

between £10 and £15 in primary school. But if you have stacks of birthdays, go to Tiger. They have lots of really cheap things that are perfectly nice enough for a birthday present.

[Artandco]

About £10. Usually stock up when on offer though. And usually just give books ( as figure everyone already has loads of everything!).

I have some leatherbound hardcover childrens books that's are really lovely. Peter Pan was £4.50 reduced from £25, a few different ones by Roald Dahl were £6 in sale ( usually £20 ish also) and some dr suess collections around same price

[Karoleann]

My limit is £10, but w have a cupboard of toys which are either regifts or one's on special offer so its usual I buy something specific for a class birthday party. I do spend £10-15 on friends.

[IAlwaysThought]

Max £10 but don't spend much on the card and gift bag.

You should spend more if you are nouveau rich and much less if you are landed gentry/old money or titled.

[IAlwaysThought]

I forgot to put a at the end of my post

[oscarwilde]

£10 but it's not a hard limit, I just try to get lots of discounted books at Bookpeople when they come into the office so I have a rolling stock. DD is still in nursery though so expectations are generally low, I hope. Hopefully, I won't find that I am firmly in the cheapskate camp when her birthday comes around.
A best friend, cousin or close family friend is a bit different though. Plus I have an idea as to what they are interested in and have already