... To be annoyed at parents organising parties for the last week in January

[Everexpanding]

Is it not a truth universally acknowledged that the vast majority of people are super skint the last week in January, could you wait one more week to organise your child's party, four invites received this week for this weekend arghhh small school everyone knows when parties are on, just enough for food seriously can't stretch to four presents, everything broke this month super screwed

ZanyMobster both car and boiler 😖 this month

zany , you really don't get that not everyone has enough money to spread the cost of these things?

Let me spell it out. If your income barely covers rent and bills you have nothing to save for birthdays and Christmas.

YAB totally U - the children can't help when their birthdays are, not everyone is "super skint" and if you struggle in January, you have a small bag of presents bought cheaply at other times to account for this.

My DCs love Maltesers. A friend of mine bought them each a box one year at Christmas and they still talk fondly about the time they had their own box of Maltesers. 4 x boxes of Maltesers = 4 quid = job done!

Make something? Loads of ideas on online. A broke friend made a tiny doll from a blob of clay and a few scraps of fabric for my DD a few years ago and we absolutely treasure it. The plastic stuff she got and outgrew is probably in charity shops by now, but we still love that little doll!

Spot on allowlsthinkalot barely scraped through last year many in similar situation in my experience perversely easier to budget when you have more money I think, buying ahead/in bulk etc.

I would love for my autistic son to be invited to any party he is always left out. So IMO YABU. My birthday was at beginning of January as well and it was a non event

I'm always annoyed at people who can't be bothered with my early January birthday because they're "skint". It's the same time every year!!!!!

Guitargirl can never have too many Maltesers, good idea, reckon their mums might kill me though

I am sorry that happens Vickibee can not actually understand when people do that, and sorry you have experienced that, here it is whole class or none

Yabu, people have parties close to DC birthday. Pound shop for chocolates or cheap gift. Card factory for 5 cards for av£1 job done

Maybe parents should send out a spreadsheet for all parents to fill in, decide on the most affluent month of the year and then everyone have their kids parties in that month?

I overheard this conversation the other day:
Mum 1: Dd's been asking about her own birthday party - it's ages away though!
Mum 2: what month is her birthday?
Mum 1: August
Mum: ah well, can I make a suggestion? Do her party in September when everyone's back at school after the summer hols - were away in August so won't be able to come
(Mum 1 had not given a specific date or even indicated that mum 2's child would be invited)
Worst thing was, mum 1 seemed to be considering it!

Yabu

Christmas doesn't suddenly occur one year and not the next! Plan better, buy less and lower your dcs expectations. If you have chosen to spend too much over xmas, that's not the party children's fault.

If you're really struggling, get malteasers or similar. Our local supermarkets are selling off Xmas chocs cheap at the moment. You could do the lot for under a fiver.

I'm sorry January is tough money wise for you but it is the child's birthday in January so I think having the birthday in January is fine

Molly in fairness summer holiday parties aren't well attended due to people being away and forgetting.

I sympathise OP, right after Christmas is a lean time for a lot of people (excepting, of course, super-fiscally smug and sanctimonious savvy and responsible MNers who feel the need to judge you) even if the previous year hadn't been a struggle.
With a Jan born ds myself, and my ex-DH in a seasonally affected trade, some years I found it a struggle putting on a proper celebration for him and was totally aware of how hard it might be for others at a time when even a fiver in a card could be a budget stretch too far. Yy to the regifting idea if your dc got any small, cheap things for Christmas they won't miss.

Don't go to the parties. Or just take a £1 box of maltesers from the pound shop.

😂 cheers Splendorsolis

@guitargirl snap!

Oh sorry my daughter was born in January.. I'll move her birthday party to mid June, to make it more convenient for parents like you.

DH and I both have birthdays at the end of January. If you are a child you want your party on your birthday, or the nearest Saturday, not on a random date when people can afford a present.

Everexpanding - that is totally rubbish. Not much can be done about that unfortunately.

Allow in that case people are living above their means, if you can't afford to spend loads on presents in June then you can't in December either surely. I have been there and it's crap but I could never bring myself to spend more than I have so was always equally as skint in Jan as any other month.

Things are different now so I work out what we need for xmas/birthdays, see what we can afford then split it across the year. I am not the only one to have said the same thing on here. All my close family birthdays are between Nov and Feb so I can't not buy for them as I would if their birthdays are at another time just because it's near Christmas.

yy to Maltesers, my DCs would love to get a box of Maltesers for their birthday as much as anything else.

Now I realise why nobody ever came to my birthday parties as a kid. It wasn't because I was a Norma No Mates (although I kind of was ) but because everyone was skint. Especially in the 1970s.

You don't have to bring gifts, especially for all class parties (30 gifts is too much for any child). Just get your kid to make 4 cards and maybe buy a back of stickers, one of the ones with multiple sheets, and put a sheet in each card