... 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

Lljkk I am sorry that was your experience, that sucks. not moaning about them being invited I suppose just feeing a colossal amount of financial pressure at the moment and being a bit self indulgent self pitying, I am just tired of struggle. It is Not that my kids are super popular just the way of the school/ community they are in that all kids get invited even if their mother is odd😉

That's a reference to me not you

Not sure about the children want their party on their birthdays not weeks after comments ... my dd has birthday 23rd December and we're deliberately not holding the party until 29th Jan (and last year was in Feb). Because otherwise Christmas and birthday piled right on top of each other and all over before she blinks. This way she gets to savour the build up to her party, it doesn't get lost in xmas.
Although I'm aware OP would NOT be impressed by this!

Thanks for being gracious, @Everexpanding. i shouldn't have snapped. :(

Er, just say no to some of them?

I just snapped at Noradora, think we are all allowed to sometimes, I get your annoyance

So don't go.

Or if it helps, Asda do a 2 toys for £15 section so have a look there.

I understand what you mean though, frustrated because you're brassic yet have to show your face with a gift. No ideas other than don't go or the Asda thing.

My daughters birthday was 2 days ago and she didn't get much as we are skint, and the 'main' gift she got, she didn't like anyway!. So don't worry about spending a fortune.

Would say no but invites were given to children, so they would be really upset, and no excuse so mean to children having parties too. a scouring of the cupboards has uncovered two possible gifts, will wrap them before kids notice, feel crap but needs must, thanks for all suggestions and for indulging a moan

Cheers sausagefarmer will check out, good name

I totally get you. It's my twins birthday today, they aren't having a party until next month because we're skint so I expect others are too!

Or if it helps, Asda do a 2 toys for £15 section so have a look there.
is that a "cheap" present?
I spend between £1 and £5 on gifts for all class parties, only spend over £5 for close friend or small party. You can get 3 books for £5 in The Works and save 2 for other parties

Oh, just don't give a present. Honestly, does anyone give a damn? They will be inundated in plastic tat anyway.

I'm sure the birthday kids will care much more about your dc being there than about a gift!

OP you're getting a hard time here for a (semi) lighthearted thread.

Turkeydinosaurs what a barrel of laughs you are! So rude.

I get it - you think you're all organised - surviving the notoriously skint month for many of January then - bam (x4!).

If it were my son or daughter's birthday I would honesty feel it was better for your child to come than miss the party and I would not expect a present for my child.

It really depends if you have any disposable income at all.

There are tons of really cheap shops round my way and they are falling over themselves to give things at a good price.

I'd try and get some of the two for one or three for two deals. I know things my son loves are things like foamy soup in a Star wars can.

Like this www.boots.com/en/Kids-Stuff-Crazy-foam-bathtime-fun-foaming-soap-225ml_1361286/

B and M Bargains has Bop bags (I think like inflatable punch bags) from £1.99 or £2.99.

I'd save the cost of a card and get your child to make it. Recycle birthday paper too (I always try and save any or neutral Christmas paper).

www.bmstores.co.uk/products/the-simpsons-inflatable-bop-bag-313840

Home Bargains has plush toys for £2.

Disgust

Anger

These are down from £8!!

I fully recognize if you say the birthday child is 12 these suggestions will look weird!

If you want to go without the present then get a nice card from Clinton or somewhere. They have smashing ones with badges for just a couple of quid.

www.clintonsretail.com/sparkling-fairy-detachable-badge-birthday-card

Anyway, whenever my kids have birthdays the paper gets trashed and I have no idea who bought what!

The only present that may turn heads is a lot of chocolate, which I gave to an adult once when I did not know what to get for a Secret Santa, the adult was delighted but not so sure a child's parent would be (it was about £5 worth of chocolate as the limit was £5 and it was a while ago so I got a lot!).

The thing is, @Everexpanding, if some or all of these parents postponed their children's parties until February, you'd have them plus any February birthday parties to buy for.

The other thing I would say is that we invited children to the boys' parties because we wanted them to have fun with their friends, not to get presents - I don't remember us ever noticing that someone hadn't given a gift, and if we had, it wouldn't bother us for an instant. Same would have applied if they had just bought a box of maltesers.

And we would never have wanted someone to turn down an invitation because they couldn't afford a present.

Think of it this way OP - at least it's not your own kids' birthdays in Jan - the parents of the birthday dc have to pay for the whole party, usually a whopping expense. I agree with a lot of the above, get a box of maltesers for each of the kids.

If you really want to get something then the poundshop (or equivalent where you live) is fine. DD got a Galt crochet thing from the poundshop from one of her friends and really liked it (I'm assuming it was from the poundshop as they always have them in). Sweets would go down a storm as well. Our discount shop was doing massive bars of Galaxy for 49p when it was dc's last birthday (in date and everything!) so that was party bags sorted.
I maintain that if its a whole class party the child will likely neither know or care if your child brings a gift and a handmade card will be more likely to be appreciated - my kids keep them all and display them in their rooms.
A lot of party gifts we get are duplicates of other gifts from the same party (they tend to be what is going reasonably in the local area!) so a fair few end up at the charity shop. The parents will probably be glad of less gifts tbh.

My daughter's birthday is the end of january and that is when her birthday party will be. If the date of a party is inconvenient then don't go - people can't help when their birthdays are and I wouldn't dream of making my child wait an extra week for their party just to suit the (random) parents of a school friend. YABVU.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius arghhhhh don't tell me there are parents irresponsible enough to have children in February too! 😉

Just wait till November, 9 months after valentines, everyone's birthday is then!!

Geez my baby is due tomorrow, is he destined to a life of nobody turning up to his party?!

sj257,

Fear not: between extended family and close friends, we have many January birthdays (Easter holidays...a weird aphrodisiac?). Can't recall anyone feeling hard done by.

For 4 years running, ages 7-10, 3 of them had joint (campfire), large parties, always with a great turnout rate.

Friends enjoyed some excitement in the dull stretch after Xmas/ NY, and, sensitive to a lot of tight budgets, the policy was always 'no presents, just bring yourself ready to have fun, a torch and a cosy blanket!'.

Good luck for a safe (and hopefully speedy) delivery of your son!

YABU - kids have parties when their birthdays are barring some extenuating circumstances or family norms. A friend of mine was born on December 25th but when she was a child her parents let her choose another date in the year for her "birthday lieu day" so she could have a seperate birthday celebration rather than birthday/Christmas getting lumped into one. Also not everyone is brassic at the end of the month - I get paid 4 weekly so sometimes I am paid mid month, sometimes at the end/start of a month, so I might actually be really flush the last week of the month, but brassic by the start of next month and my brother gets paid weekly at his job so it makes no difference when you invite him!

Now that the discussion has moved on a bit to presents etc ... am I the only one who has a stockpile of little present-y bits and bobs on hand? I raid any post christmas sales and any other sales/great deals during the year to pick up cheap bits and bobs that can be used as little presents for when I'm skint and can't afford to go buy new stuff, forgotten birthdays etc and keep it all in a couple of plastic crates in the spare room wardrobe, along with all the wrapping paper/gift bags/birthday cards/scissors/ribbons/washi tape.

Post christmas it's currently choc full of sweetie gift sets, alcohol gift sets (with a mini bottle of wine/spirits & choc/wine glass), smellies sets, perfumes, kids dress up stuff, small toys and games, kids books (I have a lot of family/friends with preschool kids who always love a new story book for a change in the bedtime routine!) jewellery bits, accessories (nice scarf/cute coin purse etc) notebooks/stationary sets (I went a bit crazy in the Paperchase sale recently) etc etc and I don't think I paid more than about £5 for any individual item, though most were £2/3. I got an Andrew Barton haircare gift set - my mum will love it for her birthday in June - with 2 full size products, 3 travel sized products, a hairbrush and mirror for £2.50 that was retailing for £12 before christmas a couple of weeks ago in Asda, purely because they were trying to clear all the christmas stock.

YANBU! I don't know how things work in the UK these days but when I lived there we used to get paid on the last Thursday of the month - so some months had 4 weeks and some had 5. Added to the issue of Christmas (which meant being paid earlier because of bank holiday stuff) and then January being a longer month often there were more than 5 weeks in between Dec payslip and Jan money being banked.

When you're skint (as I was) and every penny of every month is allocated that extra week - even though the big bills of rent / heating / lighting are the same every month - there's an extra week of food that month, parties on top of it all would have had me in tears. I would have wanted my DC to go (and they would have wanted to go) and I would have been far too proud to quietly ask the birthday child's parents whether it would be possible to give a delayed present as money was too tight at that time of the year. It's all very well suggesting budgeting throughout, or 3 for 2 offers when you see them - but if you don't have that 10 pounds spare in June to pick up 3 items to save in a party gift stash then you just don't have it.

OP - some of the best presents my boys have been given for birthdays have been boxes of chocolates (second the maltesers!), or "cookie kit" type things (jar with appropriate quantities of flour, sugar, baking powder, choc chips in layers and a card attached with how many eggs and oil to add). The boys loved making their birthday cookies and the jars were recycled and cleaned Dolmio type ones with clingfilm and greaseproof over the top tied with string. Other hits have been homemade sweets, cookies, fudge - which may not be so expensive if you already have the staples in.

Actually thinking about it, the best one was home made cinder toffee with a small toy hammer to break it - they adored that one.

No. Because not everyone is superskint at the end of January because they dont all overspend at christmas.
If you said superskint at the end of every month, thats different as it suggests a low income (or high expenditures versus income), but singling out poor old January is just bad management of your own finances. Taking that out on a child's party is not ok.

YABU. Presumably they couldn't help when they gave birth, unless they were incredibly lucky.