How much do you spend on your child’s birthday?

[Duskisthebesttime]

Not party/day out/meal etc

But…presents, cake, balloons..how much do you spend on average in total?

Trying to cut my DD’s amount down as better go save that money back a bit, but I just get carried away with birthdays & Christmas, what is the average amount you spend? I suppose it also depends on the age of your child..for context, my Dd will turn 6

This thread just gives me another reason to be one and done! How do you afford all that x2, plus holidays, Christmas, and general life?!

Usually we say £200 max for our teens. DS is 4 and hates opening presents or having a different routine for birthday/Christmas so we don't buy a lot. £70 this year but that includes a mini trampoline, usually it's about £30.
We've blown budget a bit for eldest as she is 18 this year. Main present is about £300 plus a few cheaper bits (mainly books). She also wants to go out for a meal and drinks so that will probably be another £100 but you're only 18 once.

£500 does nt go far.

!!

Op we save each month for bday and Xmas but only once saving and essential and everything else is covered...

You may be well off, you maybe struggling. Nothing can help our dc more than a secure financial future. 300 on bday is fine if your really well off.

For years, not a lot. Couple of token gifts like books and art supplies and all decorations are reusable (fabric bunting for example). Presents are usually theatre tickets.

But this year, we spent £3k...

£160ish I only have one child though

That's just presents not going out ect
I thought mine was a lot some of you children get a lot

I’m baffled as to how many spend hundreds on here, then at Christmas often a lot more. Seems Mumsnet parents are mostly very high earners!

Exactly, yet we hear about so many families struggling to afford just the basics

It all depends on your income and budget, surely? I put some money aside every month to cover birthdays, so have a fairly fixed budget.

We go out for a meal on the DC's birthday. I'm divorced, but grin and bear a meal out with ex twice a year for the DC's sake so that they can see us both on their birthdays. So that is probably about £100 per birthday (£50 for my share). We split the cost of parties, but I tend to organise/host. DS didn't really do anything for his last birthday (teenager). DD has often had sleepovers, so the cost is quite low. Obviously more if they do an activity with friends. I don't think we'd spend more than £100 on a party, though (£50 per parent again).

When they were younger, we did parties at home and they each had one soft play party in primary. But mostly we did it ourselves with traditional party games, some crafts etc.

So, per child that's £200 if family meal + party with paid activity. Or around £130 if it's family meal + sleepover/party at home.

I make the cakes myself. My budget for presents is about £50 each (which is about what we spent before the divorce. Ex was tight about presents).

Around age 6, I'd say we spent a maximum of £250 per child per birthday for everything (probably be £300 now).

They're older now, so parties are smaller affairs with a handful of close friends.

If they want a specific present that's over my budget then I ask my parents or brother to contribute. Try to go for experiences over stuff if possible, but maybe get something else to actually open, e.g. a book and/or item of clothing. But I usually buy secondhand to reduce cost and for environmental reasons. DC are fine with that. If possible I get new with tags for birthdays (in the sales or from Vinted).

I can't imagine £300 worth of presents every birthday. Maybe as a one-off if they wanted a high-value item like a games console, and even then I'd probably ask my family to contribute and would have to cut back on other things for a month or two to pay for it. But if you can afford it then does it matter what the actual figure is?

I think that sounds excessive. I'd give a maximum of 5 wrapped gifts. I'd give the clothes and school stuff spread out over a few weeks or months, not specifically for the birthday. Too much hype for birthdays doesn't end well IME. Best to spread the joy!

I don't think it's about the value, that will vary a lot as one year they might have a new bike another year just little things.

This year was a foldable mini micro scooter deluxe (£100) and a meal out with tesco vouchers (£0 lol)
plus a new outfit including sale crocs (£20)
LO is still young so not asking for a party yet but I made a cake to share with siblings

Britain seems to be increasingly polarised between the rich and the very poor. MNetters are no exception. Most of the posters on this thread appear to fall into the former category.

It varies for us. We have 5 children and I feel like I spend a lot less on the smaller ones. So, as an example:
DS1 was 10 last month and he got-
Various Lego sets which totalled about £120
Book £10
Band T-shirts £20
Circuit lab £35
His main gift is a trip to legoland which was about £450 including hotel and tickets.
Cake was standard shop bought cake for £10
balloons were literally a £1 pack from Home bargains
No party but had takeaway and a trip to a gaming Arcade which cost around £100 all in.

DD3 (5) however cost a lot less-
Various barbie items costing £100 all in
some Disney princess dolls £30
Tonies £30
Books/art stuff £20
Cake- £10 shop bought
Balloons, again £1 pack
Birthday meal- about £100 in the local Hungry Horse

Last year for DS’s 10th was probably £5 for home made cake ingredients, £40 for the bits to have a Nerf party at home and £70 on presents. It obviously went down well as he wants a Nerf party at home this year 😁

We could afford more but don’t see the point since DS is happy.

Probably around £500. But if they choose more expensive clothes, these are mainly put away for birthday or Christmas. It also include sports kit (their hockey sticks are around £200).

I budget £500 each (in YNAB) for my two ks1 DDs. That's for party too so if they choose an expensive party then there's a smaller present.

We're not, but we save all year for presents and her birthday party so she can have a lovely time and we can buy her what she wants. We don't do abroad holidays and we live within our means the rest of the year.

This year:
£170 party venue
£15 decorations
£55 party bags
£40 food
£70 cake (just had a baby so not making one!)
£250 presents
Total: £600

Main expense is the party, and that's their present. They get a lot of presents from family and friends which is really overwhelming, so unless they need anything specific, we don't get them more presents.

We hate consumerism. My children have absolutely everything they need, and I want to instill in them that collecting "stuff" that will later get thrown away is bad for the planet and unnecessary.

I also give them the option of not doing an expensive party (small low cost one at home instead) and choosing a day out/experience as a present instead.

We are high earners but didn’t spend anything like the amounts some are posting- either did our friends for their DCs.

Does she not already have a bag, pencils, pens, etc. I don't get the mentality of getting new things when the old ones are still perfectly usable. I'd recommend teaching children to look after what they have for as long as possible.

I can guarantee you if you only get your DD the swing ball game she will be just as happy as if you got her that and all the other stuff you listed.

There will be consequences to our disgusting level of consumption. And it will be our children and grandchildren who suffer them.

Last year we spent around £100 on presents.
£200 on party.
And day out £100ish.
A relative had a Peppa cake made for her so that saved us £70 though I'm not sure I'd have a fancy cake done every year.

That was for DD who turned 2. I expect it to stay the same until she's a bit older.

We have 3 children
One turning 4 next week we've spent £500 on main present but it is for the garden and all children will play on it but she's the only one with a summer birthday, probably spent another £50/60 on gifts to open. We are on holiday so no lavish cake but I've brought a candle so we can stick it in something here. X

Usually max. 100 on gifts, 50-100 on a party. I've always done a party at home and made the cake myself e.g.
film&pizza
science&slime
gingerbread house decorating.

This year she didn't really want anything for her birthday so we did an activity for about 225 and she got a couple of small things. She's Yr 6 and I've said it's the last "party" so didn't mind spending a bit more than usual.

My ds is 15 and not hugely social so normally not much.

Last year I made him a chocolate cake - about £5, and he had assorted presents, about £50, plus £100 in cash. We went out to dinner - £35 So £225 in total.

This year he's just finished GCSEs so I'm taking him to the Algarve for a week, £1,000 and I'll buy him some small things, pay for his lifeguarding course over the summer, and give him some more money. Excluding the holiday, about £250

Clothing isn't a present for a young child, going out dresses or not, definitely not pyjamas or things for school. The only exception to this for me is if a teenager wants an expensive item, eg a particular pair of designer trainers when they already have ones they like and are still fine.
Take those items out of your budget and it'll be less.
I think we usually spend £2-300 but I don't set a budget in that way, I look at what he will like and get use out of. Also asking people for numbers is pointless, don't spend more than you can afford. We can spend £300 and not think about it. If you're going to have to go without in other areas or it's going to put you in debt, cut your cloth accordingly.