How much do you spend on your LO's birthdays?

[Shootingstar2289]

Hi all. Not wanting to turn this into a debate or a conception. Just curious!

How much do you spend on your children's birthdays?

We spent a fair bit on my DS who turned 6 in April. Probably over £200. I didn't realise how much we'd bought until I wrapped it all.. eek. My excuse is that I spoil him because he didn't understand birthdays until a year ago (he had Asd).

My daughter is two soon. Was looking at spending about £80 but you can't seem to get much for your money these days! I've added four small items in my Amazon basket and it's already at £50.

Also, present ideas for a two year old girl please?

My dd will be 2 next month and we'll spend £50-100. I've got her a set of books already but she's also getting:
-a pirate outfit
-a toy till
-brio train
-this bubble making thing for the bath
-Some Happy land people

That might be it but if I see something else I think she'd like I'll get it. I don't have a rigid budget tbh, just as long as they have some things they'll like.

No more than £100 but we do class parties which usually cost £500.

DSC £100 each as it seems fairer to me for them to have the same budget but I have noticed you don't get a lot for your money (and some really giant boxes)

Don't have a budget really. Between £100-300 depending on what they want/need are into.

Just turned 8 year old dd got a Fitbit as main gift then around another £50 worth of smaller gifts but then I added in her new school bag and pencil case etc which weren't really birthday gifts but bulked out the presents.

Thanks all. I think it's easier to spend less when they are younger. My six year old wanted everything whereas my two year old would be happy with a pack of pens ha.

Neither children get big parties - just a little family thing. DS won't manage it and my DD doesn't know many children her own age! So I save on that.. lol!

I think its all relative to what you have. When we were hard up £20, now they are adults and should probably have £20 but we are comfortable so probably £300 or more.

edited to add: we are a short family so they are still my LOs

Oh and they either have a main gift OR a party.

Around for £50 for presents. My eldests parties are normally around £150-200.

It depends what you count in as 'presents'. DS is having a trampoline this year which is £400. Obviously that is a lot but loads of kids have trampolines so I guess they have all received a 'present' that big and not morphed into Verruca Salt.

DS also needed a new bike this year so his GPs bought him the next size of Islabike 'for his birthday' (although he had it a few months ago). If we add the tramp and the bike together that is £800 and he'll probably get small presents from his raft of relatives too. I expect it'll total a grand at the end of the day- but he won't receive 'much' in terms of a heap of unwrappable gifts if that makes sense?

For her first birthday, we spent a few hundreds on a party, hired out a church hall, etc. For her second birthday, I made a small cake and we had photos at home, she got a scooter from her grandparents, and we bought her a book. She was really happy both birthdays, and we're not sure how much she understood that it was her birthday. For her third birthday, we might have a party at home and invite close family and 3 of her closest nursery friends. Budget maybe £100 for food.

We went way over the top last year when ds turned 6. We got a wooden playhouse for the garden, spent a couple of hundred on a party and same again on presents. I was heavily pregnant and in guilt hell because I was struggling and felt like he'd had a crap summer.

This year it's presents, a party at home for family and a trip to Alton towers. Dd will turn one about ten days later and will have a cake and a few presents, I have to tone it down.

I feel like an awful mummy typing this but generally we haven't spent more than £10 on our DD birthday presents for the past 3 years (she's turns 4 later this year). It's not intentional it's just there's nothing she's reallly needed or wanted so a box of crayons or some paints have seemed adequate. I have always taken her out somewhere for the day though, like beach or the forest and made a special picnic of her favourite things and devoted the whole day to her and given my undivided attention. To be honest, it's my favourite day of the year, as I can go to bed knowing my little girl has had the best day. Saying all that, I have a feeling this year might be slightly more costly as she has worked the whole birthday thing out and added the entire toy shop to her "birthday list"!!

Around £100 on party /treat and no
more than £80 on presents. We buy little bits and bobs from charity shops and get one 'main pressie' for up to £30/40

My eldest is four.

We buy one present from us and one from her siblings.

We don't but big gifts as she has had a party the last couple of years, costing £250 ish.

Usually we spend below £50 for presents. She gets lots of presents from party guests and extended family and we have no room for more toys.

I still feel like they have too much and take it for granted.

Around £50. Previous years it's been a much more expensive item of clothing than she'd usually be bought, as the main gift, and then a cheaper toy or book. But her birthday is very close to Christmas so I don't want to go overboard on her birthday with lots of toys.

This year will be a bit different as she's now at the point of needing a bike, and I won't spend that much on just one Christmas gift, so she'll get cheap clothing this year and the bike - reversing the usual.

I try to keep birthday and Christmas costs quite limited. My approach has always been that I should never raise the budget for these special occasions above what I could scrimp and save to afford in our leanest financial year. Means that I'll never have to have a year when she looks at her gifts and wonders why they're so cheap/small this year, and it helps me to feel that I'm not spoiling her with material things.

She simply doesn't need that much stuff. We're forever clearing random little gifts and freebies she's picked up out of the many toy boxes in her room - things she never uses and that have no value in terms of self-improvement or even real enjoyment - so I'm very careful to pick things she'll really make use of or will really, really enjoy. And that doesn't have to cost a lot.

We only do one birthday present, which they can pick within reason. Some years it's been £20, some years £100. This year my 10yr old got a phone contract for his birthday which will probably cost more than he's ever had spent on him before.

We make it a special birthday day in lots of other ways though. They always get their pals over for a birthday tea/takeaway pizza, I do birthday pancakes for breakfast with candles. I bake a cake. We've got lots of family so they get lots even if we only buy one gift.

£100 ish for presents if we're ok. I think we spent £70 on DS1 & 2 this year - they are 6 days apart so it's difficult! DS1 didn't have a party - went to HP tour instead. He has ASD and, harsh as it is, doesn't have real friends to invite to a party any more. DS2 had a soft play party for £75.

DS3 only wants family over for a barbecue so he'll get a bit more cash on presents, about £100. I've spent £20 on it already and his birthday isn't until September

DD is a December baby so I try not to go too mad as it all comes within 3 weeks for her!

DS is 1 in a little over a week & we've gone with the idea of him having something to read, something to wear & something to play with when it comes to birthday & Christmas gifts rather than have a set budget

The year he's got:
Melissa & Doug blocks (reduced from TK Maxx)
A wooden train (reduced from TK Maxx)
A shopping basket with packets of fake food (reduced from TK Maxx)
3 dinosaur books from Amazon
My First Steiff - this is a sentimental gift to mark his 1st birthday
We've not found an outfit yet so might just wrap an outfit he's not worn yet but should be starting to fit into.

Overall it'll be around £50-70 (higher end if we do find an outfit/some pjs for his birthday night)

It varies year on year. Dd1 got a tablet for her 6th so that year was about £150. She was 7 this year and didn't ask for anything big so it was about £60.

For her toddler/pre school birthdays it would have been about £50 a time but she had softplay parties so they made it more costly.

For birthdays I spend £100-200 per child
I try to get away with 100 if I can mostly but toys are expensive now

Dd is 2, we spent about £100 on her last birthday and we had a little party at home as it is a summer birthday. Ds is due in December so will probably spend more on him for parties when he's at school age. Annoyingly looks like they are both going to have school holiday birthdays so will be harder to organise birthday parties with school friends