How much to spend on a pressie?

[JimmyMcNulty]

Ds1 (3.6) has been invited to the birthday party of a girl from pre-school along with most of the rest of the class. All previous parties we've been to have been close friends of his/ours, but this one I only really know the mum by sight and know that her dd will be starting school at the same time as my ds.

What kind of pressie would be expected? I don't want to spend loads but really don't want to seem stingy either! is £5-£10 about right?

I only ever spend £5 on a present unless its a special friend.

A fiver round our way

I would go for £5 or less too.

£48.50 is the going rate.......nah, a fiver is about right!

was £5 8 years ago, thank goodness inflation hasn't hit gifts!

I normally go for something that would cost between £5-10 - but try to collect bargains. Eg I just got a supply of bogof Power Rangers from Sainsburys

Have to say at DS's birthday I was shocked at the generosity of some of the presents - £20 type stuff. However he is just after Christmas and I wonder if a lot were duplicate gifts... well I hope they were as I can't afford to reciprocate with similarly priced presents!

I buy in the sales. Most gifts round these parts are about a tenner. I buy in the sales in Jan and July and keep a stash in pressie box - most cost about £5 to £15 but are worth £10-30 rrp.

Thanks - good to know I'm in the right ballpark!

Many years ago a friend gave me the advice - spend on the present how much you think the place at the party has cost.

I like this idea.

I.e. Home in the garden tends to be about £5
Village hall with entertainer tends to be £5-£10
Soft play about £8
More specialised party £10-£15.

HTH

I generally spend about £5. Although did spend £10 for a party DS just went to, but he hadn't been invited to any parties for a while and was especially pleased to be invited to this one .

I've never considered how much the party cost in terms of how much to spend on a present - when DS has had parties we have it wherever it is because that's where he/we want it to be rather than to get a certain price of present.

Just to clarify I certainly do not expect other people to do that when attending my dc parties, but I just found it helped me.

It was when the parties were getting more specialised and only 2 or 3 people were being invitied and I was feeling embarrased turning up with a £5 present, having done that for years with whole class parties, and I asked a friend what she thought and that was when she made the suggestion.

Sorry if I sounded snipey - my children have been a little "trying" this morning

No prob my first post prob sounded like I was being tit for tat and that wasn't the case it was just something I found that worked for me