How much do you spend on birthday presents?

[LondonSuperTrooper]

Hello all,

I've probably posted in the wrong place/forum but here goes..... how much do you spend on a birthday present ? My son has just started reception and has been invited to a couple of parties from children from his class. For both parties the whole class is invited.

Also, one of the invitation is for a joint birthday party. Do spend a little less for each child?

Thanks.

About £5 unless it is a good friend. Most people have parties in reception and that is a lot of money if you spend £10 plus on each present! You can usually find good deals on books so just stock up now on nice ones like The Gruffalo. Or the craft sets you get in ELC etc are about £5-8 each.

Check out 'The Works' and supermarket toy/book sections. Also stationary section in Tescos good for fluffy pencil cases and glittery bits. Don't have to spend more than a fiver usually.

£5 max except really good friend. But usually things bought in sales so can often look at least £8-10.

Somewhere between £5-£10 usually. There are some good gift sets, annuals etc. in M&S for under £10. Also Lego sets are available for under £10 and they are always a hit. I sometimes buy a t-shirt as I also hate receiving lots of tat! My DD is also in reception and she has been invited to 8 parties so far this term!!! I have had to decline some as i just could not afford it and its also very exhausting to go to a party or 2 parties every weekend.

Now my youngest is nearly 9 and there are fewer party invites I must admit I "scale" the presents. More for close friends obviously, but DD got invited to be one of four taken to the theatre to see Mary Poppins recently so I did buy an extra nice present. Another friend did a "come for cake and a play" after school and the mum said clearly "we're not doing a proper party this year" so I bought a pack of three pretty nail polishes as a token gift (which still cost the equivalent of an English fiver) but it was clear that the birthday child expected the full monty!

around £8, less if I can get something in the sale or even better nothing if I can recycle one of the dc's unwanted gifts!

I get the Argos buy 2for 15.00 every time and put the other away. So about 7 pounds per child. Sometmes I have spent about 10 or 12 if I can't get to Argos but dont like this!

Gosh, some people are very generous. I usually spend somewhere between 5-10 on each child, more if it's a "best" friend or a special trip for a small group, e.g. a theatre visit etc. To be honest, I feel a little uncomfortable when either of my dcs gets an overly generous gift from someone they hardly know.

I've heard of some PTA's advising their classes - "we'll all agree now - whole class parties £5 per gift maximum." I applaud that - it makes it clear and easy for everyone.

I am VERY happy if my DC's get a £5 book/amazon/build a bear token. If it's not quite enough to buy what they want outright, they can add their pocket money - it's a good lesson to learn. A couple of times, the mums have grouped together and all bought a £5 build a bear voucher each, which means the child has a nice sum to go and spend. Perfect!

£5 absolute max, and less if I can. I never buy plastic tat, ever; it's always a reading book or craft item from this house, and you can easily pick then up for less than a fiver in packs from The Book People etc. As they get older I might branch out into a nice t-shirt or something like that, but I refuse to feed the plastic landfill mountain. I loath receiving it, regardless of what ds1 wants, there's just far too much of it.

no more than £5