Question about Birthday Gifts?

Now that they are in Kindergarten they are starting to receive the birthday invites. In Atlanta for some reason all of the parties we were invited to said no gifts...however the ones we are getting now don't say that...

So my question is, approximately how much do you spend on a gift? Just a ball park number. I know if it was a close friend or family friend everyone tends to spend more but these are new friends and we have not met the parents yet.

I know it's the thought that counts but I wanted to get an idea.

 

I know I am probably on the lower end of what most people spend but for a child's birthday party we only spend $10. If I am not sure what to get them we give them a gift card (try asking when I call to rsvp, but when they say oh they like anything then usually it's a gift card). My kids also make their own cards too. For us though that is what is in our budget to spend on gifts (I spend $10-15 on family, sometimes more as they get older).

 

Most people spent $10-15 per boy for T&T's party and we had the same "new friend" scenario going.

 

School friends (not any that we play without side of school) would be actual value of 10-20$.... but I usually buy on sale or with a coupon so spend a lot less.

It also depends on if my girls each do a smaller gift or do a bigger one together.

Family & friends we tend to spend more, but depends.

I would ask when you RSVP.

I often get books or art supplies....cant go wrong there!

 

I tend to spend between $15 and $20. Now that my boys are older, they and a lot of their friends are into DS games or Wii games, so I tend to give gift cards to Game Stop, that way the kids can combine a few to get a game that they want.

 

Thanks everyone...very helpful! I have a box of "instant" baby gifts when friends were having babies...now I need a school birthday tub of gifts! I like the idea of gift cards too.

 

My boys received a couple of cards with cash in them and they were so excited to go shopping with THEIR MONEY and pick something out. After walking around the toy department and discussing, they combined their cash and bought a $45 toy that they have wanted for a while. I used to hate when people gave money because at age 2, they didn't really understand what money was for. They're old enough now to start to learn the value of money and make such decisions. So, IMO, cash is better than gift cards because not only does it not matter where they spend it, it's a less abstract concept.

 

I aim for $15-20, or slightly more if the kids want to go in together on a bigger gift. (I wish they would do this more often, because it's a lot easier to find something appropriate in the $30-40 range, but of course they usually want to pick out a gift all by themselves.)

We're also finding that "no gifts" parties, which were the norm in preschool, seem to be falling away as their friends start kindergarten. (They have many preschool friends who wound up on the other side of the K cutoff.) It's a bummer. I may have to revise my price range down when A&S are actually in K next year.

 

For a classmate, I generally spend $12-15/ gift....and each of my boys brings their own gift (so a total of $25-30).

I feel that all of their friends bring each of our twin boys a gift on their bday. So when they are invited to a party, each of my boys bring their own seperate gift.

 

We do the same as Debbi. Each boy takes a gift, because frankly, I expect each boy to receive a gift on their own birthday. We spend about $10/gift.

 

We also bring separate gifts too or we would if my girls were ever invited to the same birthday party. Since they started kindergarten and were put in separate classes I don't think they were ever invited to the same birthday party yet.

 

I guess sometimes we do a joint gift since we get joint gifts, I have no problem with it.

Sometimes we have had friends give large gifts to the girls that would be to pricey as 'one' gift, but for two kids to share it was great.

We also have done 'joint' gifts for kids in familes we are close to and cousins....I mean I could not afford a Wii game for both our nieces, but we gave them one they BOTH wanted to share. They were thrilled (they are 6 & 9). I also have given a soccer set to our neighbors boys...they loved it (ages 2 &5).

I guess it depends on the situation and children involved. I dont have a hard & fast rule about two gifts/ two kids --- twins regardless.

Maybe it is a regional thing?? A lot of our friends do joint gifts....and no one else we know has twins so I never thought twice about it!


We often get 'family ' gifts at the holidays from friends and family members ( area attraction passes, gift cards, etc) and DH and have shared gifts in the past (gift cards, household items, etc).

 

I don't have a problem with joint gifts either. We give them (both from our kids to other friends, and from DH and me to our kids) and we get them. I just wanted to be clear that if we are giving a joint gift, I'm willing to spend a little more.

 

Seems like that is the case for us as well.

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I think we'll have the same situation with the girls in separate classrooms.