https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 02 May 2026 21:27:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49829 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:18:45 +0000 tequiero21 49829@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@NYCaliMama: my friends/family have never expressed that they were offended. and i did ask ahead of time what would be appropriate. just wasn't sure if the money i spent was reasonable, you know?</p> <p>@mamabolt: yeah, i definitely don't want to start a trend getting expensive gifts!</p> <p>@mrsbells: my friends introduced me to melissa &amp; doug. fun craft stuff and wooden blocks at a really reasonable price.</p> <p>@babylove: thing is, i used to get them gifts every time i saw them... cuz it wasn't often. you know? but now, i'm trying to limit it to special occasions. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49821 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:12:20 +0000 BabyLove 49821@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I tend to spend more if I'm closer to the familiy. We get invited to a lot of kid's parties that are technically the child of a friend of a friend. For that kiddo, I'd spend about $30. For, say, our niece and nephews- we spend a considerable amount more. Probably closer to $50-70. But really, I think that's too much. Kids don't expect expensive gifts, and can just as easily love a $15 gift as they can a $70 gift. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49773 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:54:34 +0000 Mrsbells 49773@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I dont think children need expensive gifts either, The only thing I am willing to spend more money on is books or reading tools like leap frog. But regular toys just dont need to be that expensive. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49772 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:52:08 +0000 mamabolt 49772@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I were just arguing about this over the holidays - he wanted to spend $50/kid on his friends' kids! I said $20/kid was plenty, and I don't want to start a pattern with this group of friends of giving big gifts at every occasion. I don't want my own child to get a ton of expensive presents that we'll have to figure out what to do with. One of his friends actually said the same thing, that they were trying to minimize toys, and a gift card to a bookstore would be the most awesome gift. But I don't want to be a dictator with friends and family telling them what is or isn't an acceptable present. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49705 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:52:46 +0000 looch 49705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think this only gets more difficult as kids get older....what do you do when the whole class has to be invited to birthday parties and you've got 20 kids in the class? If you're spending $25 a child, that's $500 a year on birthday gifts, not including family and friend parties. It gets out of control.<br /> I also try to limit the amount of "stuff" we have around, I certainly don't feel the need to fill up our living space with 20 extra toys a year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49691 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:44:23 +0000 SAHM0811 49691@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with the first sentence of your post. $20 is sufficient for a kid's gift. But the quality of the party the parents throw shouldn't have anything to do with how you feel how cheap/expensive the gift you bring is. </p> <p>For example, I threw my first DD a pretty expensive 1st birthday party, but that's because it was a huge milestone for my hubby and I to have survived that first year, and I wanted to splurge and celebrate with a nice venue, good food, a beautiful cake, and decor. It was at a historic landmark (a famous carousel) and I rented a cotton candy machine and old school popcorn cart... And yes she won't remember it, but I also had a family friend photographer shoot pro shots. But just because I did all that doesn't mean I expected people to give expensive gifts. I did not want expensive gifts in return. Really, I didn't. It was about celebrating her first ever birthday, our first year as parents, and that's it!</p> <p>Don't ever feel guilty about the price of a gift. The thing with kids' stuff these days anyway, in my opinion, is that it's easy to get something fun or practical for $20. As a parent, some of the best gifts we've enjoyed for our DDs are books, and you can get a lot of those for $20. I got my nephew a personalized superhero cape off of Etsy for Christmas and it was inexpensive at $25, but it's his most favorite item he's ever owned (literally).</p> <p>I also think if your friends are offended with an inexpensive gift, that's their problem... Don't feel bad about it! Though I know what you mean... If you are worried about a gift not being well received, ask the parent ahead of time what the kid needs or would want. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49689 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:58:31 +0000 tequiero21 49689@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>well, it's definitely not that we can't "afford" the gifts.... i just know my husband's stance - he doesn't understand why we need to get kids expensive stuff. and i'm trying to respect that by not spending too much. it used to be pretty easy for me to spend $50 on children's gifts (of close friends and family).... but now, i try to spend around $20-25 because of my hubby. i just don't want to appear too cheap if that's not the norm. plus, we're in ny/nj area, so the cost of living is higher here - does that mean we have to spend more? lol. i just don't want my friends to get offended.... =T i have absolutely NO qualms about people spending $20 or under on my kids' gifts. and i don't intend to throw them fancy smancy parties. sigh. there's a fine line between cheapo and reasonable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49660 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:35:51 +0000 mrs. tictactoe 49660@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on your budget alone. Even if you're really close with someone, sometimes you can't afford to spend a lot of money on gifts! It really shouldn't matter at all and if people are keeping tabs, then they need to check their priorities. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49654 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:18:17 +0000 Red 49654@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>$20-25 for acquaintances, $40-50 for close friends and family or Sometimes for close friends/family, I'll volunteer to help with some aspect of the party (ie make the birthday cake or favors, etc.) and then buy something small for them to open. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49636 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:36:06 +0000 MsMini 49636@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right now we do $50 for nieces/nephews, and $30-40 for friends kids. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49635 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:33:05 +0000 Boogs 49635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We spend what we can afford and it also depends on our relationship with them. We don't take into account what they spend on their party because that's their choice. There are some family members who give $10 gifts, so we spend that in return to keep things fair. But, there are other, closer family members who spend closer to $40 and we are comfortable spending that in return. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49602 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:44:30 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 49602@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also think it depends on how close you are with the family. For cousins that I don't see that often I think $20 is a perfectly reasonable amount to spend. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49591 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:12:38 +0000 chopsuey 49591@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on how well you know the child/family and how old the LO is. We only spend $20 on DH's niece's 1st birthday. However, we spent $50 on DH's other niece's 5th bday present. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49590 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:09:41 +0000 heffalump 49590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends how close you are to the person, along with what you can afford. For my niece we used to spend $50, but now it's $20 because that's what we can afford. With friends I would spend $20. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49570 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:10:31 +0000 junebugmama 49570@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I probably spend around $50 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49565 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:50:07 +0000 banana 49565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I usually spend $20 for a child's gift for acquaintenances/friends I'm not that close to. For close friends/family I'll spend around $50. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49551 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:58:09 +0000 Sha 49551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i agree, it just depends on how close i am to the family/kids. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49548 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:50:21 +0000 owlmom 49548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I feel the same way about this as I do for wedding and shower gifts - the amount I spend is entirely dependent on my relationship with the gift recipient. It's the host's choice how much she spends on the party, not mine.<br /> And $20 for a child's birthday gift seems sufficient to me, at least it is where I live. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-is-acceptable-to-spend-on-gifts#post-49543 Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:38:58 +0000 tequiero21 49543@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>i feel that $20 is very sufficient for children's gifts. but i see the parties they throw and then i feel so cheap. how much are we supposed to spend? does it depend on what kinda party? at a gym or restaurant vs. at home, whether they hire a face painter/balloonist, etc? </p>