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Kid's birthdays

post #1 of 29
7/18/09 at 4:07pm
Thread Starter 
how much do you usually spend for someone else's kid's present?

I was talking to a friend in the US and he dropped about $80 on a gift for his 7 year old to give another kid at a birthday party. I dont have kids, but I dont remember giving gifts that pricey when I was young. Even now I only spend that kind of money on good friend's birthday presents (going out not included).

Few months ago an acquaintence was whinging that someone gave his kid a barmitzvah gift that he said "couldnt have cost more than $100". At the time I figured it was ust a one off high expectation, but have things changed that much?

These are not high rollers, typical sort of professional middle / upper-middle class people.

K
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post #2 of 29
7/18/09 at 4:10pm
Wow, when I was a kid (~10-15 yrs ago) gifts were usually around $20 or less.
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post #3 of 29
7/18/09 at 7:45pm
we spend 30 bucks on birthday presents. my (7 year old) son gets to 10-12 parties a year. bar mitzva about 100 bucks. my son's parties run us about 300-500 bucks for 20-25 kids.
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post #4 of 29
7/18/09 at 8:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by phildo View Post
Wow, when I was a kid (~10-15 yrs ago) gifts were usually around $20 or less.
+1. $80 bucks? On someone else's kid? Fuck that.
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post #5 of 29
7/18/09 at 8:18pm
For birthday parties, we usually bring a $10-$20 gift, and this seems completely in line with what the other kids/parents do. I absolutely cannot imagine bringing an $80 gift -- seems like it would make the recipient family uncomfortable.
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post #6 of 29
7/18/09 at 8:21pm
$20 to $30 depending on how well the kids know each oher
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post #7 of 29
7/18/09 at 8:24pm
Whatever happened to a card + $5 bill?

I'm 25 and when I was a kid, I rarely got a gift that was over $20. Most of the time it was in the $10-20 range and it wasn't as if my family/friends were struggling.

I think it just had to do with the fact that back then, toys were cheap. I got action figures and other various plastic toys. After I was 12 or so I just started to get cash. How much could they have cost? Not even $10. Kids these days...
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post #8 of 29
7/18/09 at 11:35pm
I can't even remember what sorts of presents I gave or received as a kid. My best friend and I always used to buy each other Sierra games. This was back when the box contained both 3.5" and 5.25" disks. It worked out well for us. At what age do the gifts stop? I'm thinking back the part I had in the 6th grade (it was a sleepover and I set the basement carpet on fire with a Molotov cocktail so I remember it well) and I don't remember any gifts.
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post #9 of 29
7/18/09 at 11:39pm
Usually spend about $20 on gifts for other kids, don't see any reason to spend more.
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post #10 of 29
7/18/09 at 11:44pm
I can't see spending more than $25.00 on a kid's gift.
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post #11 of 29
7/18/09 at 11:51pm
basically, transplant bar christening for bar mitzvah and this is exactly what we do/spend, dollar for dollar.
we budget $500-600/year for all the kids parties my boys have to go to.

Quote:
Originally Posted by globetrotter View Post
we spend 30 bucks on birthday presents. my (7 year old) son gets to 10-12 parties a year. bar mitzva about 100 bucks. my son's parties run us about 300-500 bucks for 20-25 kids.
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post #12 of 29
7/19/09 at 12:51am
I think $20 is a good price range, especially for kids. If you want to be nice, a $25 gift card is fine. The only time I'll ever spend more on anyone is with a best friend. But then that just means that their next gift will be one of those "hand made" creations. Straight from the heart. I don't expect people to spend loads of money on me because I feel it's a little wrong to get such nice stuff for doing nothing.
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post #13 of 29
7/19/09 at 1:09am
The worst feeling ever as a kid was getting a birthday card at your party and opening it to find there was no money inside
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post #14 of 29
7/19/09 at 5:26am
Thread Starter 
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who thought it was excessive. I would also figure the 20-30 range would be appropriate.

Why does a bar mitzvah get like 4-5 times as much? I get that its a big day and becoing a man and all, but shit, it's 13 year old kids giving $100 gifts... Bit OTT?

K
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post #15 of 29
7/19/09 at 6:05am
I have no idea how much some of the gifts cost, but the ones from my friends were probably under $20. More than $35 sounds way too much for a kid.
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