Kids Birthday Parties

**cashqueen** · 04-23-2008, 09:57 AM

I have a son who will be 4 in Sept and a son who will be 1 in November. The past few years I have just taken cupcakes to school. DS has been happy with this and hasn't asked for anything more (I know the day is coming). I hope to get by with the same thing this year. For my 1 year we may do a small gathering like we did for older DS. IDK, probably nothing since he is not old enough to know yet!

For that many people I think you probably did pretty well with $200 considering food for everyone.

**jIM_Ohio** · 04-23-2008, 10:01 AM

If you got $200 in gifts in return, it was a wash.

**cschin4** · 04-23-2008, 10:12 AM

I have rented out a room at the local YMCA including swimming and climbing wall. The kids had a ball, my house didn't get torn apart and I was able to host more kids. I have also had parties at the local movie theater, the Pizza Playland and so forth. In reality, the peak time for parties seems to be from ages 5 - 8 or so. And, I don't mind hosting the parties. I always get pizza and cake. You can save money by making your own cake or cupcakes and even making your own pizza. Most of the kids are so revved up that a slice or two of pizza, a drink box or pop and some cake is all you need. Skip the useless cheap party favors. Most kids just throw them away anyway. I don't see the need for that.
So, I think it is fun and well worth the money. And, I send my kid to all parties that they are invited too. Where else can your kid be fed and entertained for 2-3 hours for the price of a $5-10 gift?
So, my advice, have the parties and enjoy.

**tripods68** · 04-23-2008, 10:45 AM

We spend roughly on average around 650 dollars each birthday party for the two of our kids. That's because we usually have more than 20 + kids and adults per party. A lot of those costs comes from variety of foods selection for adults which we like, cakes, the location site.

**disneysteve** · 04-23-2008, 11:08 AM

Originally posted by stressedmama View Post

I spent right around $200 on food, decorations, games, gift bags, cake, etc. on my son's birthday for a little over 20 people (adults & kids).

I think $10/person or less is quite reasonable. You would have a tough time doing the party out anywhere for that price. Our daughter is 12 and past the age of big parties, but even when she was younger and we did the "big" party thing, we usually spent more than that because we usually had the parties out somewhere. One year was at a paint-your-own pottery place, one year at a local arcade/amusement/mini-golf place. Things like that. I think they tended to run more in the $15/person range which didn't include gift bags.

**stressedmama** · 04-23-2008, 11:15 AM

I also came across an interesting article the other day about how birthday parties are getting more expensive.

$10,000 for child's birthday party? - CNN.com

It not at all that I mind spending the money on a birthday party, but it just seems like every time we go to another party it's getting a little bigger, fancier, etc. I just don't want to get into the keeping up with the Jones mentality. That being said I really to want to be to cheap either. It's hard to balance finances and giving your kids everything that their friends have, indulging because you actually have the means, and then also teaching your kids about being wise with money. I'm sure this battle will only get worse as the kids get older and things become even more expensive.

**ThriftoRama** · 04-23-2008, 12:09 PM

Geesh. Birthdays never warranted more than a cake or cookies and a gift at my house growing up, and I never felt like I missed out. Why is there so much focus on parties these days?

**disneysteve** · 04-23-2008, 12:19 PM

Originally posted by stressedmama View Post

I just don't want to get into the keeping up with the Jones mentality. That being said I really to want to be to cheap either. It's hard to balance finances and giving your kids everything that their friends have, indulging because you actually have the means, and then also teaching your kids about being wise with money. I'm sure this battle will only get worse as the kids get older and things become even more expensive.

Welcome to parenthood.

This is a great opportunity for teaching your kids about money and priorities with money. Can you afford it? is a different question than Do you feel it is worth it? If you can afford it but don't feel it is worth it, take the time to explain to your kids why. Put it in terms they can understand at their ages by comparing the cost of the party to something else, like a vacation, movie tickets, a toy they've been wanting, etc. Maybe bargain with them, such as "either you can have your party at this place like Johnny did or we can buy you XYZ toy for your birthday, but we can't do both" and let the kid decide with you.

Keeping up with the Joneses is a losing battle. You lose because you spend money you don't really want to spend, whether you have it or not. And the Joneses lose because next time around, they have to do something bigger and better since you matched them last time. It is a vicious cycle.

**momof1in150** · 04-23-2008, 12:24 PM

My son turned 12 last year and I offered big party or big gift. He chose smaller party & gift. He had 3 boys sleepover with pizza, cake and ice cream. He asked for an x-box game that he had been eying so we got him that and a few other smaller items. It was a total cost of about $150 for everything.

This year will be a little different. He is turning 13 and wants to go paint balling with 10 friends. He will also get a gift or 2 but it is all planned as he will only turn 13 once.

My 6 year old has had the same party for the past 2 years. They have made Gingerbread houses (milk cartons, icing, graham crackers, candy & cereal). We use our church (free and has a playground). Last year there were 20 children there and it cost us about $250 total with gifts, cake, supplies and goody bags.

**cicy33** · 04-23-2008, 07:00 PM

We spend about $100 or so on food for bday parties at our house as there are a lot of people in just the immediate family. Last year my dd asked for a pool party. I combined two of the kids, rented the pool for $150 for three hours, ordered 10 pizzas at $5 each and bought capri suns for about .75 a box (had coupons) and a case of soda about $5. Number of people allowed: 50. People we had: somewhere around that. So total spent: $210 or so for two parties, not including their gift, which is usually about 20 or 30 dollars. But as said above, they were not at my house! and no headaches. When we were done, we threw away the plates and pizza boxes and left.

**PrincessPerky** · 04-24-2008, 08:32 AM

We spend as little as possible.

We do a theme, but not the 'store bought' kind. this year it is dragons for my son. I will make the cake, decorate it, and cook the burgers and dogs (tradition, and I can ship multiple adult guests outside to cook em for me... yes I am a terrible hostess, I ship the food prep off to a good friend, the cake cutting to another, and crafts to anyone I can!)

we also do snacks and juice if we remember.

I make the invitations on the computer. so cost of ink paper and time is all I need. (and I don't have to write my address 20 times!)

games decorations and such are all cheapish... I am estimating that the cost of decorations will be a bit steeper than average this year as we want to make a dragon lair..but I am hoping to buy fabric or a blanket that can be reused after. (I have one gray blanket, but not quite big enough to cover the whole den...) Unforttunatly I really don't know how much fabric or blankets cost, so I don't know how much.

We do not do a 'treat bag' sorry... If you do a craft you get to take that home, and this time there will be 'treasure' in the dragons lair, and folk can take some of it home. but not going to stuff a billion little bags.

Anyway I will try to post next week exactly what we did spend, I expect it to be less than 100 including all food and the like for about 20 people. But then we didn't find burgers on sale in eons, so we will have to pay whatever we find...

One ridiculous thing I do...we use plastic washable cups plates and the billion found plastic forks..so I never tend to buy any paper supplies aside from napkins. (and since we do not use paper napkins at home I still have the bag of them I bought two years 4 birthday parties ago.)

We also do not accept presents...while we have had complaints on the lack of presents from guests, we have never had complaints about a lack of fun.

**cschin4** · 04-24-2008, 10:44 AM

We also do not accept presents...

I briefly considered that but then decided it would be unfair to my child. If it is his birthday, there is no reason he should not receive presents. And, there is nothing wrong with giving and buying and receiving gifts for one another. I am not criticizing your choice, but that is what I choose.
I COULD have less expensive parties. However, I feel that taking my child and entertaining their friends for a couple of hours is worth the money.
Renting a place, buying some tickets and a couple of pizzas, etc won't break my bank. And, we have all had a good time. I have some friends who just have cake and let the kids just play with no fanfare at all. I have had those kinds of parties too.
I think the key is to do something that makes your child feel special. Perhaps bake a "special" cake that you only make once a year. My mom used to make my brother a Red Velvet cake and that was the only time she ever made it. So, little traditions can go a long way in making your child feel special and thought of.

**M-squared** · 04-24-2008, 12:24 PM

What a timely thread! My son turns 4 today and his party is this Saturday. I don't know how much I will spend, but I bet it will be far less than $100. We are having kids come over to play in the back yard. I will do a homemade cake and some inexpensive snacks for a light lunch. As party favors, I went to AC Moore and got foam animal hats. They were listed at $1. I thought $1 was ok per kid.... and then they rang up as 30 cents! SORE!!

We did presents-optional parties. We certainly do not REQUIRE a gift but if someone wants to bring one we accept. Some of the guests bring them and some do not.

Kids Birthday Parties