How Many Gifts Do You Give...

I agree that when the gifts are smaller and chaper, a couple of them are okay. But when they're pricey, one is just fine. How much is the hipster and wallet cost?

2-4 when they are younger and their gifts are less expensive. One when they get older and they want a cell phone or expensive item.

I don't even know what that is! (the gift) I mean, my daughter who's turning 8 soon wants Calico Critters (little animal figurines to pose and play with) for her birthday...

We give more than that (about 4-5 gifts-not expensive, but special gifts), but we don't do big expensive parties either, just fun and low-cost... so, I think it has a lot to do with total cost I guess, and also If they will be getting a lot of other presents from others.

That sounds great! Then maybe a family picnic or dinner out?

It depends... I spend between $40 - $50 on my daughter. Sometimes it is a few little things that add up to the above amount, sometimes it is just one. This year my daughter has been hinting at her first gutiar, so that would max out the gift total if we do get her that.

You are right one good gift should be sufficient. Kids need to learn to be happy with what they get.

It just depends on what she needs or wants for this time. We typically buy things we need during the year and don't focus on 1 day.. birthday, Christmas, etc.

My 16 yr old LOVES the BackStreet Boys and NKOTB. She found out right around her birthday in Dec that they were coming to Dallas. SO, I managed to get front row seats for her and her best friend. Then we have a limo service (town car) transporting them to and from the event.

Now 6 months later, we both need new laptops and she is in the process of choosing which one is right for her and I am doing the same for me. Not close to our birthdays, just time to upgrade.

When she was smaller, we probably did 2-3 nice gifts and a party. Her birthday is 12/27 so my main focus is to separate her birthday from Christmas so we do it big.

We give one....

They get a party and ONE gift...

This year my husband kinda pissed me off as he bought our 11 year old a telescope AFTER I had already purchased his cell phone...but oh well...at least it was an educational/learning tool!!! And he does use it!!

Tons! But let me clarify....

My kid loves unwrapping presents. He could care less what's inside (unless its something he's been wanting since birth). So we get him his most desired gift, and then a bunch of dollar (or less) toys wrapped up in all kinds of packages - boxes, bags, tins, shoe boxes. Our house is always a madhouse of ripped up paper and scotch tape.

He's 5...not sure how much longer we can get away with that though.

I have no idea who Vera Bradley is but that ensemble sounds expensive!

We give our daughters one from us (parents) and one from their sisters.

I figure they get enough gifts from friends and family; *I* don't need to go in to debt over kids' birthday gifts!

Definitely base it on cost once the child is old enough to understand how much their "wish list" amounts to. Birthdays shouldn't turn into a greed fest. Good for you for resisting that pressure!

If you want to give her additional things to open, consider stuff you would buy anyway - socks, underwear, pajamas, a water bottle for summer camp, etc.

We give one gift, bdays around 50 and xmas around 100 until he is older then he gets a "raise" IMHO these gifts are like "a bonus check" as you get older and do more/better contribution to the home/society you get bigger/better bonuses. At 9, my son will probably be around 70 for bday given he is meeting all expectations :) and 120 for xmas. At some point he will know/understand the full gift budget and why but for now he is just plain excited about whatever it is he is given. Oh and one year we swapped and got him the higher ticket item for bday because it was relevant for something we were doing around that time so for xmas he got the 'bday price' item. I agree the purse/wallet and maybe a small gift card in the "credit card" part of the wallet so she can buy chapstick or whatever to actually hold in her purse! Hope this helps!

Our kids are both under five, so we usually give 5-10 small gifts and one or 2 big items that they REALLY want.

M

I only give one for their birthdays.

We do :

1 from mom
1 from dad
1 from both

I set a budget of $150.00 for birthdays, including party. The less we spend on the party, the more we have for gifts. As for the number, it depends on what they want...

This year my daughter got 1 gift and I paid $99 for it.

My son just had a birthday and he got 4 gifts totaling $100.00

I go more by the total cost than # of gifts. Growing up, we didn't have a ton of money so we weren't spoiled at all. But my parents did kind of go pretty big for birthdays and Christmas and I just loved that. We're in a much stronger financial position than my parents were so money isn't the issue so much as making sure we don't spoil our kids. So I'm kind of making the choice to go the way my parents did just bc I loved having big bdays and Christmas's so much. It wasn't like we got a lot of junk just to make for a lot of presents but it was when I got clothes or certain toys I really wanted and not all necessities at all. So you could think about how you generally want to approach things. Things spread throughout the year or make them wait for an occassion and of course based on what you can afford and think they need/really want balanced by some extras. No right or wrong. My oldest daughter has somewhat outgrown her bicycle but I'm going to make her wait for a new one until her bday in Sept. We could buy her one now and then make her bday smaller. But like I said, I just have a thing about waiting for bday or Christmas so if I can convince my husband, that's what we'll do.

Nowadays, we only give one or two. We make sure they have something to open ON their actual birthday. The big gift is the party we plan. They get plenty of other gifts from their friends & family.

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We try to do a "wanted" gift and then a couple small 'needed' things. Both my boys are late summer babies and that makes a difference for us.
Either way, we put a $$ cap on what we spend on both birthdays and Christmas gifts. Your daughter wants something that is somewhat pricey so I would say it's enough. Besides, putting in a $5.00 bill to the wallet wil be a surprise for her. Never give an empty wallet to someone. :)
You have to set it for your financial means and be able to uphold for each child....same for Christmas.