Birthday Question

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This is a odd and very random question, but I was hoping to get some input from people with children.

The question is "How much do you spend on your kids birthday? Presents and party total. My daughter is turning five this year, and we have never done a real birthday party for her. All of her previous birthdays involved gifts and meals with family. This year we were going to do a real party so she could invite friends from her kindergarten class. Now I've already started buy gifts and stashing them at my best-friends house, so she can't find them, currently I have spent $200 of gifts, two games she wanted, Mario Galaxy 2 & Toy Story 3, a Hello Kitty bike, and helmet and pads. The cake is estimated at $85, the cake is a 3 tired cake with fondant icing not a cheap generic bakery cake, and all the party favors, food, etc. I'm estimating that around another $100.

I know most people would say set a budget and stick with it, or spend what I think I can, but I was wondering how much is too much.
 
seriously? a three tiered cake for a five year old?

she's five, get her something cheap and make sure it tastes good, she'll never know the difference.

present wise, I doubt I'd get her much more than that. anything else is over kill, other than a few cheap trinkets.
 
[quote name='perdition(troy']seriously? a three tiered cake for a five year old[/QUOTE]

Not only that, but $200 in gifts too. This kind of sounds like my sisters fifth birthday party. And let me tell you, she's 13 now and she's so spoiled that she's worse than those snobby rich bitches on those MTV shows.
 
I would have gone with a cake from the local grocery store or bakery - just one layer. Cutting that thing will be more trouble than it's worth.

Also, I would have gone with the bike or the two games, not both.
 
Get a sheet cake from a bakery and a couple presents. Then let her friends come over and let them play outside and take some pictures. Thats all she needs. She is only turning 5, not a 105. Hell better make a cake with her, dont buy one just make one and let her help you do it.

Thats a huge waste of money on a kid. 85 bucks for a cake, 200 bucks for presents she will be tired of in a month?

Love your kids, dont buy your kids love. WHen parents start over indulging their kids then they raise spoiled kids in most cases. If you want to do something special on her birthday wait till she is 21 or something and more of an adult. I didnt get shit on my birthdays when I was a kid or anything like that really, but when I did I really appreciated it more.

Take most of the presents back and buy a cheap cake and put the rest of the money in a savings account for her. But dont waste money on a party that sounds like it more for you then her.

Besides she wont remember it in a year anyway.
 
[quote name='lilytrabbit']the cake was something like this Flickr page of the lady who is making the cake

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistys_boopettie_cakes/3977426018/


*note not my kid and change the hearts and stars into Hello Kitty[/QUOTE]

$85 for that? That's insane. I expected something bigger, not that I could ever justify spending $85 on a cake.

As far as "How much is too much?" I'd say you've gotten her enough, but really, just spend whatever you're comfortable spending that is within your budget. I didn't even get half of what you've already bought for her for any birthday growing up.

When I turned 3, I got some Ghostbusters toys and a He-Man cake. My older cousin told me the sword (part of the cake) would cut up my insides if I ate it, and I believed him.
 
Duncan Hines cake mix 0.96
Duncan Hines Icing 1.46
Ice Cream 3.00
Party favors/decorations 40.00
Drinks 10.00
Gift 50.00

You've overspent.
 
keep it simple at that age kids tend to be eaily amused. cake, ice cream, some party favors and the usual party games should suffice and maybe a few animated vieos to watch. as far as gifts thats your call 200 sees a bit much to spend on a kid unless youre getting her a mini car.
 
roommate got me 2 cakes for my bday last week... now i need to get her 2 cakes in dec

Im so sick of eating cake 6 days in a row now

NO MORE CAKE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

but when i was younger my mother would get me

a cake for around 20 bucks
Give me 25 bucks cash
and buy my supper out (around 30 for 3 people)

so she blew around 75 ... never really had a major party (never seen a reason why)

i think i went to 1 birthday party when i was little and it was just too crazy for my mother to do something like that LOL
 
I had this one awesome friend named Chris whose dad would always get video games for him to give to his friends as gifts. I discovered that fact on my 12th birthday, when he gave me Super Metroid.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']I had this one awesome friend named Chris whose dad would always get video games for him to give to his friends as gifts. I discovered that fact on my 12th birthday, when he gave me Super Metroid.[/QUOTE]

Damn! The best my mother ever bought for a friend was Operation, the board game.

OP, I think this birthday or her next will be where the precedents really start, so consider what it will be like in the future when you decide it's not time to spend hundreds of dollars on a birthday.
 
homemade cakes mean more. If you have no ability to make one, just get a bakery one, especially since she's just 5. Making a simple cake from a mix for a 5 year old is pretty easy though. She could even help you mix it and bake it and it would be a fun bonding experience.
 
[quote name='powercreep']You've overspent.[/QUOTE]

Oh come on. My parents rarely let us eat sugary foods when we were kids so we at least got a halfway decent cake on birthdays. An undecorated cake with a 'Happy Birthday Meatbag' costs like $30 bucks from a bakery and is worth it.

[quote name='slidecage'] (never seen a reason why) [/QUOTE]

Same.

[quote name='Matt Young']I had this one awesome friend named Chris whose dad would always get video games for him to give to his friends as gifts. I discovered that fact on my 12th birthday, when he gave me Super Metroid.[/QUOTE]

You son of a bitch.
 
[quote name='scsg75']homemade cakes mean more. If you have no ability to make one, just get a bakery one, especially since she's just 5. Making a simple cake from a mix for a 5 year old is pretty easy though. She could even help you mix it and bake it and it would be a fun bonding experience.[/QUOTE]

Yup.

I never had more than $100 spent on me for a birthday that I can remember. The most a cake would ever cost is $30. (just get a damned sheet cake at most). She's turning 5, she's not the fucking pope.
 
[quote name='scsg75']homemade cakes mean more. If you have no ability to make one,[/QUOTE]

Yeah I still ask my dad to make me a cake every year. Just the box white cake and chocolate frosting. Kind of a tradition. Means more than any bakery thing.

And if you have no ability, 5 years old is the perfect age to start practicing. In a few years you will have it down.
 
[quote name='Anexanhume']Yup.

I never had more than $100 spent on me for a birthday that I can remember. The most a cake would ever cost is $30. (just get a damned sheet cake at most). She's turning 5, she's not the fucking pope.[/QUOTE]

maybe not now but in a few years who knows.............
 
[quote name='gargus']Get a sheet cake from a bakery and a couple presents. Then let her friends come over and let them play outside and take some pictures. Thats all she needs. She is only turning 5, not a 105. Hell better make a cake with her, dont buy one just make one and let her help you do it.

Thats a huge waste of money on a kid. 85 bucks for a cake, 200 bucks for presents she will be tired of in a month?

Love your kids, dont buy your kids love. WHen parents start over indulging their kids then they raise spoiled kids in most cases. If you want to do something special on her birthday wait till she is 21 or something and more of an adult. I didnt get shit on my birthdays when I was a kid or anything like that really, but when I did I really appreciated it more.

Take most of the presents back and buy a cheap cake and put the rest of the money in a savings account for her. But dont waste money on a party that sounds like it more for you then her.

Besides she wont remember it in a year anyway.[/QUOTE]

You obviously don't have kids lol

*I* think you've done enough (if not more than) already and you're all set. Just make sure the kids have a good time at the party and take lots of pictures. Growing up, our birthdays were about $50 gifts (a videogame in my case) and Christmas was about $200. But that was our familys financial situation not yours. Just go with what you're comfortable with and be wary of growing expectations.
 
I threw a pizza party for my son when he was in kindergarten...Rented a room in a place like Dave and Busters for 25 kids. Slice of Pizza, Hot Dog and Drinks were included. We had to supply the cake, and each kid got a $15 game card. Cost was around $700+ and tip for wait service. They are only 5 once, and he had a blast so it was worth it. Plus no clean up and damage to my house if I were to have it there.
 
Thanks for all the help and I guess I'll stick with what I have for gifts and throw in a few small items. The games I guess you could say were almost free both came from a Toys R Us, buy 1 get 1 50% off sale and I bought myself a game and used gift cards that I had found in my game room.

I'm not a sweet eater and neither I nor my daughter can not stand the icing on bakery cakes that come from Walmart, Kroger, or any grocery store. The small bakeries that we do have around here use the same frosting and the one that does not would cost the same as the cake I was looking at. I may end up doing the homemade cake or go with cup cakes for each kid.

As for the gifts I don't mind spending more than average since she doesn't do Christmas. She usually gets from me one nice present every month, like last month was a stroller, bed, etc. for her baby dolls. Month before that Harry Potter for the PS3. So she does get stuff, but her mom was raised Jehovah's Witness and doesn't do the holiday thing, due to religious beliefs, and I never did it growing up due to dead beat parents so I don't see the big deal about it.

Like I said I wasn't really sure how to do a birthday since I really have never had/done one.

Oh and I'll have a ton of pics from the party when it happens, I still have a month, I have an external HDD with about 30gigs of photos. Most of the photos are in RAW format so I can edit them and tweak them as I see fit.

Again thanks for the help everyone it is much appreciated.
 
When I was a kid, I was lucky to get a birthday at Chucky Cheese or McDs and a cake from a grocery store and maybe a toy or two.
 
My parents took me to someplace that would serve a free meal to the birthday kid. My present would consist of an item that cost around $25 (it was the same for all my brothers and sisters).

I had a birthday party when I turned 13. I think my mom spent around $100 (including my present) for the party, and all the attendees had a great time.

My parents taught me something at an early age. The true meaning of birthdays, holidays, weddings, and coming-of-age events (graduations, anniversaries, etc...) is to make a profit. Bring in more gifts than you spent for the function.
 
how many people will be at the party? if you're a Costco member you can get a birthday cake for under $20 (not sure what they cost) that easily feeds 20+.

making a cake or cupcake would be best. maybe even setup some stuff so each kid can decorate there own. oh and that flickr cake (though not the same) looks terrible for $85. $30 tops depending on ingredients.

oh and I'm not sure if Super Mario Galaxy 2 is an appropriate game (gameplay/skill wise) for a 5 year old
 
No kids give a flying fuck whether it's a grocery store cake or a cake with "fondant." You think a five year old knows what fondant is or how to even pronounce it? They'll just be happy to have any kind of cake. What a waste of money.

EDIT: Noticed your daughter doesn't like cheap frosting from grocery store cakes. I didn't either as a kid. So I have some advice: ice cream cake.
 
@Gamer SDP: I had read that Galaxy 2 was more difficult than the first one, but she did pretty good and I play at the game with her and help when she gets stuck. This is a kid who sat down one night while I was painting and beat Ratchet and Clank: Booty Bay in 8 hours with me only helping on a few parts. Typing that out I just realized that it's kinda messed up that we both sat there for 8 hours, oh well.

@Dead of Knight: She knows the difference between a store cake and one with fondant, and can say "fondant". Cake Boss is her favorite show, as she says "he makes pretty cakes", but she's not the norm as far as kids go. While she eats sweets it is usually in some pastry form and not candy. Her favorite meal is crab, shrimp, and anything with mushrooms.
 
[quote name='lilytrabbit']

@Dead of Knight: She knows the difference between a store cake and one with fondant, and can say "fondant". Cake Boss is her favorite show, as she says "he makes pretty cakes", but she's not the norm as far as kids go. While she eats sweets it is usually in some pastry form and not candy. Her favorite meal is crab, shrimp, and anything with mushrooms.[/QUOTE]

I would definitely say she's not the norm. Sounds like a very bright kid. I just assumed she wouldn't know the difference like most 5 year olds. Sounds like it would actually be a nice treat for her birthday to get a nice cake just like the ones she sees on TV. Carry on sir.
 
$200+ birthdays for a 5 year old, letting a 5 year old play a video game for 8 hours while inhaling paint fumes...yeah, that's good parenting.
 
Ice Cream Cake for the win. Ice Cream + Cake = Win!

But seriously, it's all about making it her day and making her happy. If she's happy at the end of the day, that's all that counts. Especially if the party is awesome and she's the talk of her class for a while. Just don't let her get too full of herself after it. ;)
 
[quote name='MisterModest']$200+ birthdays for a 5 year old, letting a 5 year old play a video game for 8 hours while inhaling paint fumes...yeah, that's good parenting.[/QUOTE]

I never claimed to be a perfect parent those do not exist. Like I had said I have never done or had a birthday or any holidays so I was trying to see what the norm was. The money that has been spent has not put a dent in either of my bank accounts and really one hour of doing a tattoo will recoup my cost for the games I bought.

I played games for hours on end at her age, I turned out fine and it's not a regular occurrence most of the time she gets an hour a day tops.

As for the paint it was acrylic paint on canvas for a customer. My work space is well ventilated and acrylic paint has no odor, well none that I'm aware of.
 
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