How much do you spend?

[Bluedaisy]

So I'm just curious....how much do you usually spend on a shower gift?  For me it depends how well I know the person but generally I spend about $30 for someone I'm not really close with and anywhere from $50-$100 for someone I'm really close with.

I'm curious because I was lurking on TB and a girl was whining about people only spending $10 per present on her.  She was totally a speshul snowflake but it made me wonder what is average.

[billyhorrible]

It depends on how well I know the person. Usually between $50-$100. It also depends on what they registered for.

[speedymarie]

Similar to you, OP. $30-40 for someone I'm not overly close to but feel obligated to buy for, $50-60 for a good friend or cousin, up to $100 for my sister.

[ECB]

30 - 50

[Deleted]

Depends on the person/how close we are and what I can afford at the moment. Typically, I spend $50-100 though.

[Deleted]

Depends on the person. Usually at least $30, I did spend about $500 for my SILs.

[divinemsbee]

Depends on closeness to the person. For people at H's work we probably spend 20-30. For close friends, up to 100.

[NariaDreaming]

Depends on how close I am to the person, and what I know of their financial situation. I had a friend who got pregnant while in college (unplanned) and I spent more on her shower gift than most other gifts- because I knew she didn't have much of a support system in our college town, and her family was none to happy about the pregnancy and wouldn't be supporting her.

[schmella]

I'll just add that I also take into account how much that person would spend on me. Not in a tit for tat kind of way, but if we can afford it, we take that into consideration. As an example DHs coworkers go all out for showers, often going in on large gifts around $75/person, so we try to reciprocate. Otherwise I'd spend $20 for one of my coworkers, $50 for a friend or relative, $100 + for people I'm really close to (sister, best friend, SIL)

[greenmonkey1]

Generally $25-35. I have a gajillion cousins so I do not usually spend much higher on family just due to the amount of gifts we end up buying. Thankfully my mom, sisters, and I usually go in together so we can get something a little larger with our combined budget. My sisters I would spend more money on, but we usually keep the gifts around $50 in family.

[Bluedaisy]

Thanks for the info ladies!

[jillc0323]

Same camp as you. $30ish for someone I'm not super close with, $50+ for someone I am close with.

[Taylor]

I would not spend more than about $30, and that is not including a cute, cheap bag and tissue paper or wrapping paper. But don't buy expensive stuff just because and you can get nice, affordable baby shower gifts. I'm sure that $30 is most I've seen my mother buy for someone's baby shower and that was because we picked out a nice baby carrier for them (that they later showed they never even used, just a stroller). She's done a lot of cute gifts on a budget and it's worked so I have learned from her. Once she made a basket full of baby items like outfits, receiving blankets, bibs, burp clothes, wash cloths, etc. Of course, I have no idea how much she has actually spent on all baby showers in the past! But she is good at being frugal but classy.

Get creative with gifts and buy things in unusual colors and patterns, or get something personal, or something cute that no one else will probably think of, unusual toys, books, etc. My brother and his wife are currently expecting their fourth child and I am probably going to spend $10 making a baby mobile for them just because.

I think extremely close family is different and offering to buy the crib, bedding, a stroller, etc. is appropriate, however, and I don't fit that in with my "not expensive" rule. But in that case, you will end up buying things for the baby after it's born as well so I still would not spend that much on the shower if you give a small gift.

I realize now that I accidentally wrote a whole guide on how to budget for a baby shower gift. lol

[billyhorrible]

Jul 12, 2015 13:49:16 GMT -5 Taylor said:

I would not spend more than about $30, and that is not including a cute, cheap bag and tissue paper or wrapping paper. But don't buy expensive stuff just because and you can get nice, affordable baby shower gifts. I'm sure that $30 is most I've seen my mother buy for someone's baby shower and that was because we picked out a nice baby carrier for them (that they later showed they never even used, just a stroller). She's done a lot of cute gifts on a budget and it's worked so I have learned from her. Once she made a basket full of baby items like outfits, receiving blankets, bibs, burp clothes, wash cloths, etc. Of course, I have no idea how much she has actually spent on all baby showers in the past! But she is good at being frugal but classy.

Get creative with gifts and buy things in unusual colors and patterns, or get something personal, or something cute that no one else will probably think of, unusual toys, books, etc. My brother and his wife are currently expecting their fourth child and I am probably going to spend $10 making a baby mobile for them just because.

It's clear you don't have any children or have bought many presents on your own.  Your mother definitely spent more than $30 on baby shower gifts.  A "nice carrier" runs around $90-100, if she spent less than that, probably the person didn't use it because it was uncomfortable, fell apart, or in general not "nice."

And a basket of outfits, receiving blankets, bibs, burp cloths, wash cloths, etc. is going to run more than $30.  When I get 2 hooded towels for second babies, that's usually around $20.  For towels.  The things you're talking are going to run $5-10 a piece.  So add that one up.

[Taylor]

Jul 12, 2015 22:51:47 GMT -5 billyhorrible said:

Jul 12, 2015 13:49:16 GMT -5 Taylor said:

It's clear you don't have any children or have bought many presents on your own.  Your mother definitely spent more than $30 on baby shower gifts.  A "nice carrier" runs around $90-100, if she spent less than that, probably the person didn't use it because it was uncomfortable, fell apart, or in general not "nice."

And a basket of outfits, receiving blankets, bibs, burp cloths, wash cloths, etc. is going to run more than $30.  When I get 2 hooded towels for second babies, that's usually around $20.  For towels.  The things you're talking are going to run $5-10 a piece.  So add that one up.

I don't have children and have not yet attended a baby shower where it was just me, no. But my point was more about bargain prices.

You can get a 5-piece onesie set of Carter's and other cute baby clothes at places like TJMaxx for cheaper than sale prices at other places, for example. You don't have to buy name-brand things for everything. A lot of small stuff comes in packs of things, such as a set of 2 or 3 bibs. Things like a nice blanket for the baby can be about $20, but if you can get it for $15 and then buy 2-3 other nice things then you can spend about $40 easily, yes. I said "about $30" but I didn't mean that as a budget.

I think the $30 carrier was probably on sale at Burlington and she was not registered for anything, but we were told that was something she wanted. It wasn't flimsy or anything as far as I know. But that was before carriers like the Tula came out, and not many people used wraps. Anyway they probably took it back which is fine with me if you don't like it. It's up to the person to decide whether their baby carrier was comfortable or not. My mother baby-wore me at the least, but she probably didn't think about many newer options for that when we went to this particular friend's baby shower.

The gift basket was for a baby we thought was my older brother's baby (later turned out not to be, lol), so yes she probably spent quite a bit more than $30. Family is a bit different, as I said. I think the girl's family bought her the big stuff since we didn't know about the baby until a month before he was born. And obviously I don't know what my mom has spent in the past when prices were lower for baby items and she was perhaps more well-to-do.

Anyway, the last baby shower family/friends have had we couldn't attend, but just sent a gift of a cute little $5 book for the baby and something else that I forget, but that was a few years ago, so perhaps prices have went up more that I am not aware of. I don't think $50 is unreasonable for a total gift price, though. Just if I were spending that much, I would want it to be more than a blanket and one outfit. Which is why marked-down stuff (but weather-appropriate) is great. Ya know? So, I am not advocating being cheap or anything. I just think you can get more worth for your money if you know where to look, resulting in spending a little less than you normally would.