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I need your advice. My oldest girl is turning 8 at the end of the month. Last year we talked her out of a big birthday party, and spent the day with a close friend who has a birthday near hers. It was fun (and expensive), but cheaper than a party.
This year she is determined to have a party. With friends from school, from Girl Scouts, and friends from outside of school. I tallied up the number of kids, plus siblings and cousins and came up with roughly 25-30 kids.
Our house is not equipped for a party right now (with a barky puppy, and no real play space), so I started looking at places to host a party.
I’ve called a few places and they cater to smaller parties and almost all the places would be at least $150-200 for about 15 kids. Each additional kid costs $5-10 more. I started doing the math, played with the guest list a bit, but the reality is it will likely cost $250-300 for a party. For an hour and a half. Or approx. $183/hour. Ouch.
I have budgeted about $250 for a party AND gifts. That may seem extravagant in some circles, but considering we buy the kids very little outside of necessities through the year I think it’s reasonable.
This is when having debt sucks. And the worst is she knows it. She’s been to other kid’s parties and seen what they get, how extravagant some are.
So here are my options:
- Throw a party off-site, and get a very modest gift for my daughter.
- Throw a party at home and use part of the money for getting the house in order to have a party.
- Forgo the friend party, and take her somewhere special for her birthday, maybe even an overnight trip.
- Forgo the party, and get her a few gifts, take her to her favorite restaurant, and do something fun as a family.
- Let her decide.
What would you do? I’d appreciate your advice. I love parties, gifts, and planing events, so this is my kryptonite.
Kelly
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