Hearing the magical words “I’m pregnant” from a family member, close friend, or co-worker often signals that it’s time for a celebration. In other words, you will soon be looking forward to attending (or planning) a baby shower. Most people have gone to baby showers and know that they are events that see a lot of gifts being given to the expectant mother. Knowing what to take along is one thing, but how much should you spend on baby shower gifts? Let's try and figure this out.
It can be a bit tricky to decide on how much to spend on a baby shower gift, especially if you have never bought one before. However, this important concern can be simplified by making a plan to start with. This plan usually revolves around your budget, of course. How much are you reasonably willing to spend on a baby shower gift?
This is another puzzling question since you may not have a great idea as to the range of items that qualify as suitable gifts for the occasion. For answers, you can visit a popular baby supplies store as these often have most products that expectant parents will want to get for their babies and themselves. Countless baby products are available online as well, through websites such as Amazon and other independent vendors. Using any of these can also give you an idea as to what baby shower gifts cost and how much money you should put aside in your budget.
With that said, most people spend, on average, $30 - $50 on gifts for baby showers. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you should also be spending only that much. There are other factors that can determine whether you spend more or less on baby shower gifts.
For starters, as mentioned earlier, your budget should help you with planning what to get and how much to spend. However, if you are low on cash then there are still many things you can get for less than $30. There are baby bib sets, burp cloths, and baby clothing, for instance, that look great and are also cheap, you just have to look around. In addition, you could look into pooling with other friends or family members of the expecting parents to purchase something that they may really need but is outside your budget.
Other factors that can help you set a budget are whether or not the expectant parent(s) are close friends or family members. You will likely shell out more cash if they are close to you than if they were just acquaintances and you happened to get invited to the baby shower.
Then there is the case when the expectant mother is a first-time mom. In such a case, the mother will likely have zero baby products to get ready for the arrival of the little one, and that might prompt you to spend a bit more. In fact, some people spend up to $100 or more when buying baby shower gifts for new mothers.
Knowing how much to spend on baby shower gifts is not rocket science. However, a bit of careful consideration is required to ensure you purchase a gift that fits your budget while being appreciated by the expectant parents.
