Budget for kids' MM- PLEASE WEIGH IN

amother

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 7:37 pm

If you have over 4 kids and you have kids over age 9:

How many MM does each kid give out?
(my kids want to give to 10+ kids each. Closer to 20!!!)

Do you budget per MM?

Do you budget MM per kid? (Like they can spend $30 and give more kids less expensive or less kids more expensive)

Do you not budget at all?

amother

Babyblue

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 8:08 pm

Not exactly same ages/amount of kids as you (not all are over 10) but this is what I do...

I tell then how many kids to give to. They pick. Sometimes they tell me there are more they want to, I hear the names or why, and I ok it. I just don't want to give the class but if I say 5 kids and my kid has 6 I will be OK. Often it is because they really can't decide between friends or two are siblings/cousins of each other so they don't want to hurt someone's feelings. Or they really have that many friends.

I work with them to make the MM "normal" but I don't go overboard. I buy the stuff so it's in my budget. It's pretty simple but usually has "a good snack" or something special in it.

Bottom line- I talk with them and figure out what works for them and me. They are old enough to rationalize with.

I do this because of cost and craziness delivering on Purim.

voira

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:42 pm

I feel like for kids they need to give whoever gives them - so sometimes a kid chooses 8 to give but they know another 4 from the neighborhood will give them and they need what to give back. So we make ALOT for all my kids to share ages 2 - 12.

amother

Ivory

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:43 pm

voira wrote:

Same. For around $2 each

amother

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:51 pm

Thank you!!

So for my jr hi dd, A 10 cents bag and a can of soda and bag of chips isn't fancy enough (hence my other thread abt MM for preteen girls)

So what would you do for under $3?
Including packaging.

Does a $30 limit work?

Because then you have the nonfriends who you sort of may need to give to

, let's say her brother is giving his best friend Shimmy Fogel, and his sister Leah Fogel is in my dds class, but they really aren't friends... Does Dd give leah? She'd only be getting because we're delivering for shimmy...

Or what if her brother is giving his Rabbi Rabbi Weiss, and she's friendly with his daughter. Again, dd wouldn't be going out of her way to Chani Weiss, but since were going to Weiss anyway...

amother

Blue

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:18 pm

Firstly, you have to think about what's the norm in your community. In my community it would be wrong for the kids not to give everyone in their class. So if you have 20 kids in the class all 20 need to be able to get one.

If that's not the standard, then pick a number of friends that you specifically want to go to and then add in maybe up to four more that are extra in case.

I don't think there's anything wrong if you go to your son's friend's house and she doesn't go give the sister she doesn't need to go to the door and no one's going to know that she wasn't there.

If the sister was with her brother and rang your doorbell, that's a little different.

I think you can't start with a budget in this case as much as you have to start with the amount you need to give and then give a realistic budget based on kids age and how many.

Older daughter, you might need to consider doing $3-5 but then for your younger kid you might be able to get away with $2 each

amother

Forsythia

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 11:05 pm

I spend about $1-$1.50 per mm kids ages 2-9
I get whatever’s on sale - snack bag is .30-.35 a bag, 3 nosh that are .20-.25 each, bag is usually .20 each (50 for $10)

amother

Peony

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 11:12 pm

I order packaging that somehow ties in with her costume for ex same color so I get away with something cheap. Then snack that's on sale 2 nosh that are 4/$1 and a soda can
Box- 50 cents
Snack 3/$1 30 cents
Nosh 4/$1 x2= 50 cents
Soda -50 cents (or less if I find on sale from walmart...)
Ends up being around $2

amother

Ecru

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 11:35 pm

For your preteen, try doing a "theme". Ex: smores. U give Graham Crackers, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows. Write some line about smores and friendship and its adorable, teen approved and so cheap.
Or I love hanging out with you. Buy some pink or whatever nicee hangers u find for cheap, wrap the coordinating nosh up in cellophane in the hanger, and it's teen approved.

amother

Ecru

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 11:37 pm

For younger kids, I make a lot more than I need because I love having an extra to hand to classmate that we "bump" into or a second cousin that we meet up with at mu grandmother. I keep it under 2.50 a piece including wrapping.

seeker

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 12:31 am

I go cheap on the family mm because we give a ton. And in the melee of giving a ton, the kids can give from those to whoever they want. It's somewhat limited by geography so that's not crazy. I'd rather my kids go overboard than have some kid feeling left out. If I'm making 120+ for the family it's not going to make or break me if one kid gives out 15 even if I thought 5 was enough.

But if they're old enough to think that the family's cheap little package that we have 120+ of is too nerdy, then they are old enough to use their own brains and money to make something else for their friends. I'll help with ideas if I happen to have any but I'm not going to spend much time and energy thinking about what they should do. I'll take them to the supermarket and if they want to order something online I'll take a limited amount of time to facilitate it.

I would also spring for something nicer if they're doing like a 1:1 class exchange thing. Some years they do things like that, everyone gives one and gets one, you don't want to be the one with the small cheap thing nobody wants to get.

amother

Seafoam

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 12:48 am

My mil made only 1 or 2 mm for dh when he was a kid and she said he should recycle from what he gets.
Not sure if I support that idea.
What do you all think? I feel like dh has some sort of resentment from it. He barely had much left when Purim was over

amother

Dandelion

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 12:57 am

amother Seafoam wrote:

That's what we do, but they start with five each, not just one. After that they need to recycle what they've got. They can also take from whatever has come in for the entire family. They don't end up.woth a huge pile, but they get to keep what they like.

Tue, Mar 05 2024, 12:59 am

I like my kids to learn better to include more people than fewer. I encourage them to give to kids who may not be receiving tons of mm. I don’t wantmy kids to feel they have to choose person x over person y. I want any kid who comes to our home to feel welcome and not an “extra, unprepared for” oops I don’t have mm for you. In the big picture it doesn’t add that much of an expense to prepare enough to make more kids feel Included and happy on Purim day. Reasonable expense for a priceless chinuch lesson IMHO.