Why I Give Money For Birthdays
Birthday season is upon me and the majority are first birthdays. Between friends, family & parents group, there are about 10 in the span of 2 months, not including my own daughter. On top of all the first birthdays, I also have my mother in law’s birthday, my mothers birthday and my husband is turning 30. Then after all of those, it’s Christmas!

So what do you even get for a one-year-old?
I’m sure they have enough clothes.
I’m positive they don’t need any more toys.
And if they are anything like my daughter, are happy to play with the toys (and clothes) they already have.
It would be nice to give them something special and meaningful. But finding something special and meaningful for 10 different one-year-olds?
Lucky for me, I have started giving money to children (apart from my nieces) on their birthday.

I think money is a great idea because it can be added to their bank account (assuming they have one), then they can put it towards something they want. It may not be immediate. But I love knowing that I have helped them achieve something. They might go on to buy their first car, use it to pay for education after high school, use it as part of a house deposit, use it to travel the world, or even start their own business.

One friend of mine is already planning to take her son to Disney Land. So I wrote inside his card “Disney Land money”. I know I could take it that one step further and get some US Dollars but I have too much going on to worry about that.
I’m nervous to see how much stuff my daughter ends up with after her first birthday party. She is quite happy to play with the same toys she has always had. I only took one toy for her during our trip to Hawaii earlier in the year. I did intend to buy her something there but I totally forgot about it. She also really enjoys playing with clothes and shoes.

Next to decide on was how much money to give. Normally this isn’t such an issue but knowing how many birthdays we would be attending made it something I had to think about. For kids, I generally give them $10. It might not seem like much but it’s a lot to a kid. And the range for adults is $30-$50, depending on the occasion and how well I know them.

Pop the money in a card and you’re all done! Or if you want to do something a bit different, check out these unusual ways to gift money.