The average child's birthday party costs £166: really?

We think that, once you factor in food, invites, party bags, venue hire and so on, children's birthday parties can soon add up to a pretty penny, especially if you've a school-age child and feel obliged to invite the whole class (which you maybe shouldn't, but lots of us do).

Now, we have to say that when we asked other mums on our Facebook page how much you all spend on parties, quite a few of you said you had managed to bring the celebrations in for way below £166. Isabel H, for example, told us: "Most expensive was my eldest daughter's 7th and was about £70. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant though – usually our parties cost about £30." Wow!

Most of you, though, agreed with us and said you'd found parties cost a lot more than £166.

"Our daughter is 4 next month," says Jade A. "We've spent over £400 but have been able to pay it off over a few months, so it's not been too bad."

"I wish [it was £166]... My oldest has just turned 9 and his party was just over £300," says Sonia C.

And Alice R says, "We had my son's 6th birthday yesterday and he had a party at home with 15 friends. It probably came to just over £300 – not including his new outfit, and the garden table and chairs we bought for the occasion."

Alice R says she's planning to do something other than a party next year – and lots of you have said the same.

Stacey H says, "My son is 6 and my daughter is 3 on 7th May... Not having parties as much now, due too it just [costing] too much. I'd rather take the kids out for a meal or day out."

And Tara B agrees: "My 5-year-old daughter's an August baby so it's hard to plan a part with her schoolfriends. This year, she's told us she wants to see Thriller in the West End, so we'll do that instead. We simply can't afford to days out like that and a party."

What do you think?

Do you throw your child a party every year? How much on average do you spend? Do you think it's a lot of money?

Or do you prefer to do something different like a day out or short break? Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook

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