The £750 million cost of kids' birthday parties

New research from budgeting account provider thinkmoney shows how far people are willing to go to throw a birthday party their child will remember. Parents in the UK spent an estimated £750 million on the last kids' birthday party they threw - and that's excluding the cost of presents.
 
It seems there's a lot more to kids' parties than jelly and ice cream these days. When we asked parents how much they'd spent on their child's latest birthday party, we found the average was £107.76.
 
Around 1% of our respondents said they'd spent £500 or more. At the other end of the scale, 19% of parents spent £50 or less, which would mean almost 1.5 million children had a 'budget birthday'.
 
As you might expect, people in different regions spent different amounts: while the average party in Yorkshire and the Humber cost £90.10, Londoners tended to spend a full 50% more (£135).
 
Ian Williams of thinkmoney said: "Parents are often happy to dig deeper into their pockets to give their children a great party with their friends - but £100 can take a real bite out of the average household's monthly budget. If you're planning on splashing out for your child's next party, budgeting for it in advance can help you spread the cost over a few months, alleviating the strain on your finances.
 
"If you know that budgeting's not your strongpoint - or you just don't have the time to give it enough attention - you could consider opening a personal account that does it for you, like the one provided by thinkmoney."