My co-worker's family invited a bunch of us to her baby shower and my gift will be money. What amount do you recommend?

I don’t know. Only you can decide but generally, if I have given myself a range, like between 30 to 50 dollars, I would take a place right in the middle, if that works out, with allowances for what I find out there on the market. If I found an awesome gift, somehow, for 15$ I would absolutely go with that. If I get out there, in the stores and couldn’t quite find the right thing, and something in the the 50$ range seemed right, then I would get that. It’s a gift. Any wedding gift, unless it is just a piece of crap or is just somehow totally weird will be appreciated. Unless you are the one who gives them their 4th toaster. Then all you can ask for is that they just be polite and gracious.

Edit: I just realized you are actually asking about baby shower gifts, and I have been talking about wedding gifts. Anyway, I think some of the principles are the same.

I would split the difference and go with $40. But $50 is a nice number, too. Hmm. I don’t really know what to recommend.

It looks very nice to use 3 $20’s, because any other combination is either too much or looks cheap.

What about a cute little bib with money attached to it, say $25?

For a co-worker, giving a gift on your own, I would give $25 for a shower gift. That’s about what you should spend on a nice item for a baby gift for a non-family member.

I say 40. and a bib or a binky or a rattle…..

Instead of money and you were intending on buying a gift, how much money would you have spent on the gift? this should give you an answer. off the wall thought is $50.00/

How much can you afford that won’t run you short for the week? If that isn’t an issue, my next question is how close are you to this person? I overspend on someone I am close to. My favorite person at the office had a baby shower early this year and I couldn’t stop shopping for him. I think I ended up spending around $75.00. But $40.00 is a good round number.

I’d be comfortable giving $50.00. I’m old fashioned so my brain still thinks of money in paper bill denominations, $100.00 bills being given for most family celebrations or friend weddings. Kids events I go in for $50.00 unless it’s a teenager.

To me $50 seems a bit extravagant but maybe I am cheap. I would go with $25 and a copy of Love You Forever or Guess How Much I Love You. I am a librarian in training, but even without the book I would still go with $25 because it feels like a good number for gift giving.

Yeah @SuperMouse! I would skip the money and just buy kids’ books. You can never have too many. Or a CD of lullabies, which isn’t a total cliche present.

I ended up giving her a $50 check. i figured the advantage of a check over a gift card is that a check could be spent anywhere, any time, on anything she may want but not want to spend the money on.

Jeez, yet again I find that I answered the question without having actually read it. Sorry, that’s kind of a bad habit of mine and it’s always a bit embarrassing for me. You said you intended to give cash and were wondering about what amount would be appropriate. I wish I had a good answer for you. I almost never give cash as a gift. I should have read the question. I don’t give cash unless I have some reason to believe that cash would be necessary or preferred and only if the family is under financial stress. I won’t give a gift if what the family really needs is cold hard cash, but on the other hand, a baby shower is not a fundraiser. I would feel strange just giving someone cash in that situation.

@lillycoyote : i figured cash is always welcomed!

Giving cash is kind of a tough one. Yes, it is probably most welcome when a new baby is on the way, but on the other hand it, at least this is how I would feel giving cash, unless I knew that the family really needed it or preferred it, as a lack of thoughtfulness, maybe. An inability to put the thought and effort into choosing a gift, but that’s just me. There are always really practical things that someone would need to spend the cash you might otherwise give them when they have a new baby. I would go in that direction, but like I said, that’s just me. But on the other hand, people who really need the money and are generally polite, gracious people will have a hard time expressing the fact that what they really need is cold hard cash. Don’t know what to tell you.

An added note here…sometimes people who are watching every penny, will not spend a dime on something they deem frivolous. I’ve been known to spend a bit more than I had intended, in order for them to have something truly lovely with a hint of being utilitarian, but perhaps a bit more on the whimsical side.

@MissA I get that one.And sometimes you don’t even have to spend that much, if you are a good bargain hunter. That’s one of the reasons that the cash gift is a bit difficult for me, yes babies need diapers, of course, but it can be a pleasure to give someone, particularly those who watch every penny, a gift that they wouldn’t necessarily, or under any circumstance, get for themselves, or in this circumstance, get for their baby. It feels good. Maybe it’s selfish, but I like giving those kind of gifts.

@lillycoyote I wanted to include a note about the bargains at T.J. Maxx, but didn’t know whether the mods consider that off limits. I’m not on their payroll.

@MissA I have no beef with the mods at all, but I can get as confused as anyone, sometimes, as to why things get modded. You can always talk to @augustlan if you have any questions. She is about as reasonable as they get.

@lillycoyote I agree with you completely about @augustlan. She has been so very kind to me since I’ve joined. My comment wasn’t really that big of a deal, so I didn’t want to bother her with it. But, thanks for the mention.

Oh, another idea IF they appreciate antiques, is to go shopping in vintage, thrift or antique shops. I like to go anyway, so it’s a real treat for me to have something intentional to consider.

Who IS this baby…maybe I’ll send a gift!!

They could decide to put any cash they get into the baby’s savings account or a college fund. I think cash is a nice gift.