Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
A housewarming party is a popular way to welcome family and friends to visit your new home, although is it just a gift grab?
I thought getting invited to a housewarming party was an excuse to get together with friends and drink the night away, but YOU may think differently.
Today, I’m exploring a recent invitation we received to a housewarming party and some unanswered questions that you might have about them.
What Is A Housewarming Party?
Traditionally, a housewarming party is a way for new homeowners to invite family and friends to view the new home and party after moving in.
If you want the rest of your neighbors to know you are moving in, have a loud housewarming party in the backyard.
I’m only having a laugh, but it happens, and we’ve experienced that first-hand weekends ago when our new neighbors moved in.
We heard loud music, laughter, dogs barking, and car doors opening and closing throughout the night.
The smells of a BBQ permeated the air, making us hungry for whatever was cooking.
They shook up the neighborhood because we don’t usually hear anything.
Older Generation Moving Out
We were probably the youngest couple on our street two years ago, but not anymore.
Our street comprises older married couples and the odd couple with kids.
Although, recently, we’ve seen younger couples start moving into the area with kids.
The housing market in the Greater Toronto Area is so expensive that a couple on our street bought their new house at a discount from their grandparents.
They told us if they hadn’t, they would never have been able to afford a home and would have had to rent.
Should You Bring A Housewarming Gift?
A housewarming party gift is a must for this event, although some hosts may say not to bother, especially if they already have a house of furnishings.
Unexpected Housewarming Party Invite
Many of us who budget our money can’t budget for such events because we don’t know when and if they will happen.
It’s always nice to have a projected expense for a gift category, which means you can estimate the costs of gifts you may need to buy for the year, including birthdays.
Our friends who bought their second home sent us a housewarming party invitation last week.
We started to think of excuses why we couldn’t go but decided they were our good friends, and we really should support them.
Besides, we wanted to check out their new home.
Are Housewarming Parties A Money Grab?
When we opened the invitation, another friend at our house laughed and said, “Housewarming parties are just another way for people to get free stuff.”
I’m somewhere in the middle on this one.
Housewarming parties fall next to baby showers, wedding showers, etc.
How Much Do You Spend On A Housewarming Party Gift?
I know many people who detest attending these events and believe they’re just money grabs.
Not all people give gifts; depending on culture, cash is a tradition.
I’ve never heard of any etiquette regarding giving cash as a housewarming gift.
Money is always a prized gift, but don’t get greedy; accept what is given with a smile.
No one says you must spend a fortune on a housewarming party gift.
Give what you can.
Inviting People Who You Don’t Know
Some parents have birthday parties for their kids and encourage them to invite kids they hardly know.
These kids likely have no interest in going because they don’t hang out or talk to the kids, and their parents make them go.
I’m not sure what’s worse, not inviting the entire class or inviting them all where some kids are just miserable about the experience.
Adults can be just as greedy as they invite people they hardly know or haven’t seen in ages to get more gifts.
Weddings are the worst for this. I’m just being realistic here; it happens.
I bet you can think back to an invite you got from someone you haven’t heard from in a long while.
Even though an invite states, “Don’t bring a gift,” you know you will feel horrible if you don’t.
My wife once got an invite to a 30th birthday party from a woman she hasn’t seen since high school yet found her on Facebook.
I know she was being nice, but my wife had no interest in meeting up with her again.
If you receive an invite to a housewarming party for someone you don’t know so well, decline.
How Often Should You Have A Housewarming Party?
When our friend said that housewarming parties were a sham, we wondered if people who buy more than one house should even have housewarming parties.
Some people buy and sell their homes every five years when their mortgage is up for renewal.
That can become many gatherings unless you don’t mind the party factor.
Traditional Housewarming Party Gifts
A traditional housewarming gift idea is a plant or something similar.
You can pick these up relatively cheaply, or even better if you can make the plant yourself from the one you have.
Buying large housewarming party gifts like furniture or house decor can get pricey unless you can source something second-hand and refurbish it.
Then again, what if the item you buy doesn’t suit their tastes?
You might spend money on something they will turn around and sell.
The funny twist, though, is they may make more money from it, haha!
You might not care, but you should; it’s your hard-earned money.
Choose a housewarming party gift wisely, or ask the host what they need for their new home.
Some couples set up a housewarming gift registry at their favorite store, making gifting easier for guests.
Bringing A Housewarming Party Gift
So, what do you buy for someone who has practically everything and is having their second housewarming party since buying their first home?
Good question, and we need help from all of you because we are stumped!
Here are a few of the housewarming party gifts to consider:
- Tea towels or Bath sheets
- Gift Certificate for house cleaning, yard maintenance work, or a retail store
- Alcohol or homemade wine or beer
- Flatware
- Yankee Candles
- Coffee Gift Basket
- Homemade Foods or a bundt cake (joking haha)
- USB Plug Wall Outlets (we have these, and they are great)
- Decorative DIY Wall Chalkboard
- Fancy Olive Oil or DIY olive oil
- Charcuterie Board
- Labeled and filled spice mason jars for the kitchen
- A toolbox filled with everyday tools for around the home.
- Make finger foods or desserts as a housewarming gift for everyone to enjoy.
I’m unsure if these will be the best housewarming gifts to pick from, but we wanted to bring something different.
Spending Time With Family And Friends
A housewarming party is a great way to forget about your daily stresses.
The invite also suggested that we were more than welcome to bring easy finger foods.
Although we didn’t have a housewarming party when we bought our first house, we aren’t too worried about attending this one.
Even if this house is their second home, and some people think it’s a housewarming party to get free stuff, we see it as an opportunity to ‘adult.’
Sometimes, life, such as work or family obligations, gets in the way, and we forget to live a little.
A little adult time is excellent, even if it means wrapping a housewarming party gift and bringing something for everyone to munch on.
Discussion: Do you think housewarming parties are held to get free stuff? What would you bring? Should housewarming parties only be retained for first-time home buyers?
CBB Week At A Glance
This week was just as busy as the last howe, but we did manage to get out as a family to pick up some groceries and our Halloween candy.
I promise not to touch the four boxes of chocolate bars in the freezer and repeat.
My wife made me say this over and over.
She knows what I’m like with chocolate.
The chocolate bars were on sale at Zehrs, so we picked them up while we could.
We used to load up after Halloween and freeze them until the following year but didn’t get out after the last Halloween, so we missed out.
We’re still looking at our options for Halloween costumes, as we have about four of them.
They were all gifted to us by someone in the past year.
Our son will go door to door this year, or we are both going out with the hand.
I’m then coming home to hand out candy.
We’ve also started to pack up all of our son’s summer clothes and bring out the Fall and Winter items.
While on Kijiji the other day, my wife found a Children’s Place two-piece snowsuit in mint condition for $15, so we picked that up.
Our friend says she may have winter boots for him, so I’m hoping that works out better, so we’ll keep looking.
We’ve learned that we must ‘plan’ with him (the sacred word of all parents); otherwise, we run around like chickens looking for what we need.
That was my week…how was yours?
-Mr.CBB
Blog Posts This Week
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- Savings Tips About Retirement From Grandma Opens Our Eyes + Our August Net Worth Up.date.
- How To Adjust Your Grocery Shopping List After The Kids Move Out
- Spiced Apple Bread
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Today, Jen P. shares her latest garage sale finds!
Hi Mr.CBB and Fans,
Fortunately, I found these fantastic Children’s headphones, which are soft and fuzzy like earmuffs and have a retractable cord. Brand new in box. Asking $4. Paid $2.
-Jen P
Making A Difference (MAD)
Note: Email me if you are a personal finance blogger (anywhere worldwide) and would like your blog to be MAD featured, and I’ll explain the process.
Hey CBB Readers!
I’m Thias, and I run the newly launched personal finance blog It Pays Dividends. (no longer exists)
The reason I started on my finance journey wasn’t because I found myself in massive debt or because we were constantly spending too much, but instead because a significant life event happened.
In August 2014, my wife and I discovered we were expecting our first child.
This event helped me realize that I needed to improve everything I did to provide the life for our daughter that I knew she deserved.
It helped push us to prioritize paying off the remainder of our student loans, which we can happily say we completed this past June.
We discussed our finances more and what we valued in life, and we started planning for longer-term goals.
We are more conscious about what we spend our money on, ensuring we save a good portion of our monthly income.
Every decision you make in life can pay you something down the road, whether it is taking time to read each day, deciding where to invest your money, or whether you will eat good, healthy foods.
I hope that my experiences and insight will help others be able to realize dividends in their personal lives as well as their finances.
Top Recipe
Food and grocery shopping are a BIG part of CBB because food is a large part of the budget, which people struggle with most.
Instead of buying convenience meals, consider cooking homemade meals or baking from scratch.
Not only will you save money, but you will be proud of what you accomplished, and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.
This week, our Top Recipe Pick goes to The Noble Pig Winery Blog for these fantastic-looking Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies filled with Maple Cream.
Editor’s Pick
Every week, I will pick a blog post of the week from around the web that I found interesting and want to share with you and an Editor’s top blog post pick.
Editor’s pick (That’s me, Mr.CBB) is a Globe and Mail online post.
Should this Couple Dig Away Their Mortgage or Grow Their RRSP’s-answerer-I think it’s pretty clear they should get rid of the mortgage. (Post no longer exists.)
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I like the idea of a baked good and maybe you can add a jar with the dry ingredients and the instructions printed nicely so they could make the recipe another time. Alcohol sounds good too. A nice houseplant or one they can plant and enjoy for years to come…either easy to care for or with instructions. I’m a black thumb so it needs to be simple!!!
You know I was going to do that with my brownie recipe I would rather have something I can eat than a plant, but that’s just me. Great idea!
Thanks for letting me be a part of the MAD series!
As for house warming parties – It normally depends on how well we know the people throwing it. If it is for good friends/family, we will go and normally get them something small.
You’re welcome and thanks for participating!
I bring alcohol and food, but not always a gift. If I buy something, it will be a plant…
I could handle the food and alcohol. I think it should just be a fun gathering with food and drink and that’s all you need along with laughter.
I’m not a big fan of these types of parties. We never through a housewarming party when we bought our house 3 years ago all though many people wanted to see our house. We had people over in small groups and there was no expectation of a gift from the. I do think some people use them as a way to get free stuff and that’s a turn off for me. I usually take a gift card from Home Goods or another homestore.
It can be yes so we are picky about what invites we accept. In this case they are close friends. We didn’t have one either and no one brought us a bundt cake! 🙂
*threw
I actually really like housewarming parties because, at least in my circle of friends, it’s treated just like a birthday party. Bring a gift if you want, no big deal if you don’t, and going overboard would definitely be viewed as a little awkward by everyone involved! When you mentioned that some people might be looking at furniture as a housewarming gift my jaw dropped – that seems like a big gift to me!
I’ve had great success with baked goods, a “fully stocked pantry” of baking essentials if I know the host likes to bake (Bulk Barn for ingredients, a label-maker and cheap, sturdy containers!) and the best one I’ve ever seen was a bucket filled with cleaning supplies. It’s definitely person-specific, so some people might not like it, but for a single friend who just moved into his new place it was the perfect gift, and I guarantee it’s gotten used FAR more often than anything else anyone brought! Sadly, I can’t even take credit for it, since it was someone else’s present at that event, but it’s always stood out to me as a brilliant idea for first time homeowners. I like that it’s kind of cheeky too, like, yeah, you WILL need to clean this entire place by yourself. Good luck!
I love the cleaning supplies idea!! I don’t think I would have thought of that one. As long as they don’t think you are telling them they are slobs haha! Thanks for stopping by Des.
Now that I am in my mid-twentys i am just starting to have some friends who are buying their first house, or strangley enough having house warming parties when a couple moves into their new place they rented together. Its mainly the second, which seems to be a new trend. It is definitely awkward to get invites from people I talked to in college or friends from high school who I haven’t communicated with in a what feels like a long time.
For myself I always go with baking some food. Put together a good batch of brownies and decorate each individual square with something creative. If I don’t know the people I go with a bottle of wine or a bottle of liquor (vodka or gin) for the party. If I do know the couple and depending on the house (newly built or they will remodel it), I stick with the alcohol for the new house party’s or a giftcard to the home improvement store to help fund their planned renovations.
Hey I like you! I’m all for the brownies! I think what you bring is reasonable and I’m with you on getting invites from people that I haven’t talked to in ages. It seems a bit odd. I’d feel out of place because the last place you’d want to reconnect is at a party where you aren’t getting full attention. Thanks for stopping by. Mr.CBB
Hmmm….I understand the cash grab part of it can be irritating (and showers are definitely an example of this!) but for me, the older I get the less I see my friends – so I love these types of parties – even showers – because it’s a chance for everyone to get together and catch up. I personally don’t see a housewarming as a cash grab because if it’s a good friend I tend to get a nice housewarming gift regardless of whether they have a party or not. If it’s an acquaintance and I attend a party, I simply bring a nice bottle of wine. Everyone is happy!
Would you do that for your friend every time they moved or would you limit it to their first house?
I just attended a housewarming last month and I gave my friend some plants. She told me that she loved the plants and it’s perfect for her new house.
As far as I can remember, I brought homemade cookies to my friend’s housewarming party. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The next housewarming I am attending, I am planning to bring Cheesy Chili Cornbread Muffins you posted recently because it’s new and I know they would surely like it.
I loved reading your thoughts about housewarming parties when we were growing up you might receive a bottle of wine or a basket of muffins that’s it…..so the fact that people really expect so much is startling to me but then you know I’ve crossed the line now I’m on the older side of things at 45 LOL! 😉 You always write such great posts!