How much to spend on a sibling's birthday gift
Sibling gifts sit in an odd middle ground: closer than a friend, but without the built-in seriousness of a gift for a parent or partner. The calculator below starts at a typical adult sibling. Adjust the age, closeness and budget settings for your own situation.
Recommended range
$50 to $80 is a comfortable range
Sibling gifts in Australia tend to sit close to what you'd spend on a close friend, shaped more by how close you actually are than by the fact you're related. See each other constantly and the lower end is fine. A harder year or more distance and the upper end says more.
Ranges are a social norm, not a rule. The right amount is the one that does not strain you.
Now you know how much. Want to know what?
Add them to Birthday Backup and get three gift ideas within their budget, sent 14 days before their birthday, or instantly whenever you ask.
Back up your first birthdayQuestions
Does it matter if my sibling is older or younger than me?
Not in this calculator. The range is based on their age band, not the order you were born in. Adjust the age band if there's a big gap between you.
What if we've agreed not to spend much on each other?
Use the tight budget setting, or the lower end of the range. Plenty of adult siblings settle into an informal cap, and that is exactly what the closeness and budget settings are for.