$$$ for little/pledge daughter gifts?
 

I was just curious if part of a NM's dues goes toward gifts during big/little pledgemom/baby week in your chapter. I've heard things about $50 from each NM going toward their "gifts" during this week, while at other schools it's all out of pocket from their bigs/pledge moms.

Just curious what policy you have for your chapter :)

(If this is touching upon something too secretive I'll delete this thread or ask that a moderator do so please)

Jen


ETA: how much on average do people spend at your school total? Lots and lots of outrageous gifts or just a few tiny things?

It was out of pocket for me.

It's out of pocket for our chapter. I don't know the average amount spent per little, but I know I spent a BUNCH on my little ;)

Our NM dues are only $35, so all the Big/Lil gifts are out of pocket. I think it really varies among the Bigs how much we spend on our littles. I know that last semester, I spent more than other Bigs did and a lot more than what I originally intended to for that matter. ;)

Hehe, I think my chapter has it all out of pocket too. I was thinking about possibly taking twins, but I think that could get really expensive. Maybe I'll just take one and spoil her ridiculously :o

You could take twins in different semesters, my Big has another little and she pledged a year after me. Or if you want, you can start acquiring gifts to give them now. I know that I was so excited to get a little, that the summer after I was initiated I already started buying small things that I saw and thought would be cute. If you're really crafty, you could also buy a lot of things and decorate them with Pi Phi stuff, some things can actually be kinda cheap. Good luck!

My sorority has it out of pocket too. Usually, everyone spends different amounts, but this semester, I think we're gonna try imposing a max. That's probably a good thing, since I'm taking on two more lils this semester.

Out of Pocket for my house. However, we get a lot of stuff handed down to us. I have a cute little cat and block letters sitting on my desk that have been in my "family" for 5 generations. We're supposed to try to pass on some stuff, but there are certain items that are strict tradition that every girl recieves.

we were out of pocket. I have 3 littles (different semesters) can we say B-R-O-K-E?

It used to be out of pocket but is now budgeted in the NM Educator budget so Key sis' should not have to pay anything themselves. But it's easy to do that when you have 90+ women paying (the money for the budget comes from the active members, not the new members)

It was always out of pocket for us. Most stuff like this always ends up being that way. But I agree with the posters who said about making things for the littles. I had a huge box of puffy paint and that kind of stuff under my bed when I was in college. And the stuff my big made me, I still have around my apartment. My letter shirts have since "yellowed" and most of them I ended up throwing out. Even my jacket got something yucky on it and I just ended up tossing it a couple years ago. If you buy these things for your little (or multiple littles) you can end up going into debt, especially on a college student salary.

Unfortunately my school only has rush in the spring, so this spring is really my only chance to take a pledge daughter(s) as I'm a junior who rushed last year.

Taking a daughter the spring semester of senior year is very rare since you'd be graduating in a few months and leave them "orphaned."

I found a greek store with a lot of stuff on clearance, so I started stocking up. 2 gorgeous glass block container thingies w/ Pi Phi and an arrow on them ($2 each, down from $18.99), a Pi Phi pillow case ($1, down from $10.99), a Pi Phi painted ceramic mug ($2, down from $16.99), and 3 sets of small iron-on stitched letters (3 letters for $1). Yay I love bargains! I was thinking about buying out their stock and selling it on eBay but I ended up just buying PiPhi stuff --- probably should have gotten other stuff too though :rolleyes:

I am very artistic and look forward to making lots of stuff for my baby too. I wish we had fall rush! lol still, as I've never taken a daughter before I have no idea how much this will cost me -- although I do have a lot of stuff from my own pledge mom that I can "regift" :o

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what kind of stuff do people do during big/little (pledge mom/baby) week at your school?

I took 2 littles while I was inschool and I have grand lils and great grans while I was still there, so I spent lots of money. I regifted lots of stuff I had been passed from my big, and from senior pass downs every year. each big event where they got lots of stuff, i would try to mix the old regifted letters and stuff with some brand new stuff. I think making the paddle was the most expensive single gift I gave them. Also, screen prints from past semesters make great gifts for meetings and stuff. Also cookies candy and that stuff. Michael's was my best friend, I made lots of stuff thats still floating around sorority. Chack Ebay too, they have good stuff sometimes.

Imposing a max is a great thing. We have a gift each week of pledging, and the big sisters can only spend $5 or less. The max on the I-night present is around $20. That way, during pledging, so one gets ridiculously spoiled and no one gets shafted, either. :) After initiation, you can spoil your lil as much as you want. :D

And ours is out of pocket, as well.