You may laugh (I did) but I had to pay for my own party one time. I was in the Philippines visiting my wife's side of the family. My birthday happened to fall during the 2 week span we were there. A few days beforehand, wifey asked if I would like it if her family threw me a surprise birthday party. First I tried to explain what the word surprise meant. Then I thought about how scrapped for money they were and said that I didn't need a party. She looked very sad as she explained how important it was to them to do this for me, so I said OK. She looked very happy as she told me that they'd need $100. I laughed and gave her the money.