i think a lot of you are not counting in how shalach monos can be a family activiy. In my family it involves all of us. we try to keep it as cheap as possible but try to come up with something that we would enjoy getting. We spend many hours together working on the shalach monos and everyone feels like they were an important part of it. The kids enjoy distributing the shalach monos, not for the money (although they don’t mind that) but because they anticipate the reactions they will receive. They take pride in giving something they know the recipient will enjoy. I believe the memories my children are building of Purim are worth whatever we spend. btw, I too believe that matonos leevyonim is supposed to be at least as important as mishloach monos and we actually have our children give from their own money, but we do not discuss how much we give for that or for that matter, how much we give the rest of the year. Everyone knows their own matzav and gives accordingly.
