Spending a lot of money on Shaloch Manos and giving a lot of people are not necessarily the same thing. We sent many people, but each shaloch manos costs less than $3 (I send something homemade — usually cake or kugel and one other “min”). My kids love giving out the packages, and we enjoy the opportunity to show people we were thinking of them. I always prepare a few extra in case someone shows up who we forgot to put on our list.
commonsense — you have a lot of common sense!
I don’t understand the posts saying “better give more matanos leevyonim” or “give more to the teachers” as if the only thing anyone is spending money on is shaloch manos!!! Why can you only give extra matanos leevyonim if you give less shaloch manos? Are those the only 2 items on your budget, so one is at the expense of the other? These are two mitzvos, and everyone should try to give as much matanos leevyonim as they can, and to fulfill the mitzva of mishloach manos in the best way they can.