Saturday, August 22, 2009

Save Money on Kids' Birthday

I had one son turn one yesterday, and the other son turns three tomorrow. Before our second child, we had a $10 budget for birthdays and Christmas for our kid. It doesn't sound like much, but we have a large extended family and my kids have WAY too much stuff. We went into this birthday with a different mindset because we combined the birthdays into one celebration. This is what we got our two kids:
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These cost $2.50 at several yard sales and both kids are thrilled. There was one more wagon-like car, too, but it has already been "misplaced."
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This I got from an actual toy store in the mall for $1.50 in a 75% off sale. I think it's super cool. My kids aren't as convinced, but they enjoy watching me play with it. (:
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For special birthday food, this is what we did. I got a dozen cookies from the "Oops, we over-baked" rack in Walmart for $1.50. I also got one of those no-bake cheesecake mixes, GV brand, for $1.50. After it was made with milk, stevia and butter, it was about $2.50.
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Then, what is my kid's favorite meal? Macaroni and cheese with hot dogs! Two boxes of mac and cheese, $0.25 per box, made with milk and butter, with four hot dogs, at $0.11 per hot dog is about $1.50 for a meal. And there was enough leftovers to send some to work with my husband today and for my baby for lunch. Yes, this is all crap food, but it is only one day.
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I know home-made sweets are cheaper, but I don't keep sugar in the house, so I'm still working on tweaking a few satisfying stevia recipes. Also, yesterday was not an oven day. In fact, I'm working toward an oven free lifestyle, but that's another post altogether.
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So, that is $9.00 for two birthdays. The kids loved it. We had a Thomas the Tank Engine marathon in the morning and I played my son's favorite song in the car. We also dipped into my sticker collection, which is a rare treat.

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I really enjoy being a mom. I could have easily spent $100 on each kid, as my parents did while I was growing up. I value birthdays as a special day, probably because we were so spoiled growing up. So I like to surrounded my kids with their favorite things. I have just catered my kids' taste to enjoy less expensive things, or at least not to dislike something because it is less expensive.

5 comments:

Caroline said...

I like this. We try and have family only birthdays too, which can get some interesting reactions from friends who seem to enjoy the HUGE parties, even for their babies. Oh well, I try and keep the gifts to $5-10 as well, for the same reasons. Thanks for sharing!

Rebecca said...

Your kids are the same age as mine. My daughter was 3 Sept. 25, my son was 1 on Aug. 6, and my newborn was born Aug. 24 and is now 5 weeks old. :)

Green In OC said...

Just found your blog and I love it!

What do you use for wrapping presents?

Emily said...

Green in OC, I am going to add that to the Frequenty Asked Questions, because I could write a whole post about it.

A quick answer, some wrapping paper, I love newspaper because it's black and white, and a lot of odds and ends from my craft supplies.

Green In OC said...

Emily, I love unusual wrapping paper!

I save paper grocery bags (from when I forget my canvas ones) and then I take off the handles (save these for "ribbons") and open them up at the seams.

I turn it so that the advertising is on the inside and then I wrap it up. Use the "ribbons" and they look really cute!

I also LOVE these:

http://www.luckycrow.com

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