Search Results for: blog birthday parties on a budget 2

How Much Did You Spend on Your Child’s Last Birthday Party?

I know it wasn’t more than $360,000. We can’t all roll like Daddy Diddy, but as parents we do want to make our children happy, and celebrating a milestone like a birthday with a big party, often means digging deep. But how deep do you dig? My five-year-old is dreaming of a huge bash to commemorate her sixth year of life (which thankfully doesn’t happen for a few more months). She has been begging for a safari-themed party at our local children’s museum. For three hours, up to 20 kids can dine on lion-shaped cake, make toilet paper roll binoculars, … Continue reading →

Frugal Birthday Gifts for Preschoolers

We love going to birthday parties. However, my post-Christmas budget does not always enjoy the cost of birthday presents. We need to bring one, of course, and it needs to have some sort of four-year-old wow factor. But what to bring, and how can we be frugal about it? I have been creating a few birthday gifts for preschoolers lately. My favorite preschooler birthday gift is the play silk. These are easy to get from Dharma Trading or other online retailers, and you can often find blank white silks in art stores too. Dye them with some Koolaid powder and … Continue reading →

How I Saved on Birthday Goodie Bags

My daughter’s birthday party is this coming weekend. Naturally, she asked for a Disney princess theme again. I recently spotted color wonder kits in a princess theme for only $5 a piece. This seemed like a great bargain for goodies to hand out to the party goers (the kits normally go for $7.99 to $9.99 elsewhere), but when I added up the number of kits who would be attending, I found that it would cost me $5 times 15 kids (plus 3 more if I wanted to give my own kids goodie bags) for a minimum of $75. Ouch. Yes, … Continue reading →

How to Celebrate Good Times on a Budget

Think you can’t afford to have fun on your birthday, anniversary, or other milestone? Think again. The month of May is chock full of special occasions for my family. From birthdays to Mother’s Day, Memorial Day to graduations, there’s no shortage of celebrations in the coming weeks. Typically, I would be concerned that all of these “big days” would put a big dent in our family’s budget, but as I mentioned in my previous blog, fortunately these special occasions are yielding some major savings. My email inbox is filled with deals from hotels, theme parks, and restaurants offering freebies and … Continue reading →

How Green was 2008

Many analysts predicted that 2008 was going to be a green year in terms of the home. More people would adopt materials and practices that saved energy and were good for the environment. My own New Year Resolutions for the beginning of the year included being more green in our home. But then we had a downturn in the economy. So did everyone live up to the expectations? Yes and no. Let me start with my own home. We live pretty frugally and normally try to avoid waste whenever possible by reusing items. We do recycle quite a bit and … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Month in Review: June 2008

What a happy month is June, filled with the renewal of spring and the promise of summer. In the last month, we have shared so many ideas for frugal living and saving money. This past month has seen some pretty big increases in food, gas and other items (look for an upcoming post about strawberries increasing more than 100 percent). Now more than ever, it is important to save money where we can. This is why I decided to do a month in review. June 2nd Frugal Living Review: May 26th Through June 1st Garage sale shopping has got to … Continue reading →

The Marriage Blog Week in Review for Jan 20-26

Good morning, if you noticed a curious lack of the marriage blog week in review, I have to plead guilty. I wrote most of it, but yesterday, my daughter had a birthday party and we went out together to attend. It was a roller skating party and for those of you who follow my fitness blog posts, you know that my daughter and I have been roller-skating a great deal frequently, well we enjoyed ourselves roller-skating, but I was whipped after an hour and half on the skates and my legs felt like spaghetti. I’ll talk more about that in … Continue reading →

Budget Strategies: Don’t Forget Work Expenses

One area that is often overlooked in budgeting is that of work expenses. These items can sneak up on you, and may make you wonder where all the money is going. It is important to consider these items as you make up your budget. If you both work, it is even more important to plan for these expenses. It may not be fair to take this money from blow money or allowance categories, since many of these expenses are not by choice. Here are four work expenses categories to consider. 1) Does your office have a monthly fund for birthday … Continue reading →

Budget Strategies: Gifts and Birthdays

As you sit down and plan your budget for the year, you should budget for gifts. You should plan for each family member’s birthday. You can also plan for extended family members. You may also want to plan for a few extras that may come up as surprises throughout the year; this could include birthday parties that your children are invited to. Here are five ways to plan and budget for gifts for the upcoming year. 1) First you need to write down whom you are planning on buying gifts for this year. This should include Mother’s day and Father’s … Continue reading →

Inexpensive Birthday Party Ideas

With Tyler’s birthday fast approaching it’s time for me to get into final planning mode. He’s really excited about turning six and not so much concerned about having a party, which is fine with me. I have promised him $50 dollars and a trip to Toys R Us to spend it. Other than that we will probaby keep things really, really simple. If you have an upcoming party to plan and are looking for ideas, especially those that won’t send you to the poor house, I have a few tips you may be able to use. I found them in, … Continue reading →