Frugal Birthday

**ms.mel.who** · 05-21-2010, 10:32 AM

May is a crazy month here! End of school parties, spring sports wrapping up, a birthday, and our anniversary.

My son turned 10 yesterday. Instead of going out to dinner, like we usually do, I suggested he give me a list of all his favorite foods. I made several small portions of his favs for after school snack, dinner, and deserts. I was able to buy everything within my weekly food budget. The kids all loved it, and everyone wants this for their next birthday instead of dinner out!!

His birthday party is next week. We are having an at home sleepover party with outdoor water fun, pizza (that I have buy one get one coupons for), wiffle ball, homemade cake, and ice cream. What a relief it is to plan a sane frugal party this time!

Someone gave us a catchers mitt for him about a month ago when they heard how much he loves baseball. We tucked it away and gave it to him last night, he was thrilled.

**Kelliez** · 05-21-2010, 11:06 AM

I would love suggestions for birthday presents. I have lots of sons and grandchildren and none of them live close. And it can get very expensive. I need some frugal ideas!

**krbshappy71** · 05-21-2010, 11:14 AM

If you have one near you, shop the thrift stores such as Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity, they get "leftovers" from WalMart and Target. I frequently get brand-new-in-box presents for my nephews and niece from there. Right now I have my nieces "Dora" Christmas present already for $9. (not super cheap but its a large ticket item brand new in the box which matters to me)

Just keep shopping all year and start up a stock. Also, try to stick to the basics and let their parents get all that expensive trendy stuff. Books, board games, outdoor play equipment, all may not get the big wow at the time but its what they end up playing with long-term sometimes when the newness of the latest gadget wears off.

Just a tip from a broke-Aunt. hahahaa

**pollypurebred39** · 05-21-2010, 11:36 AM

ms.mel.who, That's awesome! I'm so glad your family is so open to the change in birthday dinners out. We've always done our birthday dinners at home and kept parties really low key. In grammer school when other kids were having huge parties they both had moments of the green eyed monster, but I always had them make out a special menu that they would like and they soon got into the spirit of things and forgot all about those big birthday bashes their friends were throwing.

On a side note, I swear the parents who threw those parties were A) Showing off and B) Were inviting scores of kids so their child would get a boatload of presents. I found the whole thing annoying, there was a year where my DS1 had been invited to no less then 30 parties, and most of the kids he would have not considered friends. I found it even more annoying when the parents sent a wish list along with the party invites. One even asked us to e-mail them with the gift we had purchased so they could keep track of the gift list. The nerve! At home parties with family and close friends is the only way to go. Good Job Mom!!!!

Kelliez,

I hit CVS's after the season sales. I buy Summer toys, Christmas toys, Easter things (often times they have toys that are not Easter like) etc. for 75% to 90% off. I watch K-Mart for after season sales and get clothing, PJ's, coats, hats, mittens, even jewery boxes and girlie things. I wait until they are selling the clothing for $1.99 and mittens for .99 cents and really clean up. Last year I made up gift bags for the ladies on my list that retailed for around $150 for just $10. I did the same kind of things for the kids on my list. You just have to go into those stores every week and watch those clearances and be ready to pounce when the prices plummet. Good Luck!

**frugalfoster** · 05-21-2010, 11:52 AM

[QUOTE=pollypurebred39;1371563] I found it even more annoying when the parents sent a wish list along with the party invites. One even asked us to e-mail them with the gift we had purchased so they could keep track of the gift list. The nerve! QUOTE]

OMG Now I've heard of everything!!! I cannot believe that some parents would go to this extreme!! This is ridiculous!

**sunshine** · 05-21-2010, 12:31 PM

For boy gifts - I always stocked up on Match box cars when they were on sale. . . if it was a child close to us, I'd make a play mat (fabric or crocheted) with roads, town scenes, etc. for them to use with the cars.

For girls - I stocked up on Barbies when they were cheap - and then I sewed tons of Barbie clothes from scraps.

Puppets -sewn, crocheted or knitted are a hit with most kids of nearly any age.

I stock up on school supplies when they go on sale in August, and give "art kits" for gifts-- pads of blank paper, markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.