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Party Spending

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My son’s birthday party was a huge success!  Not only did the boys have an absolute blast but my budget had a blast too!  I spent a total of $122.  That’s $3 under budget and I’m pretty darn proud. 

How did I do it?  I carefully planned food and ended up with very little leftover.  That’s progress for this Mom as I always way over-estimated in years past.  I made his birthday cake.  I shopped the Dollar Store for the very limited party decorations and plastic cups with lids to avoid spills in the gaming area.  With the help of a gaming friend, I rented an extra copy of a video game that we needed for the tournament for free during the 30-day trial period of an online game rental service.  As I already shared, I borrowed everything else for the game stuff.  And then I just relaxed and let the boys have their fun and oh did they!  I don’t think they went to sleep until 5 am and every single kid told me they had the best time. 

This morning I caught a blog post hating on dollar stores.  The writer was comparing the cost of items found at dollar stores to buying things in bulk at Costco or Sam’s.  The comments were not supportive and I have to agree with most of them.  I believe the dollar store is GREAT for party stuff that you know you only need once or maybe twice.  You shouldn’t be going in a dollar store seeking high quality products anyway.  And, another valid point is there are many, many people who don’t have the money to buy in bulk and in fact barely have the money to shop at the dollar store.   Anyway, it was a timely post given my excitement about finding the spillproof drinking cups and decorations. 

So, here’s to my success with a budget friendly birthday party!  Let’s see what I come up with to save on DD’s birthday in June!


12 Comments

  • Reply Grayson @ Debt Roundup |

    Congrats on throwing a great party and staying under budget. I have no issues with Dollar stores, especially for party supplies. Haters just have to keep hating.

  • Reply Claire in CA, USA |

    I love Dollar Stores, too! I get my general cleaning stuff there, and scored some really cute Christmas decorations this year.

  • Reply OC Budget Living |

    I love dollar stores although alot of dollar stores have merchandise that cost more than a dollar nowadays.

    It’s interesting that we had a birthday party for my nephew this past weekend as well (he’s turning 9). I know that my sister spent a little over $1,000 for the party, catering, and the post-party. I shouldn’t judge because i know i spend too much on my nephew too but i need to show my sis your post!

    To be honest, my nephew would have preferred and loved to have had a LAN party with his friends at home with $5 pizzas from Little Caeser (he actually asked for the pizzas, lol)

  • Reply FarFromIt |

    Well you are going to LOVE this one. I live in a small town. There isn’t much to choose from as far as things like party supplies. I ALSO drive a convertible Ferrari. I have no qualms about going to the dollar store to get party supplies and such…and even cheapy little toys that I know my kids are going to break anyway. You should see the way people look when I pull up to that Dollar Store in the Ferrari. The look on their faces is priceless. HAHAHA!!

    • Reply Walnut |

      This is the epitome of spending your money on what you valley and saving cash on things you don’t care about.

      Also, it is evidence that we all should refrain from judging people who have nice things, because we never know what they have chosen to give up to afford that luxury.

  • Reply Mindy |

    I just found your blog because we share a common goal of getting out of debt. I find your blog to be truly inspiring! I have about 20,000 in debt to pay off and am enjoying your blog and all the advice you give. Thank you so much!

  • Reply Savvy Scot |

    Great effort! In the UK we have £1 shops which are a similar concept. I agree that they are great for some things and should’t be slated!

  • Reply Gordon |

    I’ll play for the other team here and say I really dislike the dollar store. While it can be great for saving money at parties, I can never find what I’m looking for. I’m definitely picky, but I guess you just take what you can get at the dollar store. Unfortunately I dont’ have one near my grocery store so I have to drive to it when I want to get something and take a chance that they have it. Ugh.

    I’m new here by the way. I like your blog 🙂

  • Reply N |

    So glad you had a great, budget-friendly party for your son. I, personally, love dollar stores. I get all my cleaning supplies there. I really could care less what “haters” think. My self worth doesn’t come from what others think of me, or what they think of my dollar store cleaning supplies for that matter! Happy Holidays!

  • Reply margot |

    I like Dollar Stores, and am always tempted by the bargains and unexpected items in the aisles. But I try to avoid them because I fear I am buying cheap crap at the expense of 1) abusive labor practices in developing countries, including child labor and 2) I’m almost always buying expendable, plastic crap that’s harmful to the environment and probably to humans too.

    I figure I can almost always recreate for free most of what I’d buy in those stores or I can go without. A good example is Christmas decor…when I find myself tempted to buy throw-away stuff or mass-consumer stuff from the store, I instead use free cuttings at Christmas tree sale places to make a wreath and decorate the mantle. And I use pine cones and free cuttings from ivy for other decor. Rather than buy throw-away hats for her daughter’s birthday party, my friend let the girls each wear one of her own hats (and I think she borrowed hats from friends, too).

So, what do you think ?