by Ashley
Happy birthday, Hubs!
Hubs’ birthday was earlier this week and between the recently broken A/C and all of our general debt, we’ve really gotten re-committed to spending less and doing away with all excess. It also helps that we’re getting older and probably just generally not caring about birthdays as much. But even so, I wanted to do something to help hubs’ feel special and recognize his important day without spending a bunch of money. I think we got a nice little mix of both.
Leading up to his birthday, I’d been working with the girls on making home-made gifts. They’re very into crafts so they have been crafting all kinds of stuff from a birthday banner to a big poster decorated with glitter and pictures. Hubs was working early in the morning on his bday, so when I woke the girls up we immediately set out to decorate the house, setting up all the sweet crafts the girls had been working on. When hubs’ got home from his morning w0rk, he was surprised and touched by the thoughtful gifts. The girls are now 6 and they’re just a great age for celebrating birthdays – they showered their Dad with big birthday hugs and kisses and lots of extra love and attention!
That afternoon after school (while hubs was back at work), the girls and I made a homemade birthday cake. When hubs got home, we took him out to dinner. This was our one birthday “splurge,” and we just went to a cheap burger place, so the entire dinner for four was under $40. We came home to sing Happy Birthday and have cake and just generally enjoyed being together.
The craft supplies were all things we had on hand, aside from the poster board (which was a “whopping” $1). We didn’t do any crazy extravagant gifts, just the homemade gifts from the girls, a heart-felt card, and lots of fun birthday decorations the girls made to hang around the house. Hubs said his best gift of all was being showered in hugs and kisses in the morning as soon as he walked in from work. We heard the garage door open as he was getting home and the girls ran and jumped into his arms practically as he walked through the door. It was a pretty precious thing to witness. Girls love their Daddy!
The best part, financially speaking, was the low cost of the entire endeavor. We really went for heart-felt more than fancy. And I think we knocked it out of the park in that regard.
How do you (and/or your spouse) celebrate birthdays for each other? Are you more likely to do fancy gifts or homemade gifts? How do you save money on birthdays while still acknowledging and celebrating the individual?