by Jim
Saturday was my little man’s birthday party. And let me tell you, these things wear me out! Cleaning the whole entire house, cooking all the food, decorating the house according to the party’s theme. All of this does such a toll. Almost four days non stop if you count in Easter.
But all in all, it was a huge success! Probably the most people we had in our house at any given time. To top it all off, it was such a beautiful day. I had an idea that I would be grilling in the rain or something. Which turned out to be a faulty gut feeling, what a relief.
Everyone knows that birthday parties can be such a financial burden but I am happy with what we paid for everything. Here is a breakdown of all the costs…
$23.96 – All the decorations (Paid back in March)
$49.82 – Gift Basket (Got all from Oriental Trading, which helped save lots of money for 16 kids)
$95.39 – Our Son’s Gift (Had on Layaway since January, so also didn’t spend much this month)
———
$169.27 – Total Spent
Now this amount would have added to an even bigger amount, since as you can see that no where in here did I give a price on food and cake. I got all of my food for free. For the last two weeks I have been waking up at 2:30 in the morning, to help my best friend do a newspaper route of his. His truck broke down and the vehicle was deemed totaled. He paid me about $125 for gas, which was all I asked him to do. Well he took it upon himself to demand I give him a way he could help me out. He knows that I did this because I love him, and wasn’t expecting anything in return.
He kept bugging me and bugging me on how he could repay me back. I know he doesn’t have much money and I really didn’t have anything in mind, when all of a sudden a thought got put in my head. He owns a restaurant, so I told him that he could get all the food for my son’s birthday party. I needed 10 lbs of hamburger meat, 8 lb Pork Butt, Hot Dogs, Buns, and Potato Salad. This was about $70-$90 dollars of value. It wouldn’t cost him any extra out of pocket, since all these he had at the restaurant. So we were both satisfied. Back in the day I used to do wedding cakes and I was pretty good at it. Even though I hate baking, I made my son’s cake, so it cost a total of about $6 for the products I used, but I had everything on hand, so no out of pocket.
Good job saving! And being a good friend. 🙂
You are one good dad and one good friend! Sounds like fun!
Happy Birthday to your little one! May God give him a long, healthy and prosperous life.
Great job in saving and helping a friend out.
While the over all amount spent isn’t bad, I think you have to look at the breakdown a little bit. You spent almost $100 on a gift for a 2-yr old. You didn’t say what you got him, but I am guessing it is something that he will play with for awhile and outgrow, I caution you on spending too much on toys and such. If your kids get used to having “bigger” gifts when they are little, you have less room in the budget to go BIGGER as they get older. The simple fact is that as kids get older, their “toys” are more expensive. Also, when you have a party, societal norm dictates you bring a gift….so I am sure he got plenty of stuff already.
Great job on the food…but if your friend hadn’t been there, would you have been ok spending another $100-ish on food? I am not saying that the cost isn’t out of line….just where would that money have come from?
Again, remember as kids get older, there are things that become more expensive, and prepare yourself!! I have almost 12 year old twins and we have only had 2 birthday parties for them. We have chosen to let them have a special day with us to celebrate their birthday. We brought them into this world….it is our honor to get to celebrate it with them.
These are good points Mysti, the gift was a little power wheels. My wife and I just had to get it. A few months back, he was at another child’s birthday party, and I swear he fell in love with this thing. He hasn’t gotten off it since.
As for the food part, I would have made somethings out of my stockpile. If I went the same route, the only thing I would have needed was the buns, so maybe $12 for everything.
I am a teacher by trade, and work for early intervention. A ride on type toy is great for his age….but there are plenty that still do the job and aren’t $100!!!
Sounds like a good time was had by all. I hope you didn’t have to do all the work yourself. I know your wife has some issues, but I hope you aren’t trying to be a one-man show. That is a good way to get burnt out!
The phrase that concerns me here is “my wife and I just had to get it”. You “have” to feed, clothe, and shelter your child, you do not have to get them a $100 toy. I bring this up not to be snippy, but to bring the phrasing to your attention. How many people (myself included) are battling debt because they “had” to have something? It might be something to watch for in the future in many areas.
I am glad to hear he loves the toy!
-Meghan
Thanks for pointing that out Meghan. To be honest for the last few years, there weren’t many of these “have to have” occasions.
Not at all Mysti… I did all the cooking and house decorating. She did the majority of the cleaning. It works for both of us.
I agree. The food barter turned out great, however you didn’t have a plan prior to that. I think spending $100 is an awful lot…there are so many used items on Cragislist that I would bet if you really looked, you could have found it for much less. Also, did you pay full price for the toy or did you use a coupon. There are lots of internet coupons and creative ways to save money. I do think it’s a great start by bartering but for a 2 year old, I would have liked to see less spent on a gift and also more menu planning and party planning ahead of time to save money. Granted you were able to barter the food however if that didn’t come through, there essentially wasn’t a plan. It was basically everything as normal-same amount spent on a gift and no cutting back.
Actually the party planning, I did have a plan for the food. I was going to use the meat I had already, the only thing I needed was to get the buns. All decorations got bought with a $20 off coupon when you purchased $40. You are right about the toy we could perhaps found this on Craigslist, but I didn’t try to look for it. I had a 20% off coupon when I first was getting the toy, but since I was putting it on layaway, I couldn’t use it till the last payment, which by then expired. On top of that, I did have $10 reward bucks and another 20% off coupon that I forgot to bring on my last visit.
Talk about a win-win situation. Bartering and no-cash transactions like this a great way to push even more cash toward debt payoff.
I hope you were able to give your son a tricycle or pedal car or something fun like that for his birthday. My siblings and I each received pedal tractors around this age and we loved the heck out of them.
That is exactly what we did Walnut! Haha My son is a HUGE Jake and the Neverland Pirates fan, and once we saw this, we knew this was the must have gift. We did see this on sale online on Target. It was in fact only $50, so the wife and I discussed if we should cancel our layaway and go the target route. This was about two weeks before the party. We ultimately decided against it, since we only had $20 left at Toys R Us, and the fact that Target was going to charge us $29 dollars S&H. We weren’t even sure if it would get to us in time.
Interesting that you used to do wedding cakes and were good at it, but hated it. These are the kinds of posts readers like to see. Thanks for sharing more about you and your family! Keep up the good work. 🙂
Thanks Shoe! It’s not that I hated it, it was more on the line that I rather be cooking than baking. The funny thing is my protege who I taught to do cakes alongside me has made a huge career in the Tri State Area, some of her work is simply unbelievable.
Have you ever thought about maybe doing a little freelance work for her if you feel like your skills are still solid? You definitely don’t need to do it full time, but maybe telling her that if she ever needs extra help, you’d be interesting in picking up occasional work at x dollars/hour. Maybe even x dollars/hour for baking versus x dollars/hour for delivery and setup of finished product.
Maybe it won’t lead to anything but it would be good for her to know that you’re a willing contractor if she ever gets in a pinch.
Unfortunately where I live isn’t really where the majority of her clientele live. We are about four hours apart. But I can bring the idea up to her, in case she wants to broaden her radius.
Love the post full of great information and ways that you saved money. I think Birthday parties when they are not overblown extravaganzas to impress others rather than focus on the birthday party; are GREAT. We always do a birthday party for my now 16 year old twins and 12 year old, and I have never regretted it for a second. I think the at home party is perfect for a 2 year old; I look at present price based on usage rather than price. For example a $95 ride on toy he rides multiple times a week for a year is a better usage of money to me than a $20 toy he rarely plays with. Congratulations I think your doing great.
Thanks Misti. To be honest I didn’t even look at the price, to see his eyes light up when he was at the other kid’s birthday party, I knew that we had to get him this. I basically saved up for it as well, for three months made payments on the layaway.
The food barter was a great idea. Please post a picture of the party decorations and food.
Hmm I am not sure if I have any pictures of the decorations or food, I might have the picture of the cake that I made, I will have to search the camera.
Just as people will say you could have looked on Craigslist to buy the gift, you could also consider selling the toy on Craigslist if it works in a few months/years when your son is done with it. Granted, that money isn’t helping you.. today. Maybe the gift was a little pricey, but your boy enjoys it and I can understand that!! Ya win some. Ya lose some. Happy Birthday Jim’s son! Also yay for getting free food and keeping your cost down.
You got him one nice toy and though there may have been cheaper ways to go that seems does not seem unreasonable. I think one nice quality gift is preferable to several of lesser quality. Great job on the food and making the cake. Good post Jim!
Sounds like you had a nice time. I bet your son loves the riding toy. Those types of toys have always been popular with my boys. I looks like you made it as economical as possible. And please post a picture of the cake.
cake cake cake! lol. i want to see a picture of the cake.