by Hope
Gymnast just turned 15. And when your child needs nothing but wants everything. They are really hard to shop for. And when you do not want to pay for luggage to bring him back from visiting his Grandparents..you Double Dip.
I don’t think that’s the right term for what I ended up doing…
I bought him a couple of funny cards from the Dollar Store. And I created a gift certificate for his birthday present…
I had budgeted $100 for his birthday…$50 for a present and $50 for a birthday meal. (This is my standard birthday budget for each of the kids. I’ve shared this before.)
But I also knew I was going to spend some money on back to school clothes for him. So I added it all together and put it in a certificate. (I did tell him that we wouldn’t be going shopping until a decision was made on where he will be living this fall. If he goes back up north, he will need very different school clothes then if he remains in Georgia.)
He is thrilled…especially with the larger number. (I had already explained it to the girls so they didn’t wonder why he was getting more $$$ than them for school clothes.) And I am thrilled that I didn’t buy him anything bulky that has to be shipped by to Georgia.
My dad purchased the birthday dinner. He typically pays for our food when we are in Texas. And 3 of my 4 siblings came. We ordered in and celebrated while respecting social distancing. And it was wonderful.
The birthday boy and I…I look at this picture and realize that I look like I’ve been working around the clock. Tired and bedraggled, but no regrets, I am making real progress for the first time in a long time!
Worth the Risk
I am so grateful that we came. We all have the nagging worry about COVID 19. But my mom is not getting any better. And seeing her, well, it’s not something I was willing to give up especially knowing that I may not be able to come back over the holidays as the virus gets worth and we go back into quarantine.
We are respecting social distancing, wearing masks and sanitizing like crazy.
The girls and I were masked and sanitized for our entire trip.
And my siblings were fantastic in welcoming Beauty to the family and gave each of the girls a birthday card of their own with a little cash. (Since they don’t really do anything on Princess’ birthday, they always make sure to do something when we are around and they make sure they are fair.)
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
I’m confused. You increased his birthday budget because you don’t want him to bring his things back home in luggage??
I didn’t increase his birthday budget…I just combined it with the school clothes money I was going to give him later this month.
okay – birthday money, school clothes money..whatever you want to call it – just weird to not pay $30 to bring his things home in a cheked luggage
I think she’s saying she didn’t want to give him a bunch of clothes or a different big birthday present in Texas that they’d have to transport back to Georgia. Same present, but gave him the money to spend after he’s back home. Maybe…my interpretation.
You are correct.
$30 more toward debt.
This isn’t double dipping, this is just giving him cash instead of something else. It’s the same amount of money you’d have spent anyway, so the only way it saves money, is if you had also spent checked bag or shipping fees to transport physical gifts.
Correct, I am saving money by not having more clothes and stuff to get back to GA. It’s not a lot, but every bit helps.