HOW WE BUDGET TWO BIRTHDAYS IN ONE MONTH

TWO BIRTHDAYS IN ONE MONTH CAN BE EXPENSIVE, BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE

Both of our children were due in August, my birthday month. Both children arrived in June about 6 weeks ahead of schedule. Anyway, since we are gearing up for their birthday month and making plans I thought I’d share how we budget for two birthdays in one month.

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If you’ve been with a Life on a Dime since the beginning (almost a full year!), you may have read Birthday Budget with a Life on a Dime. In that post, I shared how we had a rather small budget of $150 to cover a joint at-home party with family and friends as well as purchase their gifts.

Yes, you read that right. We had a $150 budget. We had just moved into our new home and as a single income family we wanted to celebrate without swiping the credit card or withdrawing money from savings.

How did we do with our budget last year? You can read the Birthday Party Budget Breakdown to find out, but I’d say we did pretty well! Friends and family loved on them with gifts, particularly the gift of experience (a great gift idea for a minimalist, by the way).

WHAT DOES THE BUDGET FOR TWO BIRTHDAYS IN ONE MONTH LOOK LIKE THIS YEAR?

Things look quite different this year, budget-wise and around the house. Last year we had a furnished but not decorated home to welcome our friends and family over to celebrate our kids.

This year we’ve done quite a bit of decorating and rearranging. But we’ve also made a major financial decision that will come into play with our June budget. We recently refinanced our home mortgage. By recent I mean just in the last week.

Related: Watch 3 Smart Money Moves to Make Now on YouTube!

We will not have a mortgage payment due until July. That puts a good chunk of change back in the budget. It couldn’t come at a better time! This year we will be able to celebrate two birthdays in one month with separate parties.

CELEBRATING OUR LITTLE MAN

I find it hard to believe our little man will be three in just a few short weeks! He seems so big now with his improved speech; he really speaks his mind! Now if he’d just agree to potty train!

We had determined several months ago that daddy’s little helper needed a tool bench of his own. Any larger toy or toy set he owns is a hand me down from either his sister or cousins. We LOVE getting and giving hand me downs in this house!

He would enjoy having his own set of tools like daddy. He is very good at independent play, and if sissy returns to school this fall he’ll need something that isn’t Disney+ to keep him busy on his own for a bit.

I like the idea of a wooden set because they’re sturdy, not plastic (I’m pretty over bringing new plastic in the house), and should have a good resale value when he outgrows it.

If we don’t sell it we may offer it to a friend’s little boy who is younger. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m sure he’ll get a few years use out of one.

I also have my eyes on this explorer set since he really likes borrowing sissy’s binoculars when they play outside. It’s quite common for them to start fighting over it and arguing about who the rightful owner is. Pretty typical. Girly may expect an upgrade from her kids meal toy binoculars after she sees these!

The birthday boy is also in need of some lightweight summer clothing. I play to buy him some solid color and striped t-shirts as well as some lightweight knit pants.

He’s a bit picky and has shunned screen prints, overalls, and denim. Most days he’s outside playing in his pajama pants because he’s not a fan of shorts. I’m all for protecting his little legs from scrapes and falls, but he only has so many pairs of pajamas!

We will celebrate the little guy turning three at home. We have extended family now in isolation so we will skip the big family party plans for now. He’ll be happy either way.

We will either have tacos or hamburgers. Those are two of his favorite meals. I plan to order a cake from the local bakery this year since it is delicious and in the budget this time around. I expect to spend $200 or less for everything mentioned above.

OUR BIRTHDAY GIRL WILL TURN SEVEN!

After school went virtual in March our little extrovert has really missed a lot of interaction. We plan to spend the $150 to book a swim party for her at our local aquatic center.

The pool doesn’t open till the end of this month, so dates are still up in the air. We want to book the pool on a Friday evening and invite the kids from her class and our family.

I really, really hope this pandemic slows down enough that we can do this without worry. Our girl needs it. And turning seven is a big deal. We want to celebrate big with our little girl for the first time in a few years.

As far as gifts go she will need a new bathing suit, some sandals, and a few odds and ends. We also plan to give her some new earrings. Our brave girl got her ears pierced over Christmas break and she’ll be able to change them out by then!

So, gift wise, we probably won’t spend more than $150 on our girl. The majority of the money budgeted for her will be spent on the party. All said if we’re able to have the swim party I expect to spend about $350 ringing in our girl’s birthday including a cake.

NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS WE WILL STILL LOVE HARD ON OUR KIDS AND CELEBRATE TWO BIRTHDAYS IN ONE MONTH AT HOME

I know our girl will be disappointed if she doesn’t have a birthday party party next month. We will celebrate with friends and family whenever we get the chance. If a pool party is out of the question we may surprise her with a zoom call with all her classmates and cousins.

We will celebrate our kids at home on their big days and make sure they feel loved no matter what happens party wise. It’s easy not disappointing a three year old; just let him eat cake and he’ll think it’s the best day ever.

Seven year olds know when they’re missing out on stuff. We’ll do our best to make sure she doesn’t feel that way if things don’t work out the way we want. I am so excited to plan the menus for their birthday dinners with them and see their faces when they open their carefully selected gifts.

HOW DO YOU BUDGET FOR BIRTHDAYS?

Two birthdays in one month. It can be a lot, but it is also a lot of fun. A birthday budget of $550 between the two kids seems like a lot to us. I am very excited that we’re able to budget more money to celebrate this year.

While I think that’s a lot of money I also know that doesn’t cover the party cost for a lot of birthday parties. Even if that was in our budget I don’t think it’ll ever be our style.

Do you have several family birthdays that fall close together? How do you budget for them? There are several ways this can be done; birthdays are the same from year to year so don’t let them sneak up on you or your budget!

Set up a sinking fund for gift giving in general (we have one for Christmas) and make regular contributions. You can do this year-round or you can simply break up the expense over a few months leading up to the birthday.

Planning ahead and budgeting in advance for life events is something that will make your life a lot easier. You won’t regret it if you do, but you definitely will regret it if you don’t!

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