If you’ve followed a Life on a Dime for long you might’ve picked up on the fact that both our kids have June birthdays. Both. As you can imagine, it can get expensive if we let it. You might have also noticed that every year I provide a birthday budget recap. Today’s post is a breakdown of this year’s birthday budget.
This year we were able to do more for the kids’ birthdays. Last year we barely had the grandparents over for pizza the day of each kid’s birthday due to COVID. We’d hoped to give our daughter a pool party, but it just wasn’t possible.
2021 BIRTHDAY BUDGET RECAP
We’ve had some pretty small birthday budgets in the past; between transitioning to a one-income family and building a new house this was necessary. In 2019 we had a combined budget for both kids of $150 including gifts and party food. And the kids had great birthdays with a shared backyard water party with cousins and a few friends. It didn’t feel like a sacrifice when it was all said and done.
Last year we had a bit larger of a budget but no possible way to celebrate outside our immediate family. That felt like more of a sacrifice. So this year we were determined to do more to celebrate our girl as she turned eight. Our son turned four and he’s still pretty easy to please. That and he doesn’t like the pool… yet.
What helped greatly this year was having a good handle on our household budget and spacing expenses over two months. As soon as I was able to book a party room and swim time at the local Boys & Girls Club I paid the $150 to reserve it. And that expense was absorbed into the May budget.
THE BIRTHDAY GIFT
We picked the best date we could and went about our business the rest of May. After trying and failing to think of what to buy each child that wouldn’t just result in clutter we settled on one big shared gift. We decided to use a portion of our Federal Stimulus money to purchase a 16′ trampoline with an enclosure.
Since the handy hubby was working seven days a week we also paid for professional assembly. It was definitely worth the extra $100. The grand total for our big gift for both kids came in at $530 with tax and assembly from Walmart.com. And it has proven itself to be money well spent.
Not only has it already provided hours of entertainment, with a 375 lb weight limit they won’t outgrow the thing anytime soon. There is no additional clutter in the house from gifts that will end up in the donate box by the end of the year. And yes, this was a big splurge for us, as we tend to be frugal (but not cheap!), but we were happy to be able to provide this big-ticket item and know it will provide our kids fun for years to come.
Later in the month, the handy hubby collected a trailer full of free mulch to cover the weed barrier. I will note that you should also buy stakes to secure the trampoline to the ground; ours were damaged in shipping and returned. We currently have a temporary solution not pictured weighing down the trampoline, but if you do get a trampoline – remember the stakes!
The best part? Neither kid complained they didn’t have individual gifts to open on their big days from mom and dad. We let friends and family spoil kids with new tractor toys, excavators, clothes, and earrings. And, as I mentioned in my previous post on 7 Things Not to Buy For Kids as Gifts, our loved ones are amazing at asking us for ideas, suggestions, or running by ideas before they go shopping.
DAY OF BIRTHDAY BUDGET RECAP
On the day of both kids’ birthdays, I took them to a local bakery to pick out their birthday treats. Briar Rose is a treasure in Farmington. From the French cottage decor to the little door for kids to go in, it’s definitely a special place. I took the kids in to pick out cupcakes of their choice for the day of as well as dinner with the grandparents. And of course, we had to pick up a dozen day-old cinnamon rolls if they were available!
Since we had a softball game on Elijah’s big day, we had cupcakes that night and again with the grandparents at his family party. Between the additional cupcakes and cinnamon rolls, we spent $55.42 on our treats. We also spent $41.77 on takeout pizza for the birthday boy’s dinner.
On Ella’s birthday, we again went to Briar Rose for birthday sweets and cinnamon rolls. Since we bought fewer cupcakes, we spent $39.51 on our girl’s birthday treats. We spent an additional $39.53 on takeout pizza for the birthday girl’s dinner with the grandparents. We had a lot of pizza in June!
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
We invited several kids to the swim party – including the whole softball team, but the date ended up being a schedule conflict for several invitees. Ella’s school friends all seemed to be on vacation, visiting family, or at church camp. But we had a great time with the crew that did turn out; almost all the cousins and close family friends showed up to celebrate our girl.
I went simple with the food and ordered two dozen assorted cupcakes from the Walmart bakery. Between the cupcakes, candles, and wand lighter (forgot ours at home) I was out $21.42.
For the rest of the party decorations, drinks, and snacks, we went to Target. The unicorn-themed tablecloths, plates, cups, napkins, bottles of lemonade, balloons, individually packaged snacks, and party favors set us back about $92. This figure is a little less than exact since I also got a baby shower gift the same trip. I’m not splitting hairs on the sales tax here.
After the party, I was able to return the unopened packages of plates, cups, and napkins (I don’t typically keep non-compostable paper products around the house) for a whopping $7.70 back on my card. I had errands in the same shopping center and I hate clutter. It wasn’t necessarily worth it for the small refund, but just to get rid of it.
TWO KIDS, TWO BIRTHDAYS, ONE MONTH FINAL BIRTHDAY BUDGET RECAP FOR 2021
This year was definitely the exception to the rule for spending while our kids are still young. Once we move into the tablets, cell phones, and driving years I know the cost will creep up. But for now, we will go back to our more frugal habits.
The total damage for the two birthdays in one month this year was $961.95. It’s a far cry from last year’s birthday budget, which was a total of $550 combined. So yes, this year is definitely a bigger year birthday-wise.
I already have ideas for next year on how to do as much party-wise and save a little more money; instead of the $150 fee for the party room and 25 swimmers, I plan to pay $50 to rent the party room and pay the small fee per swimmer. This way we’ll only pay for the kids who can show up.
And speaking of kids showing up, we’ll also be sure to plan the party earlier in the month to try to avoid a few schedule conflicts.
So that was our 2021 birthday budget recap. We spent a lot, but we also made up for not being able to celebrate outside of immediate family last year. The kids were happy, we celebrated them well, the gifts are all still being enjoyed, and I have no additional clutter in the house to deal with.
We also stayed within the budget parameters we set for the party, so that’s definitely a budget win. Accounting for the fact that the trampoline was not from the monthly budget, our household budget spending across two months for both birthdays was $431.95.
That’s it for this year’s birthday budget posts! I’ve got some great posts lined up through the summer for a Life on a Dime so stick around! Until next time, stay frugal my friends.
This is Awesome! Thank you for this I’m always on a budget for birthdays for my kids too. Will try to be lol but this helps a lot.
Sounds like an amazing party and that trampoline is awesome! I’d love one for my birthday!!
Sounds like you had a great month! I hope your kids enjoy their trampoline!