Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Plans for a few big celebrations - a combination of frugal & splurge

In the next few days, we have a couple of great milestones. Sam turns ten! (I truly, truly can't believe it's been ten years). And, I turn 40! I feel so lucky - I'm extremely happy & blessed, & life is absolutely fabulous.

How do we celebrate in our family? We used to let each of the boys have the big "class party" thing, that was a total Must (cough, keeping up with the Jones) when we lived in Seattle. Each party would run about $500.

Spending on what matters:

Since we moved to California, the boys have just one wish for their birthdays - they want to celebrate & have a "family" party. So, Nick's birthday is the month after Sam's, and we combine them. It's definitely not cheap, but here's what we end up doing:

We fly to Portland on Thursday & crash with my sister. We wake up on Friday & spend Friday afternoon, evening & Saturday morning at an indoor water park with my nephews. This was another fun tradition we had to give up when we moved. It's around $300 for this part of the trip, including food, the hotel, etc.

On Saturday, we stay with my parents & hang out. My dad takes the boys biking, and we usually just spend a lot of time drinking wine & talking. It's lovely.

On Sunday, the boys will have a big "family" party, which they are thrilled about. My mom makes a cake, everyone brings an appetizer, and my sister & mom make soup. It's a family tradition. :-) I pay for the beer, wine, and also give my sister "extra", as she ends up bringing a lot to help out my mom. She's an amazing rock star, and I can't imagine my  life without her! We fly back on Monday (we have the day off for President's Day, and the boys don't have school).

So, the cost of the full trip is typically about $1,800 (majority of it spent on air fare & hotel). As you can see before we moved, we were spending a minimum of $1000 on birthday parties that no one remembers. We also don't need to use our nanny on Thursday, Friday, or Monday, which saves about $150. It's not a huge difference in price to visit the family instead of having big giant class parties, and it's something we all appreciate much more.

What about the lady who is getting really old (aka, me?) :-)

And, for my 40th? I'm working on the actual day, and then going to dinner with my three favorite boys. The only real "frugal" choice we'll make is to bring our own wine (no corkage fee) & we'll use a work gift card for a free ice cream afterward. I am taking Thursday off & spending the day alone, before I pick up the kids & head to the airport. .. I'm getting a fabulous massage! It will not be frugal. But, I've been skipping my budgeted hair cut & pedicure in order to offset the cost, so it shouldn't be too impactful.

As for gifts, I got the boys a set of colored pencils, colored markers & a gift card each. I bought the gift cards before the holidays when their was a Rite Aid deal, and the pencils/markers were from Amazon. They will also get to have a friend "sleepover" in a few weeks. I'll get a Papa John's pizza (free work coupon) & I'll make popcorn & brownies. It will cost next to nothing.

I'm really looking forward to the time with my family. My mom has had pneumonia for the last three weeks and been really sick, so it will be nice to see her & spend time taking care of her.

What about you? How do you celebrate milestones in your family?

12 comments:

  1. New reader here - I can't believe how organized and disciplined you are! :) It's inspiring.
    Happy Birthday Week, and 40 really is the new 30 - enjoy everything!

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    1. Thank you, and welcome! I don't feel terribly organized, but I try for sure. :-)

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  2. That sounds like a blast and I agree a much better use of your money to have the family memories! As for us...we typically only have a family lunch celebration on the weekend of the child's birthday with a homemade cake. I am sure the time is coming when Rebecca will want a friends party. I like the family celebrations better, as those are the ones I remember from when I was growing up.

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    1. Oh yes, the friends party & the sleepovers! Get a few boys together at a sleepover, & it turns into chaos.

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  3. Happy Birthday to you and Sam! We have quiet birthdays, although this year I am booking our trip to Ucluelet/Tofino with Hubby's 54th Birthday. Maybe a weekend on Gabriola Island for mine, both with the dog so no eating out but that is ok. I like the idea of spending money to spend time with your family rather than expensive class birthdays.

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    1. Thank you! And agree, I love the quieter birthdays. My husband wanted to throw me a party this year, and I just flat out refused. I prefer time with family & friends. Can't wait for the weekend!

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  4. Sounds like fun!! Happy birthday to you! I hope you enjoy your massage :)

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    1. Thank you. I'm *extremely* excited for the massage/spa part of my day tomorrow. :-)

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  5. Your birthday plans sound great. I'm sure your kids will remember and enjoy the weekend!
    40 for me was so easy. I hadn't even had my son yet (42). I was swimming daily which I loved. I don't swim anymore as I can't be in a public pool due to whatever might be lurking there.:)

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    1. I need to get back into swimming - such a great & relaxing workout!

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  6. We don't really celebrate our birthdays, but we do try to do family dinner for birthday months and always get something for the kids to go unwrap with a cash gift. So for 6 months out of the year family dinner is also birthday dinner. This year we also have a wedding in September and with that comes lots of socializing and events all summer. I think it's fabulous your sons value family time for their birthdays and it sounds like you have some really fun traditions.

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    1. Love that you have enough birthdays to last six months of dinner's out. That's great! :-)

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