Birthday Girl Turns 6...on a budget

This month our daughter is celebrating her 6th birthday. Granted, birthdays are a huge deal for kids and some parents. For us, we really cannot afford to celebrate it at Chuck E Cheese, Pump it Up, or any party planning place. So what does our family do? We went to the park.

Have to have cupcakes to celebrate!

Not only did the kids get a workout on the playground equipment, I brought along Capri Suns (back of the pantry), bottled water, goldfish, snap peas, carrots, and craisins.

Does anyone look like they are having a horrible time? Not after homemade cupcakes ;)

Not only does this help your local park, but it helps your local economy too. What a way to celebrate a kid's birthday! Even the parents were excited about the beautiful weather and getting their kids outdoors to run around. The girls ran around playing freeze tag while the boys played on the equipment.

The only downside is parents want to drop off their kids...with only two adults there. Watching them is okay, it's the getting hurt part I worried about. Most parents were okay with this. Or maybe they can trust me since I volunteer in my daughter's classroom.

Financially, how did we do? The only thing I bought extra were the things I did not have which was... surprisingly nothing. I could have sent party favors home, but you know what? We didn't have the extra money. So I used what I had and there were no sad kids there. They got veggies and crackers, a small drink, and a cupcake. See- no big, lavish, expensive party for 2 hours. $10 to rent the shelter (I think) and basic snack foods with cupcakes. Win-win for everyone!

I put "Gifts Optional" on her birthday invites- she got so many gifts!

Monthly Budget

Budgeting


As you know, we are a one income family. Hubby makes around $63,000 per year. So how do we make it in this golden state? Prayers and patience. Our kids do not get everything they want. Heck, we don’t even have cable, but we are thinking about getting internet in our house. :)

So what does our budget look like? Well,  if you’ve been reading my earlier posts, you already know we spend $400 on good quality natural food.

Bako Depot’s Budget:
Salary            $63,000
Housing         $1,015.00
Car payment $750.00
Car Insurance $74.00
AAA              $0.00
Cell phone     $156.00
Netflix           $9.00
ATT/ Internet $0.00
PG&E           $49.00
Water             $51.00
Gas                 $69.60
Student Loans $156.00
Ret/Life Insur $280.87

CASH
Grocery         $400.00
Gasoline (Auto)
Co-Pay/Medical
DMV/Smog Check
Car Maintenance
Cow
Entertainment
Kids Activities
Household
Home Improve/Tools
Clothing
Hobbies/Toys
Garden
Dining Out
Pets
Gifts
Medical Bills
ATM Withdrawal
TOTAL EXPENSES  $3,010.47

Summary
Salary         $3,430.06
Expenses    $3,010.47
Savings
Leftover Funds $419.59


That $419.59 is the rest of the paycheck to pay for dining out, clothes, tools, medical bills, and absolutely everything else. It’s really not much, is it? Lately, that $400 leftover has been going to $6,000.00 medical bills from hubby and they are still coming. This is why I’m afraid to get the mail! Everytime he goes in, which is often, it usually costs us $300. Granted we have really good insurance, but it takes a plan to get anywhere including out of debt.

Photography

I have my own photography business and well, I'm not 100% awesome with the pictures that I take. I never took any classes, but with the help of hubby and the wonderful internet, I'm learning. It's been fun taking pictures of random things including the kids. I would love to actually learn what I'm doing, but every time I look on the internet, it's like a foreign language to me. I'm a hopeless case, but I'll just keep playing around with it.

Let me know if which ones are your favorites!

A Boy & His Dog

Beach Bum

Hello Mr Pig

Mountain Flowers

Tanning Tortoises

The Open Road

Out in the Country

Sandy Shoes