Trying to celebrate on a budget

My youngest celebrated his 4th birthday today! I am trying to stick to such a tight budget, but a birthday really IS a big deal especially if you're 4. I was determined to make his day special while staying within my budget.

Luckily, last month I found a few gift cards that were given to my children last Christmas. I've been using my daughter's to buy gifts for her friends when she is invited to birthday parties. But I had $50 of ToysRUs cards for my son. So I used his to buy his presents. We also "splurged" on a $20 Buzz Lightyear costume which can double as his Halloween attire. I made his cake and decorated it with some small Toy Story figures I got with the gift cards. And we used part of our eating out budget and some coupons to visit Chuck E Cheese this afternoon.

It took a little creativity to pull this off, but the four-year old had a great day! And momma is happy that she didn't bust the budget to make sure he had a very special celebration!