Birthday Presents

We are so fortunate to have so many amazing friends. I love being able to celebrate birthdays with them. 

But...for every birthday party...there is a gift involved.  

And each $20 gift can get expensive - especially if you have four parties every two weeks!

So, if I was an organized person, I would buy 100 presents during Black Friday for different ages and spend $500 and know it will be less than the amount I would spend if I bough each one individually.  But I'm not that organized...plus my kids would totally find all those toys and open them. 

So here are my suggestions, besides having a public storage locker full of super sale toys.

1) Try target.  The end cap of target often has really cool toys on sale.  So for $12 vs. $25 you can get a really cool toy.

2) See if you can go in with a friend. You can get a better gift for $30.  You won't spend a ton less, but at least you'll get a cooler gift.

3) Consider a gift card for $12. If s/he ends up returning someone else's present, s/he will still get a cool gift. 

4) Consider a gift card to an ice cream shop or some sort of experience.  Personally, I think these are the best presents because your kid gets an experience, and you don't have to deal with the clutter and paper and crap a regular present would leave behind.

5) Consider making a donation in the kid's name.  This is probably right up there with giving a kid books for his or her birthday, but if the child is little enough, the parents might appreciate it. 

Happy birthday to you! 

Affordable Eating Out

I am not the Martha Stewart of my group.

I do like to cook, and there are a few things I make well, but at least two times a week, I feel justified to eat dinner out.  Plus, I like to try new restaurants.

Now, to save money, I could try to avoid eating out.  But, I figure, since I'm going to eat out anyway, I might as well find a way to save money doing it.

The nights we eat out, I feel less stressed, feel like I can actually bond with my cuties. :) 

So, how do you eat out on a budget?

We take advantage of Kids Eat Free Night.  There are so many restaurants where kids eat free.  Usually the portions are so big that you can eat half of your adult entree, and save the rest for lunch tomorrow. So kids eat free one night and you get a free lunch the next night.

I like Chevy's deal, where you get TWO free kids meal with the purchase of an adult meal.

We usually pick one night, say this will be our night for the month, and go from there. If the kids are sick or we miss our night, we don't eat out again until the next time.

Here is a list of restaurants by day.  

Enjoy - bond with your cuties - and save some cashola! Sounds like a winning menu to me.

Keeping elegant hair, without breaking the bank .

I love getting my hair done. My husband loves it when I get my hair done.  People are nicer to me when I get my hair done.  I feel like every woman says these exact words.

The issue with getting your hair did is that...what else would you expect from this blog?  It's expensive.  To get your hair done at a nice place is...expensive.

Jose Eber - probably one of the best salons out there charges a minimum of $125 for a haircut.  Some better salons in the midwest charge between $70 and $95 for an experienced person to cut your hair. 

The thing about a good haircut is, to grow your hair out properly, you need to have it cut properly.  

Salon	Location	Hair Cut Price
Jose Eber	Beverly Hills	$125+
Dominic Michael	St. Louis	$41-$95
Aveda Ethos	St. Louis	$35-$70
Great Clips	St. Louis	$16

So here is my thought.  Invest in a good haircut.  For the touchups, go to Fantastic Sams or Great Clips or one of those other $15-$20 places. 

Let's say you go to the expensive salon every other time for a haircut, substituting the cheap salon. You just saved $241 per year. Enough for a mini-family trip, or a new school wardrobe, or one very expensive night out.  If the cheaper salon messes up, the expensive salon will fix it.

Hair Cut Scenario	Average Haircut Price	# times per year to get a haircut	Cost per year
All High Salon	$           97	6	$                                   580
Half Cheap Salon	$97/$16	3/3	$                             339.00
Two Expensive	$97/$16	2/4	$                             258.00
Savings
Half Cheap Salon			$                                   241
Two Expensive			$                                   322

Another option, raised by a very good friend of mine with hard-to-cut hair, is to get your hair cut half as often as your stylist recommends. :) Thanks, friend, for pointing this out!!

Enjoy your sassy new look! And enjoy that extra money too. :)