Managing the Birthday Budget

Is your child bringing home more birthday party invitations than your budget can handle? Presents, cards and gift wrapping can start to add up especially if you are the type of parent who feels it is necessary to compete with other parents for generosity, creativity or even expense.

According to Mary Hunt, syndicated columnist and author of 16 books on personal finance,

"Too often, parents view the gift itself as a message, as if the money they spend reflects something about them — their value as parents, or their feelings for the other family." Her bottom line: "Parents are spending too much on birthday presents for their children's friends."

Hunt counsels that it is important to take yourself out of the spending game and not worry about what other people think.

Consider using the birthday party gift-giving scenario a money teaching lesson for your children. Find creative homemade gifts that you and your child can create together, making a very special one-of-a-kind gift. Craft websites have great ideas for making computer generated gifts such as stationery, photos, personalized memo pads and calendars. Online sites like Activity Village or Family Fun offer suggestions for making homemade dolls, jewelry, hand painted photo frames and a myriad of other great ideas. Not only will you save tons of money, but your child will learn some new skills and be very proud of their creation.

Instead of paying $4 for every birthday card, download free card making software at DLTK Cards and let your child customize their own cards for merely the cost of the paper. And don’t stop there, let your kids wrap their unique creations with Sunday’s comic section for a colorful, inexpensive gift wrap.