28 July 2010

The $16 Birthday Dinner

Yesterday my baby turned fifteen! Don't ask me how that is possible, I just don't know.  She wasn't even born when Disaster Struck and we started living the Cheapskates way.  And she was only six weeks old when I wrote my first Cheapskates newsletter!  She has grown up with Cheapskates, and really knows no other lifestyle.

She is growing up, she wanted money for her birthday rather than presents. Hmmm. I know she won't waste it, she's a Cheapskate through and through. But I was lost, not getting to plan and look for and choose a gift for her.

With that in mind I was determined to find the perfect birthday card for her. It took a while and I had to visit a few different card shops and newsagencies, but I found it. I had tears pouring down my face as I read it, so I knew it was the right card. After all, if a card doesn't make you laugh out loud it has to make you cry or it just doesn't make the grade.

Because it was her fifteenth birthday she was given the first part of a beautiful crazy tea set from her Granny and Grandad. She'll get a cup, saucer and plate set for each birthday until she's twenty-one. Then, to finish the set, Granny has chosen a cake plate, sugar and creamer to complete the set.  I think this present was her favourite. In fact I know it, she had me re-arranging the dresser at 7am yesterday morning to make room for it.

Hannah loves birthdays, they don't have to be her own, she just loves the presents and the cards and the cake and the special dinner. Because in our family, the birthday boy or girl gets to choose dinner. They can have whatever they like. It can be takeaway, or a restaurant or a special home cooked meal or a picnic or whatever they like.

Little Miss Frugal chose home cooked. Chicken, chips and gravy. With a chocolate birthday cake covered in sprinkles and Smarties for dessert.  So I roasted chicken pieces, made some homestyle oven chips and gravy from the pan juices, added a salad for those of us who believe in having at least one healthy option each meal and made a chocolate cake.  Total cost for this birthday dinner $16!  Gotta love a birthday girl with simple tastes :)

Our next birthday is Tom's in September - it's his eighteenth.  He still hasn't decided if he wants a party or not, if he doesn't hurry and make up his mind it will have been and gone.

1 comment:

  1. Not only does the b'day person choose what to eat but also what to watch or even no TV. We do not have a TV in every room we make do with one.
    Jules - East Vic Park, WA

    ReplyDelete

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