Charity Shop finds and a birthday on a budget

Hello readers I'm feeling much better today :)
Yesterday Brandon and I popped into our local town to get a few little bits of food shopping total spent was £4.36. Whilst in town we decided to have a little look in my favourite charity shop. I managed to pick up a pair of school shoes for Ben £2, a pair of walking boots for Brandon £1.50, a nice pink sewing basket for me £1.50, and 2 PS2 game for Ben towards his birthday on Sunday £2 for both. I also picked up a few other little goodies towards Ben's birthday on Sunday.

This morning was all about homeschool and housework. This half term Brandon has decided on the topic of space. I had a look at the museum @Bristol as I know they have some fab hands on exhibits and experiments as well as a planetarium show perfect for the topic of space. It costs £9 for a child and £13 for an adult so £22 plus £1.50 each for the planetarium show so £25 total. Well you know me readers never one to pay full price for something if I can get it cheaper I did some digging. They offer concessions for home educators which would bring the total cost down to £17. However they also have concessions for people who are registered disabled (as Brandon is due to his autism) and allow one adult in for free as his carer bringing the cost of the visit down to £8 a saving of £17 on the original price. I also noticed that they have concessionary yearly memberships to the museum and one for Brandon would cost £18 and I of course would go for free as his carer as many times as we like in a year. So for an extra £10 and still working out £4 cheaper than the original quote we can go as many times as we like during the year. As homeschoolers it's a bit of a no brainer here lol. After we finished with school and the housework I turned my attentions to Ben's birthday on Sunday.

Ben's birthday
As you know we are doing extreme frugality here in the run up to our holiday in February. So how do you do an 11th birthday on as tight a budget as possible ? Here is what we are doing....

Presents= Ben decided he does not want presents instead he would like money towards his super duper gaming pc fund. Ben has been saving for a year and a half for this computer and has saved £280 So far from birthday and Xmas money as well as bits of his pocket money. After getting money on Sunday from grandad and his dad he will nearly be at his target. I have spoken with Ben and he has agreed to wait until after we get back from holiday in February to receive his money from me and in return I will give him a little extra taking him up to the total needed. I did however want to get him a few small things so that he had something to open on his birthday. I have got him the following.... a big bar of his favourite chocolate £1, a nice notebook for his story writing free it was a left over Xmas gift I did not get round to giving, a set of artists colouring pencils £1.99 from the cheap shop, an IQ puzzle book £1.29, a set of quality card games along with dice £1.29, I have knitted him a scarf for free using wool I already had at home, and I have done a cross stitch of a teddy and his name which will be framed again free using resources I already had at home. It will all be wrapped up using brown parcel paper and blue curling ribbon again something I already have at home. I will also be making his birthday cards from myself and his brothers using resources I already have at home so total cost here £5.60.

Celebrating= Ben decided he did not want a party or a sleepover but instead a movie day with a Chinese buffet for him and a few friends. Rather than buying a Chinese takeaway I have bought 2 Chinese meal deals from Morrison's for £7 So £14 for the 2 and will serve himself and 4 of his friends. Tomorrow we will pop to the library where he will choose a few DVDS for him and his friends to watch for free. I will make a big bowl of homemade popcorn and some homemade ice cream both of which I already have at home. So total spent on celebrating is £17.

Cake= I have bought a chocolate fudge cake mix, a box of chocolate fingers, and a bag of maltesers to make the cake Ben wants. I have candles at home already so the total cost of the cake is £3.69.

Total cost for Ben's birthday is £23.29

How do you save money on birthdays ?

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx