Frugal tip #1 - Kids' birthday parties

So since I am turning into frugal mom of the year, I thought I'd share this tip. I spent forever looking for somewhere to have my kids' birthday party. I could not believe the ransoms some of the places around town wanted to host the parties. Being a penny pinching fool lately, $250 for a jumping party or $280 for a playroom party (with the option to spend more on "extras") just wasn't cutting it for me. I was all set to host a party at home, but even then the question lingered, what would they do? So I continued my investigating and came across the city's park and rec's website. For a whopping $88, the kids would have access to the pool, and the staff would provide decorations, goodie bags and clean up. Um, okay. Sold! Of course I questioned exactly how the quality of the party was going to be. And yesterday I found out.

To my surprise, the decorations were awesome, the goodie bags were stuffed and everything was laid out perfectly. I had booked the last party slot of the day and the pool was available to the kids from 1:30 to 4:00. That was the best part of the party I think. The kids showed up, they swam and once they were worn out, we rested and ate cake, lol.

So that's my frugal tip #1 - discover your parks and rec department and see what they have to offer. Mine in particular offered a lot and didn't charge me an arm and a leg for it.

BTW - We had about 16 kids there. I invited some the kids of some of my friends and I got in touch with a couple of the kids that were originally invited and they were able to make it. So everything worked out in the end. :)