A Low Spend Birthday: Happy Birthday to Me!

My Birthday Cards

I am now officially 34 years and one day old.  Yesterday was my birthday and it was my turn to be on the receiving end of a limited spend celebration.  Having pledged to spend only £100 over 12 months on birthday gifts, I was looking forward to experiencing a low spend birthday for myself.

I had spoken to both JW and No.1 Son beforehand and asked them both not to bother buy me any gifts or cards, but just to be nice to me all day instead.  I was going for the Princess for the Day attitude.  No.1 Son agreed to this plan without a moments hesitation!  But on the evening before my birthday he confessed that he felt bad that he hadn't even got me a birthday card.  I told him not to worry at all about it and that I really didn't mind and that I would much rather have a nice day instead.  JW agreed to the no present buying, but I got the feeling he was going to sneak something in anyway.

On the night before my birthday JW let me know that he was taking the day off work to spend with me.  This was a really nice surprise and really thoughtful, as I know how busy he is at work (he runs his own company).  Taking time off to spend with me, meant a whole lot more than any present.  So, we had a great day visiting the newly re-opened Scottish Portrait Gallery and going for a long walk around town; both completely free activities!  I used some vouchers I got for Christmas to pay for a coffee and a cake.  Instead of a gift my mum had given me £50, so at night we used that money to pay for four of us to have a meal out, with my sister  KitKat and her husband (on a special cheap January deal offer!) 

JW did attempt to buy me a present, as I thought he might.  He offered to get one of two things: new peddles for my bike or a Roomba Hoovering Robot.  I would like both of these things a lot, and they were very sweet and thoughtful birthday gift ideas.  But buying either of them would have meant using the credit card and I explained that I didn't feel a birthday present was worth getting into more debt over.  We agreed a compromise that means that JW can buy me a Roomba, once the credit card has been completely paid off and we can afford it outright.

As well as lovely birthday cards in the post, I had two presents to open, one from each sister.  I got a bookmark and pin-cushion from my elder sister and a book from KitKat and my brother-in-law.  Both are really lovely, thoughtful presents.  And being 100% honest here, it was such a relief not to open up lots of unnecessary presents and then have that flat feeling pervade the day.  Knowing I wasn't going to get anything much, present wise, meant that I was actually looking forward to just having a special and relaxing day.  I actually got a lot more out of the day than I would have done if it was focused on the gifts as the day was about spending time with the people that I care about most.  So, for me anyway, a low spend birthday is definitely the way forward, here's to many more!