share a few tricks i have learned to try to keep my kids' birthday parties on a low budget.
1. plan a special trip instead of a party-we don't have a big birthday party every year. we do a 1st birthday party, but the other years we typically take our kids to a special place, out to eat, and have a cake of their choosing. for example, last year we celebrated my 2 year old's birthday by going to a pumpkin patch/petting zoo, having a picnic in the back of the car, and then we had ice cream cake that evening. he loved that the whole day was focused on him--doing 