Gifts Archives - the frugal millionaire

How To Make Money This Holiday Season

This time of year is my favorite. I don’t want to miss out on Pumpkin Spice Lattes and fall festivals because I’m on a budget. Instead, I want to enjoy everything that encompasses the holiday season. And yes, that means spending some money. Here is how to make extra money this holiday season.

Instead of providing the normal “How to save money this Christmas”-style post, I wanted to do something different. I want to show you how you can make money this holiday season so you have a bit more wiggle room in your budget.

Frugal Birthday Ideas for Your Husband

Today (August 21st) is a special day for us – it’s the day we first started our cross-country drive from AZ to NC last year. The day symbolized sadness as to what we’d be leaving behind, but hope for the future of our little family. Suffice to say, we love living in NC and are very happy with our decision, yet we do miss all our family and friends back in AZ dearly.

John’s birthday is August 24th and I’m so excited to celebrate my husband turning a year older! Last year, we were on Day 4 of our drive, so we didn’t do anything for his birthday. I got him a card and we went out to dinner, but we were also completely exhausted from being on the road for four days with our little ones. I think a week after his birthday I made him a cake…but that might have been the year before, I honestly can’t remember.

This year, we are doing something completely out of the ordinary for us.

We are hiring our first babysitter for the girls!

My mom and sister are the only people who have ever watched our girls, so this is a big first for us. I will admit that I prefer to be watching my girls myself, but the lady who’s watching them is actually one of the women who works at the girls’ daycare, and the girls LOVE HER (like more than me, seriously) so I know they’ll be in good hands. And it’s not even that I don’t “trust” anyone – it’s more that I don’t want to subject anyone to the life that is my little ones 😉

If it was my birthday, we would not be hiring a babysitter. Instead, we’d make dinner and watch a movie together after the girls went to bed. However, it’s John’s birthday, and he wanted to go out on a date with me (can’t say I blame him…hahaha, jk). We’ll probably spend $50 on the babysitter and $50 on dinner, but some alone time with my husband sounds perfect right now, so it’s money well spent.

Budget-friendly Valentine’s Day gift ideas

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! John and I don’t go all-out for the holiday, but we do enjoy an excuse to celebrate our love. In the past, we’ve both made dinner at home and gone out to eat at fancy steakhouses. While going out to eat on Valentine’s Day was fun, this year we’re opting to stay in. There’s really nothing better than being at home with the one I love – plus, let’s be honest, no one likes to be in crowded restaurants and spend money on overpriced food.

This past weekend, our local grocery store – Publix – had a Valentine’s Day tasting event. It may be pathetic, but yes, I planned my day around this event. Free samples of desserts, cheeses, wines and yummy food – yes please. We sampled a Blackened-Barbecue Shrimp Salad with Orange Dream Shakes that were both to die for, so that’s what we’re making on Saturday. We budgeted $50 for the meal, but if you look at the ingredients, it doesn’t look like it will cost more than $25 or so.

As far as gifts go, we sometimes exchange and sometimes don’t. It really depends on what’s going on with our financial situation at the time. The year we went to the steakhouse, we didn’t exchange, but normally we buy each other something small to exchange over dinner. John has also gone all-out before and surprised me with jewelry, candles and clothing. Even though I’m a saver, it’s a really sweet gesture to be surprised, regardless of cost 🙂

So, I thought it would be fun to create a little gift-guide for your loved ones. All of these ideas are affordable and less than $35!