Our oldest daughter has been invited to three birthday parties so far this school year. While it’s fun to celebrate turning a year older with friends, it can get expensive.

We’ve been trying to be more intentional on how much money we spend on gifts, but we’ve found that it often comes with guilt and embarrassment. When we choose to spend less money, are we being cheap or inconsiderate? Are we not being as good of a friend as we want to be?

And when the wrapping paper is newspaper or your gift is not as glamorous as the others, are we looked down upon?

I wish money wasn’t a consideration in gift giving. I wish we didn’t feel like we needed to spend a certain amount in order to prove our love.

Chris and I are trying to pave the way in changing this. It’s uncomfortable, but we know that when we give a gift, big or small, inexpensive or not, it came from a good place in our hearts.

How do you feel when you give a thrifty gift?

In our video, Chris and I chat about Thrifty Birthday Gifts. It’s a quick watch, just over 3 minutes. Sorry for the humming noise in the background, we moved to the dining room for better lighting (though not great since it was so cloudy outside) and we have a noisy refrigerator!

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