Grandma Baby Shower Another Gift For Your Budget

SAVE THE DATE FOR A GRANDMA BABY SHOWER

For those of you who can’t enough of gift giving the new trend of having a grandma baby shower is coming out in full-force so start your party engines.

The arrival of a new baby isn’t just about the mother now it’s about the grandma as well.

Another baby shower invitation is in the mail but this time it’s not what you think.

As if our budgets weren’t spread thin enough another celebration can be added to the list, grandma baby shower.

Yes, you read that right and no it’s not for grandmas having babies it’s for grandparents whose children are having babies.

Stop rubbing your eyes and feeling confused, it’s for real.

Yes, this means you might have to dish out twice, once for a baby shower and then a grandma baby shower.

That is provided you are invited to both.

I just love when I read about new trends that I can’t wait to share my thoughts on like this one.

It does seem a bit overboard to me but for many, it’s the new way of celebrating the arrival of a baby in the family.

I read that Pinterest was the place to check out grandma baby shower ideas and it’s true there are lots.

Pinterest is just loaded with grandma baby shower tips and one that stood out was a basket filled with all the little things that baby would need at Grandmas house.

Sure, I think that’s great if you are close to the family and you want to give a gift to a first time grandma but the grandma baby shower is a much bigger event.

Grandma Baby Shower Gifts

Just what is a Grandma Baby Shower anyways?

To be honest baby showers are new to me as we didn’t really get into them much in the UK.

I know family members might bring a gift over for the parents-to-be but that was about it.

It wasn’t a big celebration like it is in Canada.

My wife has gone to a few baby showers and although they are nice to have and the parents get lots of gifts they do become pricey for those that attend.

If you have lots of friends and relatives you better make sure your budget has a healthy gift-giving section whether you plan to attend or not.

Even if my wife doesn’t attend a baby shower she still sends a gift to the parents.

I know some of you might not agree with that but when they are close friends and relatives it’s hard to brush them off unless of course you simply don’t have the money in your budget.

I don’t know if there is a certain etiquette when it comes to gift-giving for baby showers but we can only do as much as our finances allow.

To make gift-giving a bit more costly for families these grandma baby showers are meant to celebrate becoming a grandmother.

I don’t know I’m still a bit on the fence with this one since baby showers really are new to me.

I don’t really understand all the gift-giving these days. Not all grandmothers want this baby shower either.

They don’t want to be on the hook watching their grandchildren all the time.

I know if we had a child my parents certainly would love to watch him/her but not all the time.

They already did their stint as parents so why would they want to do it all over again?

It’s not right to pressure grandparents into watching the children either because it’s only going to hurt you in the end.

Let them enjoy their lives if it’s not something they are interested in.

I’m not discouraging the practice of holding a grandma’s baby shower by all means if that’s something you fancy, go for it.

Keep in mind not all grandma baby showers are planned by the grandmother either, it may be a surprise baby shower.

It will be a surprise especially if grandma really isn’t into it that much.

One comment by a reader named Carol in the Yahoo comment (Yahoo has since archived the article) section of the post where I first learned about grandma baby showers says the same thing as I just described above.

Some of us grandmothers don’t want showers and neither do we want to be built in babysitters.

Many of us still have full-time jobs and our own lives to live.

The last things I want or need are high chairs, diapers or bottles.

I have no desire to become a built in Nanny to any grandchildren.

I like to see my grandchildren and enjoy a few hours with them, but at the same time, I am glad when they go home.

Baby Shower Gifts For Grandma

If you are looking for a gift for grandma it wouldn’t shock me either to know that there is a grandma-to-be baby registry already in place.

(No, I have not looked either) The stores will be all over this type of new trend and the dollar signs are just floating around in their heads.

It doesn’t stop at just gifts either add to that all the grandma baby shower decor stuff like grandma baby shower invitations, decorations, etc. the manufacturers probably can’t make products fast enough.

They love stuff like this but our wallets may disagree.

I think it’s nice that grandmas are excited to become a first-time grandma or maybe tenth and although they may be taking care of the children I think it’s up to the parents to provide the care-givers with what they need.

There is no reason grandparents need to go out and get second sets of clothing, high chair, potty, crib and so on just because they watch their grandchildren.

I guess every situation is different.

My mother-in-law does have a playpen, high-chair and a few other bits for her grandchildren but all items were given for free by parents getting rid of baby stuff or the parents brought the items over to stay.

They are second-hand baby items but it works when the babies are visiting the grandparents’ house.

Maybe once I’m a dad I’ll understand how much work is involved with being a parent and this grandma baby shower concept.

I’m pretty sure I won’t have to worry about my family holding such an event back in the UK or here in Canada.

Sure, some grandparents might go overboard buying things for the grand-baby and that’s fine if they can afford it. 

However, holding a grandma baby shower whether it’s with gifts or not is certainly different but the new kind of popular.

Kudos to them!

Discussion: What do you think about the grandma’s baby shower?

Leave me your comments below.

CBB At Home And Blog Update

It’s been a productive week at the CBB home because I am so close to finishing the front landscaping I can smell it.

This week I completed sealing the asphalt as you may have read in one of my blog posts this week.

I also finished bringing out the rest of our planters and hanging the new planters I created.

I don’t have as much this year as I did last as I just won’t have the time to take care of the garden as I have in earlier years.

I’m sure next summer will be different but until then I’m keeping the garden very simple this year.

I was also able to bring out all of our summer deck decor and seating so it almost looks like a deck that is fit for a backyard BBQ party and not just a plant depot.

I had pretty much every plant we owned sitting on the back deck plus what we just bought.

I’ll admit there are still lots on the deck but I’m going to do my best to get them in the ground this coming week.

We also made our rounds to the second-hand shops in town and picked up a few items that we needed for around the house.

We like to just check out the stores and see what they have.

Now that the mortgage is paid we have a bit more money to play within the budget but we aren’t going nuts with it.

There are plenty of renovations to get done in the house and finishing the central vac was the first on my list this week.

I’ve never owned a central vac or used one before but I think it’s great.

My wife told me since I love it so much I now have a new permanent chore. Me and my big mouth, lol.

Have a great week and check in next week to see what we’ve been up to!

Weekly CBB posts

If you missed any CBB posts from the week here is the list of posts you can catch up on reading!

• How to DIY asphalt sealing your driveway: Costs and process
• Are coupon apps replacing paper coupons?
• Do you engage in random chat at the grocery store?
• How to make money fast without going crazy
• Jam filled oatmeal squares
• Does the scent of a business play with your nose and wallet?
• Competitive eater and mum of 4 devours two 72-ounce dinners in record time

Fan Deals

Submit your Brag or Inspiration If you have a brag that you want me to share email me at canadianbudgetbinder (@) [yahoo] [.ca] or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.

Jen is at it again this summer with garage sale season in full swing and so are we. I hope I will also have some great garage sale finds to share but today Jen finds lots of money-saving treasures for her family.

• Broadstone 10 person tent (used once the lady said and it’s in excellent condition): Asking $30 and I paid $20 (It included the big blue bin they stored it in!)
• Purple Crocs (real – not imitation and brand new): $1
• Jillian Michaels workout DVD: Asking $1.  I paid $.50.
• Box of doorknobs (great for my basement that we’re working on!): Asking $20.  I paid $5 for the whole box (I believe my dad said these are around $12 each new).
• Chalk and chalkboard eraser (I am going to do a small chalkboard wall in the basement): $.25
• TY Millennium bear: Free (Adam came with us and people love to give kids free stuffies lol)
• Snowman making kit (brand new with tags, comes with a felt hat, scarf, nose, buttons, etc…all you need to make a snowman in the winter!): $1 (Original price tag says $7.99 from RCSS)

I felt like it was a successful day! 

We’ve been looking for a tent for a while as the last few summers we’ve gone camping we’ve borrowed tents but this year we can’t find anyone to borrow from. 

I looked at the exact tent on Canadian Tire’s website and it was $249.99!

Making A Difference

If you know a personal finance blogger that is making a difference and want to nominate them please send me an email canadianbudgetbinder (@) yahoo.ca so I can reach out to them for a feature story.

Note: If you are a blogger who gives back and would like to be featured by all means get in touch with me as I am filling spots up for the rest of 2014 and they are going quickly.

Today I would like to introduce to you my friend Glen from the blog “How to Save Money“.

Hi there, I’m Glen and I have recently started the website How to Save Money. The idea behind my new website is to showcase all the different ways I have learned to save money over the last few years.

I never used to be very good at saving money. I always wanted the latest gadgets or games, and I certainly didn’t want to miss out on going out with my friends if they were planning a day out.

It wasn’t until I signed myself up for a mortgage when I really started to realize just how important money management was, and why I couldn’t be so cavalier with my money.

It was a bit of a defining moment of my life when I realized that I needed to start saving money and paying off debt.

It wasn’t something I ever needed to do before, but it hit home like a tonne of bricks.

My debt was a big reason I started blogging.

At first, it was simply as a way to track my debt pay down progress and to document my journey, however, over time it also became a great way for me to engage with other like-minded individuals across the globe.

Seeing other people’s success stories helped to keep me motivated when times got tough as I knew that if others could do it, so could I.

All that started quite a few years ago, and now I have paid off my $300,000+ mortgage in under 7 years.

It almost doesn’t seem real considering how big of a challenge it was, but now that it’s done and I see so many others struggling with debt, I just want to help others see that it is possible to be debt-free.

Hopefully, my debt story will be able to inspire you to succeed and stay motivated with your own debt story and that I will be able to help you out with some new and interesting money saving ideas along the way.

Google Search Terms

Every week I get thousands of people to visit the Canadian Budget Binder because they did a search online and found my blog.

Keep in mind any spelling errors below are because I share with you the exact way they typed their search engine query to land on my blog.

• If a sale flyer says it’s good thru May 31 what does that mean?- It means the sale is good until May 31 🙂
• Secrets to get rid of OSAP– Pay it off… there are no secrets when it comes to debt.
• Would stealing granola bars set off alarms?– That’s worth going to jail or getting a theft fine. I’m sure there are other ways of getting food for free if you are in need and stealing is not one of them.  Considering that is what you are wanting to do here.
• My kitchen rules– So does mine!
• Finding good trash for free- Hmm, sounds like something you want to bring home, good trash.

Thanks for joining me for this edition of The Saturday Weekend Review #74. Join me here again for more crazy stories from around the web and at home!

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• The Saturday Weekend Review #67: Do we ignore the poor people?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #68: Do you hold an Easter egg hunt for the kids?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #69: Is paying off the homeless people the answer?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #70: Are businesses going too far for customer service?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #71: Should you negotiate prices at garage sales?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #72: Would you give back 40K that you found in a Thrift Store couch?
• The Saturday Weekend Review #73: Does the scent of a business play with your nose and wallet?

Photo Credit: Freedigitalphotos.net/David Castillo Dominici