REACH INTO YOUR HEART AND PULL OUT LOVE NOT MONEY
Now that my wife is a mother and I’m a father we have become part of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day elite club.
However, both of us have chosen not to budget any money for these special days and I’ll tell you why.
Everywhere I turn there is another store sign, flyer, or online advertisement for Mother’s Day.
Retailers splash must-have gifts such as:
- Jewellery
- Trips
- Candle-lit dinners
- Fresh flowers
- Hand-made chocolates
- Relaxing day at the Spa
- Gift Cards
I’m not against any of these extravagant Mother’s Day gifts but to me it seems to take away from the purpose of the day, to celebrate our mother.
Not everyone has their mother with them but they are still celebrated with memories and deep love from within the heart.
These are some of the ways we need to celebrate Mother’s Day, not lavish gifts.
Certainly, you could do both but there are plenty of ways to say I love you Mom that doesn’t have to cost you a small fortune.
Mother’s Day Canada
When is Mother’s Day in Canada?
This year Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 8, 2016, May 12, 2019, May 10, 2020, in Canada.
My wife is simple and frugal which means she doesn’t care for any of the fancy stuff that comes along with special days.
I remember when we started dating she warned me not to buy her any flowers because they are expensive and just die.
However, I never listened to her and have bought her bouquets over the years.
She appreciated them but the great part is that if I hadn’t of got them for her she would love me just the same.
The beautiful part about her expects nothing more than a hard-working, loving husband and father who spends time with his family.
I appreciate and adore her for that.
She would rather a hand-written poem or walk hand-in-hand to exploring nature and taking photos.
There’s always a camera around since she loves photography because those are memories that can be seen.
When you see her look at our son her eyes light up because she knows she’s been blessed with a little angel.
They spend time together doing crafts and playing games that they make up like tossing the rock in the bucket, learning the alphabet, and going on nature walks.
It’s the simple things that spell love and she shows our son how being together with someone you love is more important than what money can buy.
Mother’s Day Gifts To Make
Some of the cool ideas I came up with along with my 20 month-old side-kick who can nod yes and no say I love you, Mom, in a handmade kind of way.
The idea is to use what you already have on hand so you’re not spending money.
So, although we aren’t spending a dime on her we did initially purchase some items or my son got them as gifts such as the craft items.
The point is to not spend any more money apart from re-purposing what you already have.
- Jar of 365 Days of Why I love you Mom (See Link below for details how to make this)
- Homemade Mother’s Day Card with construction paper, crayons, glue, stickers, and other craft material that we already have around the house.
- Homemade Keto Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups
So, this Mother’s Day I’m not spending a dime on my wife as our son and I will share our handmade goodies, give lots of hugs and kisses, breakfast in bed and a clean house to wake up to.
Oh, and a big, big coffee!!
Cost $0.
Happy Mother’s Day to my wife and my mum back in the UK both whom I love very much.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mums in Canada.
May your day be filled with love and laughter.
Every Mother, Father, and Child should watch this video below.
Share it with your loved ones.
Don’t grow up so fast as you can’t turn back time.
– Mr.CBB
Discussion: What were some of your favourite Mother’s Day gifts? Leave me your comments below.
What did I do this week?
Hi everyone!
First off I want to start this with prayers going out to the people of Ft. McMurray in Alberta who are fighting to get out safely and for the teams of people who are working around the clock to make it all happen.
It only takes a second.
Text REDCROSS to 30333 to donate $5. I cannot imagine what the people in Fort McMurray are going through with the wide-spread wildfires engulfing just about everything its path.
On the home-front…
This week was a bit more productive since I had 3 days off, something I haven’t had since Christmas.
Even though they weren’t consecutive days I was still able to get part of the garage sorted out, the winter tires swapped out, mow the lawn, trim and start cleaning up the back garden of leaves and dead plant materials.
I was also able to spend time with my family this week which was most important on my to-do list as I hardly get to see them as it is.
We made a few trips to the park, McDonald’s for ice-cream and coffee, and spent time with our friends who also have a young son the same age as our boy.
Starting Monday I’m back in again for the next 5 weeks working 7 days a week again.
It will be over soon and then I can chill out a bit as I slip back into having 1 full-time job.
The blog has done well and many new ideas are in the works for blog posts and hopefully some guest posts from other bloggers.
Thanks for your continued support. If you’d like to contribute a post send me an email and we can chat.
Budgeting our way to Debt Freedom Together!
How was your week?
Awesome posts I published this week
Just in case you’ve missed any of my blog posts this week I will share them all below.
If you are looking for past Saturday Weekend Review posts scroll down to the bottom of this post where I will list up to 5 previous weeks for you to read.
If you have a question that you would like to ask Mr.CBB please fill out the Contact Mr.CBB form on the blog home page.
If you want to share a story via a Fan Question please ensure that there are a minimum of 500 words and lots of details.
Top-performing CBB Post this week: How much should my Grocery Budget Be?
- Tortellini with Sausage in 30 minutes
- 3 Budgeting preparation steps not to be missed- Our April 2016 Budget Report
- 10 Affordable Meatless Meals That will help shrink your grocery bill
Budget brags
You got WHAT for HOW Much?
Submit your Deal or Brag:
Saving money while grocery shopping is essential in the CBB family and that’s why we share our grocery shops every week in The Grocery Game Challenge.
Join the Budget Brag Challenge
What I love the most is when my fans share their amazing shops with me whether it be groceries or other deals they find at a garage sale, online, or freebies!
In 2016 if you send me your Budget Brag you will automatically get entered into a yearly draw for a surprise gift card.
If your Budget Brag gets chosen you get an extra ballot! So start sending in your brags with a photo and tell me about your deals.
If you are from the USA and win I will PayPal you the money in CDN dollars. Open to Canada and USA only.
Email me at canadianbudgetbinder@yahoo.(ca) < remove brackets) or fill out my contact form by Friday each week to have your brag considered for the Saturday post.
Jen is back again with some awesome garage sale deals!!! I just love her negotiating skills.
If you just look at how little she pays compared to the asking price you’d think she was in real estate!!
Hi Mr.CBB and Fans,
Here are my garage sale deals for this past week!
- IKEA pod chair $12 (they were asking $20 and it retails for $80)
- Fisher-Price Rock and Roll Trike $5 (they were asking $20 and retails for $62.77 at Walmart). It is in brand new condition?)
- Plaid cushion (for the new Ikea chair) $1
- Cars car ramp – free
- Mitten and boot drying rack $1 (they were asking $2)
- Kitchen cabinet safety door lock $1
- Rubber duckies and frogs $1
- Minion and Home toy $.25
- Mexx jacket $1 (asking $5)
- Spider-Man colouring book – free
- Sun hat $.25
- Mittens $.25
- Aeropostale shirt $1
- DVDs – free!
- Bee Movie DVD $1
Total spent $24.75
My best recipe find
Food and grocery shopping are relevant to us because food is a large part of the budget which people struggle the most with.
We all have to eat to survive but just because we have a budget doesn’t mean we can’t eat delicious home-cooked meals that are drool-worthy.
If you are someone who would rather buy convenience foods consider cooking homemade meals or baking from scratch.
Not only will you save money but you will be proud of what you’ve accomplished and you’ll see that from the smiles on those you feed.
For the past 2 years, I’ve had a second Facebook page called The Free Recipe Depot where I exclusively share recipes from Food Bloggers around the world.
I also share recipes on the blog on Sunday either made by the home cook and mom Nicola Don or myself.
This week our Top Recipe Pick goes to Trish over at Mom On Time Out for this amazing recipe for Reese’s Marshmallow Brownie Bars.
You all know how much I love my brownies and I’m sure my wife would love these for a Mother’s Day Treat.
Hopefully, Trish is taking a time-out from cooking and baking on Sunday to enjoy Mother’s Day!
Top DIY Project
I was thrilled to find this frugal Mother’s day craft over at Crafting a Green World that the kids can do for their mom or other caregivers in their lives.
This is the 365 Reasons Why I Love My Mom Jar.
How it works is that every day your mother can take one slip of paper out and read what you wrote about her. Happy Mother’s Day ladies.
This is what the boy and I made for my wife although we still have some finishing up to do tonight to get ready for Mother’s Day tomorrow.
Editor’s Choice
Every week I will pick a blog post of the week from around the web that I found interesting and want to share with you.
Please head on over and give the post a read and let them know that Mr. CBB sent you if you comment.
Editor’s pick: This week I read Less Stuff, More Sex by bloggers Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus over at The Minimalists.
They share a story about a husband and wife who minimized their footprint and gained back what they lost, themselves. Short but excellent read.
Google Search Terms
Every week I get thousands of people to visit Canadian Budget Binder because they did a search online and found my blog.
Any spelling errors below are because I share with you the exact way they typed their search engine query to land on my blog. Some of them are serious and others are meant to laugh.
- Vagitarian Grossary– I’m pretty sure you mean Vegetarian Grocery.
- How to make it in Canada– Getting a job is a great start however I may just write a blog post to talk about my journey.
- Just bought a house lost job– Happened to us. It’s not easy but you can survive it if you didn’t go overboard on the house buying.
That’s all the fun for this week, thanks for dropping by.
-Mr.CBB
- The Saturday Weekend Review #167: Spring Cleaning Parents Team Up Early To Save on Home Repairs
- The Saturday Weekend Review #168: 5 Garage Sale Staging Secrets To Help You Sell Your Stuff
- The Saturday Weekend Review #169: How We Let Houses Prices Influence our Real Estate Budget
- The Saturday Weekend Review #170: 5 Housing Options To Consider As We Age
Kate McGill says
Favourite Mother’s day gift was all about why I love my Mom that my son did at school. I loved how excited he was to give this to me and I will cherish it forever.
Mo CanadianBudgetBinder says
Exactly, the simple things. It’s so commercialized. Thanks for sharing that with us Kate. Happy Mother’s Day.
Joanne Elford says
My own mother just told me that she doesn’t want anything for Mother’s Day! It’s just another day, she told me. Well, that’s not entirely right either. It should be a special day! This year, a lot of mother’s are being separated from their loved ones because of COVID-19, but they should still be celebrated. Even if it’s only a phone call or video chat, and a promise of lots of hugs and kisses in the future. Happy Mother’s Day!
Jen says
For Mother’s Day my hubby and daughters secretly went through all our pictures and printed off (with photo paper we already had) enough pictures to fill picture frames I have been collecting for a while with the intentions of creating a family photo wall. They picked all their favourites of fun times we’ve shared and surprised me with a job well done. I loved looking at their selection knowing that the family times meant as much to them as they did to me.
Jayson @ Monster Piggy Bank says
Happy Mother’s Day to all mommies! I am giving my wife just a simple gift and we’re gonna have dinner at home with our kids. It’s really about making this occasion for her and special that really counts.
Mr. CBB says
Most women are happy putting their feet up, no cleaning or cooking. At least my wife is happy for this hehe. Have fun.
Pat says
Nice article! Holidays have been very comercialized and it is unfortunate that the true meaning of the day is often forgotten. I am like Mrs. CBB I also am very frugal and would rather have the gift of love and time. I also told my husband the same thing about flowers!! Happy Mothers Day Mrs. CBB!!
Mr. CBB says
Well exactly and I’m the same way which is why she likes to create crafts with our son for these occasions to teach him it’s not all about buying stuff. Happy Mother’s Day!!