Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Discover the true meaning of Mother’s Day: a celebration of love and cherished memories. Read why extravagant gifts may not be necessary.
Pull Out Love, Not Money For Mother’s Day
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, we 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
- Handmade chocolates
- A 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 day’s purpose, 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 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
My wife is simple and frugal, so she doesn’t care for any fancy stuff that comes with special days.
When we started dating, she warned me not to buy her any flowers because they are expensive and just die.
However, I have never listened to her and bought her bouquets.
She appreciated them, but the great part is that she would love me just the same if I hadn’t got them for her.
The beautiful part about her is that she 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 memories 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 and say I love you, Mom, in a handmade way.
The idea is to use what you already have to avoid spending money.
So, although we aren’t spending a dime on her, we initially purchased 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)
- Homemade Mother’s Day Card with construction paper, crayons, glue, stickers, and other craft materials 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 of whom I love very much.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mums in Canada.
– Mr.CBB
Discussion: What were some of your favorite Mother’s Day gifts?
Please leave me your comments below.
This Week On CBB
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.
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 widespread wildfires engulfing almost everything in its path.
CBB At Home
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 could still get part of the garage sorted out, swap the winter tires, mow the lawn, trim, and start cleaning up the back garden of leaves and dead plant materials.
I also spent time with my family this week, which was most influential on my to-do list as I hardly see them.
We made a few trips to the park and McDonald’s for ice cream and coffee and spent time with our friends who also have a young son who is the same age as our boy.
Starting Monday, I’m back in again for the next five weeks, working 7 days a week again.
It will be over soon, and then I can chill out as I slip back into having one 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, email me, and we can chat.
Budgeting our way to Debt Freedom Together!
How was your week?
Posts Published
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 To Help Shrink Your Grocery Bill
Budget Brags
You got WHAT for HOW Much?
Submit your Deal or Brag:
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 is $5 (they asked for $20 and retails $62.77 at Walmart).
- 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 coloring book – free
- Sun hat $.25
- Mittens $.25
- Aeropostale shirt $1
- DVDs – free!
- Bee Movie DVD $1
Total spent $24.75
Top Recipe Pick
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!
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 over and read the post 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 at The Minimalists.
They share a story about partners who minimized their footprint and gained back what they lost themselves—a short but excellent read.
Google Search Terms
Every week, I get thousands of people visiting Canadian Budget Binder because they did an online search and found my blog.
The spelling errors below are because I shared with you how 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.
- I just bought a house and lost my job- It happened to us. It’s not easy, but you can survive it if you don’t go overboard on the house buying.
That’s all the fun for this week; thanks for dropping by.
-Mr.CBB
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!!
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!!
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.
Most women are happy putting their feet up, no cleaning or cooking. At least my wife is happy for this hehe. Have fun.
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.
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!
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.
Exactly, the simple things. It’s so commercialized. Thanks for sharing that with us Kate. Happy Mother’s Day.