This year, Reese had a blast playing at the playground and eating store-bought cupcakes. Even though I didn’t go the homemade route this year, I still didn’t spend much; less than $50 for cupcakes and paper goods.

However, I realize that many people can spend hundreds of dollars on one child’s birthday party. To each his own, but this just isn’t how we roll. Having four children means having four birthday parties, and I would rather spend my money on something tangible, rather than a party everyone wants to pin on Pinterest. I’m not very pinterest-y anyway, have you noticed?!

Ahem.

So here are six tips to help you eat well at your children’s birthday parties and still spend less.

Use a theme with toys you already have.

One year, we had a Dora-themed birthday for Abby Grace. We bought the Dora plates and cups, but all of the decorations were the Dora figurines we already had. Shane set up the Dora castle and figurines as the table centerpiece and Abby Grace loved it. When we had a Barbie-themed party, we bought the Barbie and some accessories as her gift and used those as part of the decor. Two birds with one stone, baby!

Fire up the grill…

… or have a hot dog roast. We enjoy roasting wieners in our fire pit, and it’s always a hit when we use it for a party. Snack on s’mores instead of cake and you have a campfire birthday to remember. Try purchasing hot dogs when they are on sale (mainly the months of May, June, and July) and then freezing them if your kiddo doesn’t have a birthday during the summer. Don’t forget to take your coupons!

Have one big party.

In the past, we have combined Abby Grace’s and Reese’s birthday parties; Reese was born in March and Abby Grace was born in May, so we have one big party in April. Since we are inviting pretty much the same people for both, this works really well. We save time and money and everyone still has a lot of fun.

I have made a huge pot of beans, homemade cornbread, and of course, cake and the party was a huge hit with the guests. I love this guide on how much to serve at a party. It will definitely help you plan and hopefully keep you from having too much (or not enough!) food.

We still make sure their special days are special by celebrating with just our family and each girl always gets a special lunch date with Daddy.

Eat cake…

… without serving a meal first. Have the party in the afternoon, between 2 and 4 and just serve cake (maybe some ice cream!) and punch. This option is definitely cheaper and there is a lot less work and clean-up. ‘Nuf said.

Take the easy way out.

No, I don’t mean go to Chuck E. Cheese. If you have to have food with your cake, but don’t want to cook a meal, go the easy route: mini sandwiches, fruit, veggies, and dip. Easy-peasy, satisfying, and you can keep costs down by buying the fruit and veggies in bulk, rather than pre-cut. You can also make your own dip or pair chips with salsa.

Opt for homemade.

You really can’t beat a homemade birthday cake (with an awesome homemade birthday banner to boot). Homemade can easily be the least-expensive, yet tastiest option for birthdays. It’s the way we usually do it, and while it can be more work, you can make it fun by including your kiddos in the planning, making, and creating.

Here are a few of my favorite homemade recipes:

• Deep Dark Chocolate Cake via The Simple Pen
• Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes via Real Food Enthusiast
• Chocolate Cupcakes via The Joy of Baking
• Vanilla Ice Cream via The Simple Pen
• White Butter Cake via The Joy of Baking

What are your tips for having a frugal birthday party?

And don’t forget to visit the other ladies to see how they are eating well and spending less on summer parties!

• Aimee at Simple Bites
• Carrie at Denver Bargains
• Jessica at Life as MOM
• Katie at Kitchen Stewardship
• Mandi at Easy. Homemade.
• Shaina at Food for My Family

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Grab some scissors, fire up your printers and get ready to save! Enjoy these savings:

$1.501 Brew Over Ice K-Cup Packs

$0.50/2 Dove Chocolate Bars

$0.75/1 Dr Pepper & (1) 3M or Milky Way Bars

$0.50/1 Green Giant Veggie Snack Chips

$1/1 Green Mountain Coffee K-Cup Packs

$0.55/2 Jennie-O Turkey Franks Products

$0.50/1 Johnson’s Baby Product

$1.00 off any 2 Kellogg’s Cinnamon Jacks Cereal

$2/2 Kashi Cereals

$0.75/1 Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel

$1.50/1 Seattle’s Best Coffee

$1.50/1 Starbucks VIA Refreshers Beverage

$0.55 Tabasco Pepper Sauce

$1.50/2 Tide Detergent or Tide Boost

$5/1 Valvoline Motor Oil 5-Quart Bottle

$1/2 Bottles of Welch’s Summer Sparkling Juice

Looking for more coupons? Don’t forget you can search for any coupon within my Coupon Database.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

If you are looking for the best deals on diapers this week, then look no further. A huge thanks to Shellie at Saving with Shellie for rounding up the best deals on disposable diapers. For those of you who cloth, scroll on down to the bottom for the best deals on fluff.

CVS
(3) Huggies Little Swimmers – $10
- Use (3) $1/1 Huggies Little Swimmers
= $27
- Get $10 ECBs WYB $30 in Huggies Products (Limit 1)
= $5.67 ea.

(3) Huggies Pull-Ups – $10
- Use (3) $2/1 Huggies Pull-Ups AND
- Use (3) $2/1 $2/1 Huggies Pull-Ups CVS Coupon
= $18
- Get $10 ECBs WYB $30 in Huggies Products (Limit 1)
= $2.67 ea.

(3) Huggies Jumbo Packs – $10
-Use (3) $1.50/1 Huggies Diapers (SS insert 04/21/13)
= $25.50
- Get $10 ECBs WYB $30 in Huggies Products (Limit 1)
= $5.17 ea.

Rite-Aid
Huggies Little Swimmers – B1G1 50% off
- Use (2) $1/1 Huggies Little Swimmers
= Price Varies

 (3) Huggies Jumbo Pack Diapers, Pull-Ups or GoodNites - $9.49
- Use (3) $2/1 Huggies Pull-Ups OR
- Use (3) $1.50/1 Huggies Diapers (SS insert 04/21/13)
= $22.47 – $23.97
- Get $6 +Up Reward WYB $20 in Kimberly Clark Products (Limit 1)
= $5.49 – $5.99 ea.

Target
Pampers Super Pack Diapers – $24.99
- Use $1.50/1 Pampers Diapers
- Get 1-pk. Huggies or Pampers Baby Wipes FREE
= $23.49 for both

Huggies Super Pack Diapers – $24.99
- Use $1.50/1 Huggies Diapers
- Get 1-pk. Huggies or Pampers baby wipes FREE
= $23.49 for both

Walgreens
(2) Huggies Little Swimmers – $6.99
-Use (2) $1/1 Huggies Little Swimmers
= $11.98
- Get 1000 Balance Rewards WYB 2
= $5.49 ea.

Huggies Jumbo Pack Diapers or Pull-Ups – B1G1 50% off
- Use (2) $1.50/1 Huggies Diapers (SS insert 04/21/13) OR
- Use (2) $2/1 Huggies Pull-Ups
= Price Varies

Amazon – In order to receive the Amazon Mom discount you will either need to have an Amazon Prime subscription or be in the initial 90-day trial period of Amazon Mom.

 Huggies Little Movers Diapers (60ct – Size 4) – $19.77
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
- Clip $2 off Huggies Amazon Coupon
= $13.82 ($0.23 per diaper)

Huggies Snug & Dry (74ct – Size 4) - $22.99
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
- Clip $2 off Huggies Amazon Coupon
= $16.40 ($0.22 per diaper)

Pampers Cruisers (160ct – Size 4) – $47.19
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
= $37.75 ($0.24 per diaper)

Pampers Baby Dry (140ct – Size 4) – $34.05
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
- Clip $1 off Pampers Amazon Coupon
= $26.24 ($0.19 per diaper)

Luvs (204ct – Size 3) – $32.99
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
= $26.39 ($0.13 per diaper)

Seventh Generation (155ct – Size 3) – $49.99
- Save 5% with Subscribe & Save
- Save 15% with Amazon Mom
- Clip $4 off Seventh Generation Amazon Coupon
= $35.99 ($0.23 per diaper)

The Honest Company
Family Essentials Bundle – $35.95

Honest Diaper Bundle – $75.95

{CLOTH}

Dearest Diapers
Free Insert (Microfiber, Prefold, or Bamboo/Hemp Insert or Doublers) on Orders over $39 with code INSERT

Free Bioliner (100 pack) on Orders over $79 with code BIOLINER

Free Diaper on Orders over $109 with code FREEFLUFF

Kawaii Swim Diaper – $9.95 (reg. $11.90)

Happy Heinys All Sized Pocket Diaper – $13.45 (reg. $14.95)

Hiney Lineys Versa Cover Toddler/Big Kid – $14.95 (reg. $16.95)

Nicki’s Diapers
Imagine Newborn Bamboo All in One – $8.95 (reg. $8.95)

Imagine Newborn Bamboo Fitted Cloth Diaper – $9.95 (reg. $13.95)

Imagine One Size Pocket Diaper – $9.95 (reg. $13.95)

bumGenius 4.0 One Size Pocket Diaper – $86.90 (Buy 5, Get 1 FREE reg. $104.70)

Amazon
Thirsties Duo Wrap Snap, Meadow, Size One (6-18 lbs) – $12.29
Free Super Saver Shipping

Bumkins Stuff-It Cloth Diaper, Yellow Fish – $14.95
Free Super Saver Shipping

Best Bottom One-Size Diaper Shell – Hook & Loop, Hedgehog – $16.95
Free Super Saver Shipping

GroVia Hybrid Snap Shell Diaper, Robots, One Size – $16.95
Free Super Saver Shipping

Rumparooz Reusable Cloth Pocket Diaper, Tulip, Aplix – $23.50
Free Super Saver Shipping

bumGenius Freetime All-In-One One-Size Hook & Loop Closure Cloth Diaper, Butternut – $19.95
Free Super Saver Shipping

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

I *knew* I wouldn’t stick with making a menu. Ugh. We will try this again!

Monday 5/20
Shrimp, baked sweet potato, salad

Tuesday 5/21
Roast, potatoes, veggies

Wednesday 5/22
Scrambled eggs, Aidells chicken & apple sausage, avocado, sautéed veggies

Thursday 5/23
Almond flour breaded chicken, baked sweet potatoes, salad, avocado

Friday 5/24
Leftovers!

Saturday 5/25
Wedding

Sunday 5/26
Memorial Day holiday with Family

Linking up to Org Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Thanks to BundleoftheWeek.com, we’re bringing you a new ebook bundle each week that features 5 high-quality, related ebooks from well-known authors at the amazing price of just $7.40. Every week, a new bundle of eBooks will be released, making it easier and cheaper for you to purchase!

Our next bundle is a set of Katie at Kitchen Stewardship’s books! Click the banner above or this linkto read more or to purchase this bundle:

Healthy Snacks to Go (2nd Edition) by Katie Kimball
With over 45 healthy snack recipes and ideas including traditional granola bars, iron-packed Popeye bars, and a dozen “larabar” style variations, Healthy Snacks To Go is the resource you need for healthy snack ideas. Complete with time-saving tips, frugal options and allergy notes, plus diaper-bag friendly snacks that are toddler-approved, this will become your “go-to” cookbook to keep your cupboards filled with nourishing yet quick choices.

The Everything Beans Book by Katie Kimball
This comprehensive resource explaining everything you want to know about beans and legumes. In The Everything Beans Book, you’ll find recipes for homemade beans and rice, refried beans, wraps, Mexican fare, soups, pasta dishes, and even a dessert, plus frugal tips and substitution ideas! Beyond recipes, this ebook also offers over 20 pages of information to facilitate your new love of beans and make sure you can cook with dry beans without any stress.

Smart Sweets by Katie Kimball
Katie’s goal with Smart Sweets: 30 Desserts to Indulge Your Sweet Tooth is to give you options that are way better for you than you’ll find in the grocery store, usually better for you than another homemade version, and sometimes downright good for you. You’ll find less sugar, healthier sweeteners, whole grains, soaked and sprouted grains, no grains, probiotics and even some vegetables in these desserts recipes, without sacrificing taste or enjoyment!

Is Your Flour Wet? by Katie Kimball
In Is Your Flour Wet? Soaked, Sprouted, or Soured: Grains Recipes from Our Kitchens to Yours, Katie offers a basic introduction to soaking, sprouting and sourdough, plenty of how-to tutorials and more than 45 recipes from a variety of real food bloggers, including breads, snacks, pancakes and waffles, oatmeal, cakes and more!

The Family Camping Handbook by Katie Kimball
If you’ve always wanted to try camping as a frugal family vacation but are nervous because you have little ones, The Family Camping Handbook will show you how to survive and even thrive out in the woods with young children. You’ll find an overview to help you get started camping, packing and to-do lists and, of course, real food adaptations to standard camping fare. This ebook includes a total of 36 camping recipes and techniques, including paleo/primal/grain-free adaptations.

P.S. Even if you’ve already got one or two of these ebooks in your collection, this collection offers a great value for the remaining books. And you’re welcome to pass on your duplicates to a friend or family member to encourage them in their real food journey as well!

The Kitchen Stewardship bundle is only available through 8am EST on Monday, 5/27. Get yours today!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Want to participate? All you need is a Balance Rewards Card, a Walgreens ad, a printer, and coupons to get started. Use the new Ibotta app to save even more!

Here’s how this works:

Your budget: Start with $5 out-of-pocket cash.

Your mission: To grow that $5 into even more Register Rewards (RR) to use in upcoming weeks.

If this is your first time here, start by reading the rules here.

Here is my scenario for this week’s Challenge. Feel free to leave the link to your scenario in the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, share your scenario in the comments!

Let’s see what fabulous scenarios you come up with for $5 or less!

Please link directly to your scenarios, not your homepage. Linking back to this meme to share it with others is greatly appreciated!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Want to participate? All you need is an ExtraCare Card, a CVS ad, a printer, and coupons to get started. Be sure to register your CVS loyalty card with Upromise for extra college savings. You can also use the new Ibotta app to save even more!

Here’s how this works:

Your budget: Start with $5 out-of-pocket cash.

Your mission: To grow that $5 into even more ECBs to use in upcoming weeks.

If this is your first time here, start by reading the rules here. Curious about how to do multiple transactions at CVS? Read this post.

Here is my scenario for this week’s Challenge. Feel free to leave the link to your scenario in the Linky below, or if you don’t have a blog, share your scenario in the comments!

Let’s see what fabulous scenarios you come up with for $5 or less!

Please link directly to your scenarios, not your homepage. Linking back to this meme to share it with others is greatly appreciated!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Kids can earn a free book when they participate in Barnes & Noble’s Imagination’s Destination Summer Reading Program:

Kids can earn one $5 HPB Bookworm Bucks Reading Reward per month when they participate in Half-Price Books Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program:

1. Read for at least 15 minutes each day in the months of June and July. (Grown-ups may read aloud to kids who are still learning.)
2. Add up your minutes and have your parent or guardian initial each week.
3. Once you’ve read 300 minutes, turn in your completed log to earn HPB Bookworm Bucks for each month.
4. We’ll award one top reader per age group each month with a TOP READER prize – a $20 HPB Gift Card!*

Plus, be sure to check your local libraries for more reading programs to enjoy this summer!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Most of my Disney talk will be on Amy Loves It, but I wanted to share a few snippets with you guys here on Kingdom First Mom

Disney’s Story App

Disney has a new app called Story, and I love it. The Story app gathers the moments you take on your phone and helps you transform them into stories that are easy to personalize, save and share.

Here are a few of my moments from our time at Disney:

My 7-year-old Reese was fearless, and insisted on riding Space Mountain. She absolutely loved it, and wasn’t scared a bit, unlike her Daddy! Abby Grace, a little more timid than her younger sister, was talked into riding Big Thunder Mountain and came out loving it. Meleah’s favorite part was meeting the princesses. She went from major meltdown (really… she was throwing a huge fit all the way into the theater) to major awe upon seeing Aurora, Razpunzel, and Cinderella in one room.

photo by Shannon’s Table

My girls (l-r) Mandi, me, Amy, Shannon, Amy, & Jen

One of the things that stood out to me was how genuinely nice all of the cast members were (that’s what Disney calls their employees… love it!). We were a little “Disney dumb” and went through the wrong ticket line (we had paper tickets and went to the electronic one). We simply weren’t paying attention (oops), but the cast member helping in that area was so nice and immediately called the guy with the ticket scanner over to scan our tickets. I apologized and she truly seemed surprised when she said, “Why are you sorry?” I explained that we were in the wrong line because we were not paying attention and she replied, “You weren’t in the wrong line. You were right where you were supposed to be. You guys have an amazing day.” I’m pretty sure I would not have been so gracious after a day full of people walking through the wrong line, but both she and the cast member with the scanner were beyond cordial and accommodating. That is exactly how everyone I encountered acted. (They also went out of their way to tell me “happy Mother’s day” on Sunday). This girl was more than impressed.

Our trip wasn’t just fun and games; we learned a lot about Disney behind-the-scenes and the future of Walt Disney World. Disney has some awesome stuff lined up!

Disney Infinity

One of them is Disney’s Infinity, a new game system available on PS3, Wii, or XBox 360. We were able to see how this game works, and it really looks fun!

With Disney Infinity players truly enter the worlds of their favorite Disney/Pixar franchises, and wield the abilities of their favorite characters. Simply place your Infinity figures onto the game base to jump into a play set and experience original adventures in the worlds of Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Incredibles. Take on the role of Sulley, the naturally gifted ‘scarer’; become Captain Jack Sparrow, the incorrigible sword-wielding pirate; or transform yourself into Mr. Incredible, one of the world’s greatest crime-fighters.

Disney Infinity will be released later this summer, and is available for pre-order now. I’m thinking this will make a great Christmas gift for the girls!

You can enter to win one of three Disney Infinity Starter Packs on Facebook!

Monster’s University

We were treated to a sneak peek of Disney Pixar’s new Monster’s University. It was really good, and our entire family loved it. Monster’s University will be in theaters on June 21!

Our time at Walt Disney World and the Social Media Moms Conference was truly… magical.

Disclosure:  I attended the Disney Social Media Moms Conference and received discounted rates, accommodations, and tickets to various events and attractions. All opinions are mine, all mine.

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family

Get your scissors ready, because there will be THREE inserts in this Sunday’s paper: 2 SmartSource and 1 Red Plum.

Keep in mind that coupons always vary slightly by region. All new coupons have been added to the Coupon Database.

If you are in need of more coupons this week, check out my coupon resources page.

For the full list of coupons in tomorrow’s paper, check out Sunday Coupon Preview.

Here are my favorite coupons:

SmartSource #1
$1/1 Colgate Mouthwash
$2/1 Huggies Little Movers Slip-On Diapers
$1/1 Irish Spring Body Wash
$1/1 L’Oreal Advanced Haircare Shampoo or Conditioner
$1/3 Nabisco Cookie or Cracker Product
$1/1 Oxiclean Pre-Treater
$1/1 Planters Nutrition Sustaining Energy Mix Multi-Pack
$2/1 Pull-Ups Training Pants
$3/2 Refresh Product
$1.50/1 Snapple Box of Brew Over Ice K-Cups Packs

SmartSource #2
$1/1 Breyers Ice Cream Topping
$1/1 Gillette Body Wash or Anti-Perspirant/Deodorant
$1/2 Gum Product
$3/2 Old Spice Deodorant
$0.75/1 Reynolds Wrap Foil
$3/1 Secret Clinical
$1/1 Sunsweet Dried Fruit
$0.50/1 Tetley Tea Box
$1/2 Vlasic Regular or Farmer’s Garden Pickle Variety
$0.50/1 Wonderful Almonds

Red Plum
$3/2 Banana Boat Sun Care Product
$1/1 Ben & Jerry’s Frozen Yogurt or Ice Cream
$1.50/1 Febreze Air Effects
$1/1 Hawaiian Tropic Sun Care Product
$1/3 Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts or Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps
$2/1 L’Oreal Youth Code Product
$1/1 Sunlight Dish Detergent
$3/1 ThermaCare Cold Wrap
$1/1 Wisk Laundry Detergent
$0.50/1 Wonderful Pistachios

For a preview of Walgreens deals next week, stop by Couponing 101. For the scoop on CVS, visit Deal Seeking Mom. To see what is going on with Rite Aid, see Coupons On Caffeine.

And don’t forget about our weekly $5.00 Drugstore Challenges on Saturday night!

CURRENT SPONSORS:

• The Confident Mom | Summer Survival Calendar & Planner
• Young Living | Experience Better Health and Save Money with Quality Essential Oils
• Easy. Homemade. | Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family