Birthday on a budget

Hubby's birthday was yesterday, and although I got him his present a few months ago (a super nice DSLR camera, on sale but still expensive, and doubling as his Christmas present), it's nice to have something to open on your actual birthday. He loved when baby D brought his presents to him in a tiny backpack on Father's Day, so I thought that she would probably want to do that again. And since she's such a generous toddler, I also figured she'd want to get a few prezzies for her dad. I wouldn't usually say this, but luckily he had to work late the night on his birthday eve (can you tell birthdays are a big deal for me?). This gave us the chance to hit up Winners and Zellers for his gifts.

My mom gave me a great tip for gift-buying that helps you not to go overboard. You get the person in question 4 things:
Something they want
Something they need
Something to wear
Something to read

I decided ahead of time what these would be, and how much I wanted to spend on each one. Here's what my list looked like:
Want: Caramilk bar (around 1$)
Need: Socks (around 10$)
Wear: Belt (around 20$)
Read: Car magazine (around 7-8$)

Then, I rounded up the total to 40$, to allow for taxes. Finally, I took out 40$ cash to make sure I wouldn't go over budget Here's how we did:
We found a Michael Kors reversible belt on clearance at Winners for 15$, and black socks for 7.99$. The total came to almost 26$ with tax. I was very pleased to come in under budget with our more expensive purchases. Next, we found Road & Track magazine at Zellers for 5.99$, under budget again, so we splurged a bit and went for a 4-pack of Caramilk bars at 3.99$. That all came to about 11$ with tax, so in total we spent 37$. Last year, I think I spent that much on three pairs of running socks for him, also purchased on birthday eve.
Lesson learned: make a list, make a budget, and bring cash!

Although Hubby loved his presents, pictures of them would be rather dull, so in their stead I am including photos from his birthday dinner out (courtesy of my parents) and the cake we had at our house afterwards.

Hubby is a big kid when it comes to treats, so even though I love to bake from scratch, I acquiesce every year and make him rainbow bits cake from a box. I reserve the right to make the icing myself; in this case, bright blue with sprinkles (or Hundreds and thousands, as they say in his homeland). Hubby likes unnatural colours.

PS It's okay to talk about the prices of Hubby's gifts, because he already knew how much they cost. Tactless Baby D left the tags on and the receipts in plain sight.