Ideas for Mother's Day

 We are getting to the point in life where I don't have to organize my own Mother's Days. In the past, I would plan something for my mother and piggy back on that. This year, my family wanted to do something for me at home. Last year, we packed a picnic with the fixings for subs, chips and pasta salad. This year the weather wasn't going to cooperate for another picnic, so when my husband asked if there was anything special I would like, I asked for homemade pizza and a salad bar with brownies for dessert (that I don't have to cook!). We are going to play board games, watch Don Knotts movies from our collection, and take a family picture! As our budget is tighter than ever, a low cost option was really our only option. 

 Some ideas for low/no cost ideas to make mom feel special:

• Acts of service- Every year, for my Mother in Law, we bring lunch and plant flowers in pots. As each of our children were born, we gifted her a pot with flowers, so now she has 6 and each spring we buy flowers from a local green house and the kids plant their pot. She lines them up along the porch. For my mom, we go over on a different day and do a spring tidy up of her yard, wash her outdoor furniture and use her grill to grill out. In the past my kids have given me coupons for chores for them to do.
• Wash and detail her car, if she is like every other mom, her car is probably a mess!
  
• Take a family picture or gift photos
  
• Go on a picnic. A picnic can cost as much or as little as you like
• Dad takes kids away for the day so Mom can have a day to herself, or vice versa, Mom goes away for the day and leaves the kids with someone.
• A Video Tribute with loved ones saying why they appreciate her (bonus for including friends and family that she hasn’t talked to in a long time)
• Movie and snacks
• Hike, walk or bike ride
  
• Queen for the day- Mom has to do nothing! She can sit in her pjs all day and everyone else brings her a drink, an afghan, basically fetch and carry for her all day. She gets to pick the tv show, the meals etc
• Game night
• Write and put on a skit for or about mom. We did this one year for my Fagther in Law. It took a couple of weeks to write the skit and get the kids to learn age appropriate lines. They were pretty young, so my husband narrated the story with the kids chiming in. We even came up with costumes and our oldest son played Grandad. Father in law was the main character and the kids suggested he save the farm from aliens! He LOVED it!
  
• My friend's suggestion, pack a car picnic and go yard saling! Or keep the kids so she can go by herself or a friend 
• Celebrate Mother's Day on an alternative day. A lot of restuarants have "specials" for Mother's Day, go on a different day and take advantage of coupons, groupons or happy hour specials
• Spread the Love, make the day special for someone who doesn't have family to spend the day with
  

All of these are ideas are low to no cost, and the meals can be too. Feeding mom is pretty traditional, and homemade is always less expensive than eating out, plus, you won't have to fight the crowds. Here are some tips to save as much money as you can, while still having something special. 

• Save money earlier in the week or the week before to spend on the special day by planning simple or meatless meals to have extra for Mother's Day
  
• Brunch covers two meal times, and is the most economical, especially as egg prices have come down dramatically. There are absolutely tons of recipe ideas from frozen waffles and fruit to really elaborate meals.
  
• Make a copy cat recipe of her favorite meal out
• Instead of going out to dinner, eat dinner at home and go out for ice cream

If this is your first budget friendly Mother's Day, the secret to making the day feel special instead of lesser than, is to embrace the plan you make and be 100% all in. Don't fall into the comparison trap. We need to not compare ourselves to what other's do, or to what we could do in the past. Our attitude is 100% going to set the tone, and being realistic about our situation and making it the best we can will make us much happier than overspending just to meet an unrealistic expectation. We can do this. Our family can do this. I hope you have a very special day, no matter how you celebrate it!