BIRTHDAY GIFTS ON A BUDGET

Nowdays with the economy the way it is people are looking to save every way they can. You are not alone. I too have been trying to save not only lives, but money as well. Sometimes I don't know which one I like better, saving people or saving money. I guess it all depends on the person or the amount of money. Either way I like to save. One of the quickest ways to screw up that budget is that unexpected birthday party. We have all been there. We get the call to come on over to a party and sure it is a free dinner and possibly a parting gift if your lucky, but you now you have to go spend some money for a gift. Uh oh your screwed, until now. Now some would say my techniques are a bit cheap-skate like, but I am willing to give myself the benefit of the doubt. I am not a cheap-skate. Okay here are some ideas you can use next time you find yourself in that situation. 1. The library.......what's that you say Jacob, the library? That's right the library. They have books and movies and books on tape all sorts of entertainment and it's free. Now I am not telling you to steal, that will be in idea number 3, just kidding. No seriously don't steal, just borrow the item, wrap it up and then check it out for a long period of time. You will then have to invite yourself over in a few months to retrieve the item, but that could turn into another free meal if you play your cards right. I like to say hey if your not doing anything in a couple of months maybe I could come over for dinner. Set it up and knock it down, then return the item and all is good. PS if they ask about the library marking on the book tell them it was a very rare book and that you bought it at a library auction, this will make you sound even cooler. 2. Okay for this one you just need a can of gold or silver spray paint and some pebbles. You will have to lie a little, but just think wouldn't tell someone they were ugly to their face if they asked, you would lie and then talk about them behind their back. This is basically the same thing. You are sparing someones feelings. So it is actually two good things instead of just one. You are giving a present and then you aren't making them feel bad. That is two things in my book. Alright so all you have to do is spray the pebbles gold or silver. Tell them your uncle is in mining and he gives this stuff to you all the time, so it's not that big a deal. Changes are though you might not be invited back, but you got away with it this time. 3. This is one of my very very favorites, but you have to know about the birthday party in advance. So they say there are 4 weddings to every funeral and after reading all the death notices in the newspaper I have concluded there must be tons of weddings going on. If you are expecting to go to a birthday party stop off at a wedding. Normally no one is guarding the gifts and typically they have a lot of them, almost too many. You can make off with cash or a toaster and the funnest part is when the birthday boy or girl opens the gift you actually want to watch because you don't know what it is either. Finally you can be interested in watching someone else open a gift and you don't have to pretend to be excited for them. And remember what others call stealing I call giving and is it really stealing if you are giving it away? I don't think so. Okay that wraps it up here. Do you get that joke I just made? Okay that wraps it up here......and we are talking about gifts. Oh dang sometimes I even amaze myself. Anyway those 3 ideas should help at least get you by. Until next week, farewell.