One of the reasons why I always end up planning a last-minute party for my kids is because of budget constraints. It takes me a while to decide if I can plan a nice party on a strict budget. Well, that, and laziness more than anything else.

Having a budget makes you have to work a little harder in scouting and dealing with the cheapest suppliers. But everything is easier now because everything can be done with just a mobile phone and a good data service.

When I was asking some of my acquaintances about first birthday parties, they told me that to throw a really good one in a good venue, it would cost about 150k and can go up to a million bucks. Excuse me? Wait, I have two kids, education, clothes, and food to think about.

I don't get how some people could spend a million pesos on a birthday party. I was told that that is actually the norm right now -aside from me thinking it plain ridiculous, I don't have a million bucks to spend for a first birthday party. Maybe more than anything else it's envy. Ha!