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It’s a new year and it’s time for a new round of birthday parties.  For those of you who have school-aged kids, it’s most weekends.  Talk about expensive, even if you have a budget for gift purchases, and for families that are low income, it can be a lot of stress and worry, especially if you have multiple children. I have a child in Grade 2 and starting in Kindergarten the invites came fast and furious.  The pressure to invite the whole class is real and even if you don’t invite the whole class it seems that most parties have at least 10 kids.  Does my child need 10 birthday presents outside of what he gets from family? Absolutely not, although I’m sure he’d argue that he certainly does need them. A trend that is becoming more and more popular as part of a cultural shift toward sustainable living and reducing excess in our homes is the toonie, fiver or the 50/50 birthday party.  The idea behind these parties is the birthday child gets to save or spend half of what they receive and donate the other half to a charity of their choice.  I’ve also heard that the funds can get split three ways; spend, save and donate.  I think this is a fantastic idea and one I’m going to be trying out this year when my son turns 8. Not only does the child get to pick out a larger gift for themselves but they also learn about giving to a charity of their choice.  It’s an opportunity to discuss with your child different charities and it allows them to explore what is important to them and why. It also takes away the stress of what to buy, removes the cost barrier for a low-income family, and let’s not forget about cutting back on clutter!  Another bonus is teaching your child budgeting and the value of a dollar. I see this trend as a win-win-win, for the birthday child, the parents and the gift givers all around. I hope to see this trend grow, for so many reasons and I hope you do too.