Graduation on a Budget

When every extra dollar goes to pay off debt, extra expenses like planning a graduation puts creativity to the test. My son Mark graduated 8th grade from his Catholic grade school and at our school it’s a big event. An entire week of fun graduation activites are planned for the kids, such as 8th grade vs. teacher volleyball game, trip to Worlds of Fun, bowling and pizza, etc., etc. All these events are covered by the school budget, but not the famous "surprise locker decoration day"!

It’s a tradition for the parents to decorate the kids’ lockers in with their new high school colors to surprise the kids on one of the last days. As I watched other moms and dads decorate their student’s lockers I couldn’t believe the amount of $$ that was spent! Helium balloons, custom high school pennants, candy, stuffed animals, etc. But I could secretly smile because, while my son’s locker may not have been the fanciest, it was for sure the CHEAPEST... and he loved it!

The only real out-of-pocket expense was for the navy foam to create the Lee’s Summit West high school banner. I used a logo printed off their website for decoration, along with odds and ends of paper from my scrapbook stash. I blew up a few balloons from home, and taped on 2008 graduation sunglasses and a homemade visor. The sunglasses, as well as the candy, bear and other goodies inside the locker were purchased using Walgreen’s register rewards. I also "bought" with RR’s a frame that could be autographed by all of Mark’s classmates.

It took a little bit of work and ingenuity, but even a tightwad like me could create a fairly decorative locker!