Birthday is one of the most significant day in a year for most of the people. It is a monumental time when people commemorate the heartaches, pains, triumphs, good deeds, and survival of a person.

Also, birthday is an avenue to express gratitude and appreciation towards a person you love.

But there is no such thing as free lunch. So whether we want to pull out a low-cost, budgetarian way of celebrating a birthday, we still need to spend money. 

Last May 26 was my brother's 18th birthday. In our family we don't have the tradition of celebrating birthdays or giving extravagant gifts or whatsoever.

But I see how my brother had work hard in his academic tasks and other stuff. I want to appreciate those sacrifices.

During that time, our budget was so tight. I honestly had a buffer of cash, but it was allocated for operational expenses of my business. 

But we Filipinos are very family oriented. We tend to sacrifice things for our family members, we love them and we show compassion for them.

So regardless of the outcome, I decided to pull out some from my buffer, and diverted it as a budget for food, drinks, and everything needed for the birthday of my brother. 

I felt happy when I saw my brother was satisfied with the celebration. It is not big, but it is out from heart. It was a result of trade off between business and making your family member happy. I did not regret my choice.