Moments Matter: Biggest Bang for Your Buck!

In my last post, I said that making memories and moments matter is usually free, however, creating some memories are costly, not necessarily in monetary cost but something more valuable, time! In my opinion, time is the most valuable asset we possess. Once it’s been used it cannot be regained, so I’m all about not wasting it. But, sometimes extraordinary, fabulous memories are worth the investment, both in money and time.

Every year our daughter Jean hosts some type of costume party near Halloween. The parties are theme parties, and we have enjoyed everything from pirate theme , spider theme, Harry Potter theme to this year’s Dr. Who theme party. Jean has been called by some the Michel Gondry of theme parties. I mean we are talking some elaborate props, food and costuming here. Guests are expected to reciprocate by dressing in the spirit of the theme and the results are stunning. These parties take Jean (and some of her sidekicks, like her husband, siblings and mom and dad) weeks if not months to prepare. Jean is a mastermind of ideas and a great deal of time goes into even the smallest details. I will also say there is some money involved in the preparation too, as craft supplies, costumes and food and beverage are involved. The end result is amazing and the evening itself is a tremendous payoff on this huge investment of time, talent and funds. She has a new blog called “The Theme Party Girl” with lots of cool pictures of this event. http://thethemepartygirl.blogspot.com/

I recommend making these types of tremendous memories for a variety of reasons. First the fun of working as a family on the event; problem solving, enjoying the process and working on a common goal are terrific memory makers all in themselves. I love the fact that time spent painting a pirate ship, or this year a Tardis, together is a moment that mattered and time that I’ll always remember with people I love, so the process is a fantastic way to make lots of moments that matter. Secondly the event is so memorable. And thirdly, so many people benefit from the effort.

There are lots of fabulous, extraordinary events in our lives, events that we pour ourselves into, starting with our children’s birthday parties, dinner parties for adult friends, graduation receptions, weddings, anniversary gatherings, special holiday events and so many others. I have learned a few things to make the investment in these types of events worth even more. So here are some ways to get the biggest bang for your buck . . .

· Share them with lots of people, Jean usually has 30 or more people at her parties, but this year she is having several smaller gatherings and using the party props at all of them.

· Make good use of leftovers, for example, don’t be in a hurry to get rid of all those neat decorations after a child’s birthday party. Bask in the afterglow for a few days. Or, if using balloons for a child’s party, get them early and let the child wake up to a room full of them. They will love the surprise in the morning, and later they can be used at the party, but now you have gotten more bang for your buck. Loan out elaborate decorations to friends later, they’ll thank you and the investment in time and effort is extended. I use left over party paper products for dinners during our family beach week by counting out the number we need and putting the plates, napkins, plastic ware and cups into a bag and putting it up until summer, each night at the beach we enjoy a different theme, remember the event they came from, and no one has to do dishes while we’re on vacation.

· Big events are fun to scrapbook or make a photo album of all their own. I always take a lot of pictures at big events.

These are my thoughts on making and investing in big memorable moments. Currently I have a Tardis in my dining room, it took several days to build, it’s a mock up of the time machine used in the Dr. Who TV series. Since it’s the centerpiece for several more parties over the next month it’s not going anywhere soon, I have to walk through it when I take my dirty clothes downstairs . . . hey not everyone gets to time travel every time they do laundry! Thanks Jean for some incredible new moments that matter.

I'd love to hear about the big events in your life and how you get the biggest bang for your buck!