Happy Birthday, Aunt Norma! Frugal Party Favors from My Aunt's Purse.

Retired and relocated to the deep pockets of Georgia, my Aunt Norma is frugal and lives well. She clips coupons, shops at thrift stores and gives generous gifts. Most importantly, Aunt Norma saves money in order to share, my mom says.

How frugal is Aunt Norma? Check out these Party Favors from Aunt Norma’s Purse. Special thanks to my parents (retired to educators living in Florida) for their brainstorming help. I love you guys!


Aunt Norm’s Frugal Purse:


• She finds all-you-can-eat buffets with the most food and she knows the menus of the best buffets by heart, my mom said.

• Aunt Norma takes full advantage of senior citizen and AAA discounts.

• She has shopped at thrift stores and clipped coupons way before those habits were popular.

• She’s developed a close network of friends of different ages, who help her with chores, menus and other day-to-day quality of life issues: “It’s important to nurture cross-generational ties,” my mom said.

• Aunt Norma has been a pioneer in the area of bulk buying. As a little girl, I remember my Aunt Norm’s big long freezer in her basement in Pittsburgh, Pa. “She was one of the first ones to have a deep freezer one and it stayed loaded,” my mom said.

• As an interest rate shopper, my Aunt has also been far ahead of the curve. Back in the day when banks gave away toasters, casserole dishes and other perks, she shopped around for either the best interest rate or the best gifts whenever she received unexpected financial gifts or faced maturing funds. “She shopped around at all of the banks,” my mom said.

• She married smart. In an era, when African-American college-educated professional males were quite rare, my Aunt Norma married my Uncle Ike, a tax accountant, with educational pedigree and a real estate portfolio. Above all, he’s a great guy and they have been happily married for decades. I love you Uncle Ike.

• Aunt Norma is generous. "She’s always believes in sharing," my mom says. Like my parents, she always remembers birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. With Aunt Norma: The check is always in the card; the card is always in the mail. And the package arrives on time.

We love you Aunt Norma (and Uncle Ike, too). On behalf of Barbara, Ben, Ben Jr., Karen & Debra, Frank & Avi and the third generation kiddies:

We wish you Happy Birthday. We say thank you for all of the gifts and the coupons also.
May you live in good health for at least 120 years: Happy Birthday.