Sunday 25 August 2013

Budget Birthday Party Ideas For When Money Is Tight!


My beautiful boy turned 5 on August 14 and we had his party this weekend. It was so much fun! We had a ton of activities and wonderful party guests. So I would love to share with you my frugal party plans. I only have a very modest budget to begin with and to add in things like parties I really need to be my best frugal self. 

So how do you have an amazing party with on a budget? Well you think like a kid of course, the one mistake parents can make is having everything scheduled for the party. Kids do not like to wait in lines for their turn or be ordered around rushing to the next activity. The best thing you can do for kids at a party is just let them be free and do what they want to do. I don't mean don't have activities for the kids but don't make them mandatory or scheduled. Here is what I did and what I spent to give you an idea.


Activities
Painting individual canvases - 20$ for 10 canvases & $5 for paint.
Make fruit loop necklaces - $5 for cereal & $2 for string.
Balloon animals and swords - $3 for balloons & $3 for balloon pump.
Noise Makers - $2
Pool - Free
Soccer - Free
Swings - Free
Toys - Free
Sandbox - Free


Obviously all the free activities were stuff I had at my home already. So because I had the party at my house everyone came to me and it was much more convenient. Also I just set up stations for the kids. I had everything prepped, set and ready to go so they could decide what they wanted to do. You could do stuff like face painting as well and keep it well under $5 for all the supplies from the dollar store.

Food
Chips - $10 for 12 individual bags.
Pop - $3 for 3 - 2 Litres
Juice - $4 for 20 juice boxes.
Cake - $20 for a giant sheet cake.
Deviled Eggs - $4 for 18 eggs.
Cucumbers - Free from my garden.

Kids are usually so busy at a party that they don't eat very much so just some party snacks and your usually good to go. But if you do go for a hearty lunch do something cheap and simple like hot dogs or fresh take and bake pizzas from the grocery store. Doing this will only cost around $20 or less.

Decorations
Balloons - $2 at the dollar store.
Happy Birthday Banners - Free because I never throw away decorations.

And that is it besides the toy I bought him which also doubled as a cake topper that cost me $10. So the whole party cost me just under $100. But there are ways of trimming that down as well with stuff you have on hand and making more stuff yourself.

  
It is so simple to please kids, they just want the basics like fun and candy. Don't over think it because you want to throw this perfect party. Your kids and the small guests are not going to notice all the little random decorations or colorful napkins. You could give them all a piece of paper towel to wipe their faces while eating and they wouldn't even know the difference. So for your next party speak to your inner child and see what you can come up with!


For inexpensive gift ideas take a look at these great articles:


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