May 1, 201208:34 AMThrifty Mom
Let's be Thrifty Together
Even more ideas for budget birthdays
Last week we talked about some simple ideas for planning your child’s birthday party on a budget. Need some more ideas? Here you go …
Ask for help. Recruit family members or friends with special talents to help out. My sister-in-law is a baker and generously provided my children’s cakes as her gift. A friend of our family helped me cut out decorations and assemble the pieces so I could quickly decorate the day of the party. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Borrow decorations when you can.
Plan ahead. Throughout the year, be on the lookout for clearance items such as paper plates, cups and napkins after holidays at discount stores. After Halloween, I was able to purchase plain black paper party cake plates and cups at a fraction of the original price that fit in perfectly with our race car-themed birthday party. You can also find lots of red or green décor after Christmas, red décor after Valentines Day, and red, white and blue décor after July 4th or Memorial Day.
Time of day is important. The quickest way to save money is to choose a non-meal time of day to have a party. If your guests come between 2 and 4 p.m., they won’t be starving and you can have more affordable snack fare to go along with the traditional birthday cake.
Decorations. Party decorations can add up quickly. First, look through your house for what you already have. Do you have any leftover decorations from previous parties that can be recycled? Also, look at the dollar store for affordable décor, paper products and wrapping paper. Balloons filled with helium only cost $1 at some area dollar stores and can give a party a little extra punch. Also try searching for printable party decorations on Etsy.com. I was able to purchase premade and designed PDF files for printable owl-themed decorations for my child’s party for a very small cost—everything from T-shirt transfers and banners to pinwheels and candy bar wrappers. After a purchase like this, you can print as many as you like since you own the files. These can even be customized with your child’s name.
How have you saved money when planning your child’s birthday party? Share your tips with us by leaving a comment!
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Our daughter turned 15 this year. Instead of doing the traditional birthday sleepover, we gave her a budget and let her plan the party herself. She's chosen to take friends out for dinner and a movie this weekend. I'm really curious to see how she does as she works with her budget. I know she's already clipped coupons for the pizza place! (Smart kid, right?) I'm hoping she'll learn a bit about planning and making smart financial decisions in the process. And maybe it'll be a little less stressful for me!