Budgeting Tips for a Frugal Birthday Party

Budgeting Tips for a Frugal Birthday Party

If you have one kid or more you know just how expensive birthday parties are. But they don’t have to cost your left arm to be fun, frugal and within a budget. Each year our daughter gets to pick a meal for her birthday and we have family over to help us celebrate the special day. I even bake her cake to help us save even more and she can invite a few close friends over for her special night. It works for us but maybe not for everyone.

Frugal Party Tips

* Plan ahead – Start buying items ahead of time that you know your child loves and if you are combining sales and coupons you should be able to get everything you need for a cake for as little as $10.00. Visit the local dollar store and see if you can get plates for under $1 each, you don’t have to have name brand, but if it is in your budget go for it.

* Delegate –  Through the years my family and I have gotten pretty crafty with birthday cakes that are homemade and taste delicious. But if you aren’t crafty at all see if you have friends that can help you out, have them plan games, bake a cake, or even decorate!

* Make invitations at home – Using Microsoft Office you can make some amazing invitations for free. Be sure to send them out in time for parents to RSVP (although it is a dying tradition.) Invite a handful of friends that they are close with and that will be plenty. Just like the cowboy themed party we did for my nephew a few years back. We used the below graphic for party invitations, printed them and mailed them out. Then the cake we made using things from the store and made it a super fun but easy themed party with the use of handkerchiefs for napkins.

*Keep it simple and just have cake and ice cream –  Just put on the invitation that it is cake and ice cream only so guests can prepare their own meal ahead of time.

A birthday party doesn’t have to be expensive to be successful stick to your budget and have fun, that’s what it is all about!