Frugal Birthday Party Ideas

I'm turning into "that mom." You know...the one that goes over-the-top for birthdays. Given the impression some of you have of me, that might not surprise you, but this was never my intention.

I have no problem putting a little work into my parties. Instead of paying $10 per child to go to a pizza fun place or spending $200 to have an inflatable bounce house company host our gathering, I do it all myself. Sure, it's a little more time and effort, but let's face it: I'm not an overtired working mom that has to squeeze in time to run errands or work out. If I have time to blog, I have plenty of pockets of time here and there that I can dedicate to planning and preparing.

My birthday parties probably appear ridiculous to some, but I assure you: I'm just as frugal when I throw a party as I am in every other area of my life. I plan. I shop around. I don't wait until the last minute to make purchases...I stock up throughout the year. I stalk the clearance section all year long.

I have a storage bin dedicated to all things birthday: hats, banners, confetti, games, you name it. When I see something that I can't pass up, I buy it and stick it in the bin. Then when we have a birthday approaching, I'll pull out the bin and check my inventory.

If you keep your eyes open, you can find some great stuff on sale. A while back, I found the Elmo party hats in the picture below for $.47. I couldn't leave them on the shelf! I figured: worst case scenario, we could use them for Mike's birthday as a joke.


A few months ago, I found Elmo napkins and cupcake wrappers at Party City on clearance and voila: we now have a theme for Jason's 1st birthday. To top it off, I saw a "Fun to be One" blue baseball hat for $.50 and threw that in the box for later. Add a box of cake mix and Jason's birthday party is going to cost under $5.

Let's talk party favors. After Kaylin's Princess Party last year, Michael's put all of their Princess and Pirate party themed items on clearance at 80% off. I bought as much pink-but-not-princess-y stuff as I could find, knowing that Kaylin will love pink for years to come. I now have mini nail files, mini polish, blowers, goodie bags, even a giant pink Happy Birthday banner for cents on the dollar.

There are other ways to keep birthday parties from getting out of control. For instance, you can alternate big parties with smaller gatherings every other year. If you have multiple kids, this is a great way to spread out the cost and not be overwhelmed with extra expenses year after year.

Another idea is to limit the number of friends invited to coordinate with the age they're turning - 8 year olds could invite 8 friends.

I recently heard of a mom giving her daughter the choice between a big party and small gifts or a big gift and a small party. This little girl wanted bunk beds, so she had a simple party with 6 friends at the park with pizza, cake and games. The concept behind this idea is to set a combined budget for the party and gifts and let your child choose.

Other ideas for saving money: make your own cake or cupcakes. Most people order cakes to save time and hassle, but cake mix and frosting are cheap! If you're pressed for time or concerned about baking the day-of, cakes and cupcakes freeze really well. Just thaw on the counter and frost the morning of the party - or even the night before, if you're really stressed about it. Kids don't care how much a cake costs. Sure, bakery cakes taste better, but you're not trying to win any contests here. Plates are licked clean in under 3 minutes and everyone's ready to open gifts. (PS - Safeway had a Betty Crocker sale a couple weeks ago and I bought enough cake mix and frosting to cover both Ryan and Kaylin's birthday parties for free, after sale and coupons.)

Decorations are another area I try to save. I buy things that can be reused or repurposed. Basic pink or primary colored signs and streamers, things like that. I try to avoid theme-based banners and centerpieces, unless I borrow them (which I do a lot) or buy them used. I also buy plain-colored paper products so the leftovers can be used for other occasions.

After Ryan skimmed the Oriental Trading Company catalog for his upcoming dinosaur themed birthday, something made me do a search on Craigslist and - sure enough - I found someone selling many of the items Ryan wanted! I may even try to turn around and re-sell them when I'm done. Let's keep the recycling love going, shall we? (okay, let's be honest - I just want my money back...)

The cost of balloons seems ridiculously high to me, but sometimes I'll splurge and spend the $8 to get a dozen. (seriously - ouch) But you can get just as much of an effect with good old fashioned HOT AIR. Helium balloons have their place, don't get me wrong, but at $.50-$1 per balloon...I think twice. Plus, helium balloons are on the ground the next day. Just sayin'.

My last rant is going to be about store-bought invitations. They're almost $1 each anymore. Not to mention the $.50 for a stamp! (okay, I just realized how cheap that sounded...but I'd rather spend that money on party favors)

Anyway, I'm a big fan of Evite.com. It's free, it's easy to use and it even tracks your RSVPs for you. I printed some cute dinosaurs on green paper and cut them out for Ryan's party this year. (because I didn't have email addresses for the kids in his class...I needed something to put in their backpacks) They turned out really cute and took me all of 30 minutes to make. Ryan even cut them out for me, stuffed them in envelopes and wrote the kids' names on them - he loved being involved.

What frugal birthday party ideas do you have? I'm sure I'm missing something. Leave a comment if you want to share you're tips!