Frugal family birthday parties are going to be so much fun. After 25 years’ of experience planning birthday parties I am ready to share my expertise. With only one income it can be very expensive to give multiple birthday parties in a year. Birthday parties have become a little pretentious on costs, and facilities know that they can charge an outrageous price if they hand out a goodie bag and prize.
Saving money on the actual party will allow the birthday child to get gifts they will love and remember. We don’t buy a ton of presents at birthdays’ because we do spend more on Christmas. Before I start to put any thought into a birthday party I ask the birthday child what they want. Getting an idea of the theme helps get my thought processes moving.
Create a Frugal Family Theme
If you think about it, we usually put on birthday parties and events that are really for other people. After this acknowledgment I realized that I needed to give birthday parties for my kids, not others. First I ask them what kind of a party they would like to have. Usually it is whatever theme they can come up with or that is popular at the time. In our home we don’t focus on impressing anyone but the birthday party boy. He is the main star and center of attention. For instance, this year the movie “Pixels” was a hit and favorite. We chose to surprise him with a house decorated like a video arcade game.
Second, we took him and his brothers’ to an 80’s video game arcade, and for a set price they were able to play all day. Open to close video game usage was a great deal.
Birthday Party Food
Frugal family birthday parties came about for me when I had my fourth child. I didn’t have time to put hours into cupcakes. Now I add to the party ONLY what the kids will eat, or play. At the last party we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches….we did not have any leftovers.
Since we want to focus on the birthday party boy’s wishes I let them pick their cake, cupcake, or dinner choice. In the above mentioned case my son loved PBJ sandwiches. That was super easy to provide and as I said not one was left. My other son this year has requested a munchkin cake. My husband will grab him a box of Munchkin’s from Dunkin’ Donuts and commence to making a tower. Easy peasy, delicious and affordable.
Easy Birthday Party Ideas
Water party- That means that everyone will get wet. See how many friends have a sprinkler, slip and slide or water gun. Then bring as may over as you can find. As an added bonus set everything up like it is an obstacle course! The kids will love it. Have the birthday child go first, but at the end…maybe a whip cream pie in the face! I’ve done it, and my son loved it.
Dinosaur party-Make a dinosaur dig out of sand and dinosaur toys. Make some fossils with coffee grinds and create a scavenger hunt, and for the grand finale a dinosaur cake. If girls are invited maybe make a few of the dinosaurs pink, with bows, or girl dinosaur names.
Lego party-borrow some legos or use ones you have and print off a few challenges from Pinterest. Have the guests build one of the challenge lego’s and the winner will get a prize. Hide a lego under someone’s chair. Play musical chairs and the winner (the one who lands on the chair with the lego) will win a prize. Make a lego cake, with blue punch. If they aren’t too pricey have someone paint faces like some of the characters in the lego movie.
Frugal Family Birthday Decorations
This part was easy this year. I did not want to buy a bunch of decorations that we would eventually throw away. As I started my planning process the idea of setting up a pac man and donkey kong game decorations would be fun. My second son drew the donkey kong on the chalkboard we have in our kitchen. My husband and I decorated each door in our house like a Pac Man game. I was only out $25.00 and the time spent. It was all black paper from United Art and Education with construction paper and chalk for the game board. Our decorations are still up because it was something they enjoyed and wanted to keep up for awhile.
My point in this post is to let you know that what you plan is what your kids will love. Create the birthday party of their dreams to impress them and no one else. Spend money on the one gift they will love. Decorate with the keep it simple method. For more tips on frugal family ideas and lifestyle sign up for my newsletter.
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