Posted on July 8, 2010 - by Jennifer

5 tips for a Frugal Birthday Party

1. Make your own decorations.  I was reading a guest post on Money Saving Mom’s website about making a banner.  This one is personal and way better than any I’ve seen in the stores.  Check out her post about the birthday banner here and the instructions for it here.   You’ll be glad you did.

             Thanks, MoneySavingMom and Keeping the Kingdom First

2. Balloons. If you go to your local Dollar Store they sell Mylar balloons for $1.00 and if you have some that you want blown up they will charge you $1.00 for the air.

3.  Make your own cake.  I took a cake decorating class two years ago and it’s already paid for itself.  Check out the cakes that I’ve made for my kids’ birthdays and they are only 2 and 1 years old.  By the time their 18 the class will have definitely paid for itself.  Below are the cakes that I made for each of my sons’ first birthday’s.

4.  Location Location Location.   If you have a summer birthday in your family and your inviting children go to a local park so you don’t have to pay a per person charge at a facility like certain chains charge.  And if you have a winter birthday consider asking your local church to rent out the gym so kids can play basketball.  Or if you have a girl you can decorate like a tea room and have a tea party.  Most often churches will rent it for free if you are members or for a very small cost in comparison to national chains.

5.  Collect Party favors along the way.  Who says that all the favor bags have to be the same???  No one!  It’s your kids’ party and they can have different bags if they want   Try checking your local supercenters and grocery stores at the end of seasons to get great bargains.  Often I’ll find heart shaped suckers at the end of Valentine’s Day and you can save those for the bags.  Or when stores are clearancing out glow bracelets for the 4th of July.  Be on the look out at yard sales too.  Sometimes you can find open packages from someone elses party.  Check the free box; often I find balls, little sunglasses, cars etc.  Things to keep an eye out for are: bouncy balls, bubbles, cars, erasers, pens, pencils.