Birthday parties: Feature Article
If you have children then you are already aware of the fact that birthday parties are a huge source of joy for kids, if you have really young children you will be soon learning just how much fun children have at birthday parties. And because of how much fun children have at birthday parties it is very easy for you as a parent to get caught up in trying to throw your child the best birthday party ever. But other parents tend to find it easier to go somewhere else to have the birthday party so that they don't have to deal with the mess or with any of the planning. In either case the main thing that you need to realize is that doing this can cause you to spend a lot of money on that birthday party, which means you end up being stressed out rather than happy because of how much it cost you.
Here are some tips to follow to help you save money on birthday parties.
Tip one:
You can use your living room or your backyard, depending on the weather and the time of year, to have your kid's birthday party. Many parents tend to forget that a lot of kids still find it a joy to have a simple birthday party at their own house because most of what they care about is getting presents and playing with their friends. If you have it at your house there are plenty of things that you can do to both save you money and keep your kid's birthday party interesting.
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Tip two:
Make the birthday cake yourself. When you buy a store bought cake sure it looks very professional, but it usually ends up costing you between $15 to $20 dollars depending on where you bought it. And even though you spent that much money on a birthday cake it never tastes as good as a homemade cake, which is cheaper to make all you have to do is buy the box of cake mix and icing. If you watch for these to go on sale you can usually end up picking them up for $1 a piece. And as far as decorating goes there are plenty of resources that you can use to learn how to decorate a cake so that it looks just as fancy as the ones that you see in the stores.
Helpful Resources: 1. Save Money on Your Child's Birthday Party This article provides you with a variety of ideas that you can use when you are planning your child's birthday party, but the best thing is that all of these ideas are things you can do to save money. 2. Save Money Planning Your Child's Birthday Party 3. Save Money on Birthday Parties and Gifts 5. Saving Money on Kids Birthday Parties 6. Saving Money on Children's Birthday Parties 8. Birthday Party Games 9. Money Saving Tips for Kids' Birthday Parties 10. Birthday Parties for less |
Tip three:
When it comes to balloons your cheapest option is to blow the balloons up yourself and make them float. This can be done by taping them to the walls, hanging them from the ceiling, lights or fans in the house. But you can also group them together to make centerpieces on tables or you can tape a group together on the ceiling as a centerpiece in the air. But if you insist on having helium balloons you might want to look into renting a small helium tank rather than getting the balloons prefilled at a party store. Sometimes renting the tank is cheaper because you won't have to pay per balloon, but this depends on how many balloons you are going to need to have filled.
Tip four:
Instead of renting a deejay or hiring a professional clown or other kind of entertainer you should consider doing the entertaining yourself. There are plenty of games that you can play at a kid's party that are going to cost little to nothing to do. But you can also do craft projects or face painting for entertainment. You can also supply your own music by listening to the radio or even hooking up your iPod and letting loose. There are plenty of resources that you can find online or even in books that will help you come up with games to play or even face painting ideas so that what you do looks very similar if not better than what a pro would do.
Tip five:
One thing that many parents tend to go overboard on when it comes to spending money is on goody bags. You tend to buy a ton of junk that will fill up those small plastic bags and the worst part is that those junk toys aren't even worth it because they get lost or broken rather quickly. So rather than spending a ton of money on these goody bags you can always send home something that kids will keep such as craft supplies. Or better yet you can nix the entire goody bag and simply have the kids make a craft project at the party that they get to take home, this actually kills two birds with one stone you have a project and a goody for the kids to take home. But if your child insists on goody bags one toy and a handful of candy is more than enough to give to the kids to take home.
Tip six:
Most birthday parties require you to provide some kin of refreshment and perhaps some snacks, what you will be providing of course depends on the age of the people attending and what time of the day you are having the party. So if you need to buy refreshments for the party and snacks stay away from the name brand sodas and snacks, which can get very expensive. Instead buy the store brand sodas and snacks, kids won't even know the difference and most of the adults won't even be able to tell.
Tip seven:
Rather than spending a ton of money on pre-made invitations the best thing that you can do is to make your own invitations. Not to mention the fact that your child will enjoy it too because it allows them to be hands on when it comes to preparing for the party. When it comes to making your invitations you can use construction paper and markers to make them or you can use a printing program from your computer to make them and then print them out off your computer. You can also use stickers to help dress them up.
Tip eight:
Instead of having a commercial themed party you can do it yourself. In fact anything can be themed when it comes to a birthday party, all you have to do is have the know how to make it special and the means to follow through. With commercial themed parties you can end up spending a lot of money on paper plates, tablecloths, silverware, decorations etc. If you are not buying all of the themed stuff you can buy simple paper plates, cups and silverware and then buy decorations in certain color schemes to go with the theme and then print decorations like posters off the computer to make your own commercial themed party that is a lot cheaper than a store bought commercial themed party. Another option is to buy a few key themed items such as cake plates and napkins and then buy the rest of the decorations in colors that compliment the themed stuff.
Tip nine:
Many times you tend to invite more people than you really need to have at your party because you are worried about hurting people's feelings at your child's school or even among your family and friends. So what you need to do is to only invite the ones that you are close with, this will greatly reduce your guest list which will save you money because it means less stuff you have to buy and hand out. If you are worried about hurting people's feelings at school you can either mail out the invitations or hand them out on the weekends rather than handing them out at school.
Tip ten:
If you are going to be buying a large amount of certain items, such as paper plates, spoons, etc you should buy them at warehouse supply stores so that you can save money by purchasing them in bulk. You can also do the same at craft supply stores if you are going to be making your own decorations or doing craft projects at the party.
Tip eleven:
When you are planning your party make sure that you plan it for a time that is in between meal times. This will get you out of the option of serving lunch or dinner. And honestly most kids only care about getting cake and ice cream at a birthday party so why bother serving lunch or dinner to a bunch of kids. If you are having a party that requires you to serve lunch or dinner rather than having it catered it would be cheaper for you to make the food yourself. When it comes to saving money for making the food yourself you need to think about what you are going to be serving and how many people will be attending. Spaghetti is always a good option, but so are make your own pizzas, sandwiches and hamburgers. You want to try and avoid high cost foods such as steak and other meats.
