Most kids aren’t terribly demanding when it comes to their birthday parties. As long as they get cake, presents, and time to play with friends they’re pretty pleased. But as a parent you want to make every birthday special and memorable. This can be difficult when you’re working with a budget, though. So here are just a few tips for planning the awesome party that your child will remember forever.
- Budget planning. You no doubt have a budget in mind when it comes to putting together your child’s birthday party, and planning ahead of time can help you to stick to it. You can take your time comparison shopping for goods and services you’ll need until you find the best deals at a price you can afford. Throwing together a party at the last minute will nearly always cost you more. So budget your time as well as your money and you’re sure to save.
- Evite. Even if you’re handy with Cricket Craft Cutter and a calligraphy pen, paper invitations will still cost you some money. The good news is that everyone is online these days. So put together an Evite and have your child send it out to classmates for free. Or if the kids are too young to have their own email or Facebook accounts, collect info from parents and send the Evite to them.
- Food and entertainment in one. If you’re having trouble stretching your budget to cover both food and entertainment, you’ll be happy to hear that they could be one and the same. You don’t necessarily have to host a food fight to make it fun, either. What you can do is set up stations for kids to make individual pizzas, decorate cupcakes, or otherwise participate in making the food for the party. This can be a fun diversion that helps you entertain the masses even as you create the delicious treats they’ll eat.
- Go low tech. Can’t afford to set up game consoles for every kid or take all your child’s friends to an arcade? Host a game day complete with your child’s favorite board games. Don’t have the dough to take the whole class to the movies? Most kids will have a great time watching a rental from Netflix or your cable company’s On Demand feature at a movie night slumber party. And you can even set them up with bags of popcorn and a candy counter. You don’t have to deliver the moon – just a reasonable facsimile.
- Ask for help. You’re not the only parent looking to save a few bucks on birthday planning. So offer an exchange of services with other mothers. Ask for help with cooking, decorations, and supervision at the party and then offer the same when their kids’ birthdays roll around. You may have to pay for some basics, of course (ingredients, favors, and decorative items from just artifacts, for example), but you can save some dough with a DIY attitude and a little help from your friends.
