Birthday parties for less

Birthday parties do not have to cost a forturne with the following tips.

Hardly anything brings as much joy to children as birthday parties.  However, it can be easy to get caught up in trying to make it the best birthday party ever, and in the end lose the joy because it cost you a fortune. It does not have to be that way.  Birthday parties can be on a budget without cutting back on any of the fun.  Try these ideas to save money on the next birthday party you throw. 

Host it yourself
It is popular today to rent out venues or hire party planners, but kids enjoy simple birthday parties just as much, if not more.  Using your backyard or living room for hosting birthday parties saves lots of money.  There are ways to make it a great party even at your own house.

• Have a theme.  This helps you to plan the activities of your birthday party.  If it is a theme that allows the kids to wear a costume, even better. 
• Plan lots of activities.  The key to having a great birthday party at your home is keeping the kids busy with fun activities.  Plan games for them to play related to the theme.  Try traditional games but tweak them to fit your party.  For example, if it is a Halloween birthday party, instead of the spoon relay where the kids race with an egg in a spoon, try an eyeball relay instead.  Also, plan some simple crafts.  One easy idea is to have the kids make their own goody bags.  All birthday parties have goodie bags – make it into a fun activity for the kids.  They can place their crafts that they create at the party into their bags to take home with them.

Go easy on the food 
Let’s face it – birthday parties are all about the birthday cakes.  The kids don’t care about having a lot of food to eat.  Instead of ordering chicken nugget trays or lots of pizzas, figure out how you can save money on the food at the birthday party.  One way is to have the party between meals.  That way you can get away with serving just cake.  Another idea is to prepare the food yourself.  You can make sandwiches the night before.  Cut them out with cookie cutters that fit the birthday party theme.  (You can keep them fresh by wrapping them in a damp paper towel before placing them in sandwich baggies.)  Or, you can have the kids make their own pizzas.  Buy some small pizza crusts (or make your own dough if you are really ambitious), have some cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni and you just added another activity to your birthday party!

Bake the cake yourself
One of the best ways to save money on birthday parties is to bake the birthday cake yourself instead of buying one.  There are lots of great ideas on the Internet or in books for how to decorate a birthday cake so that it looks professionally made and fits the theme of your birthday party.  This is easier than you might think, and your homemade cake most likely will taste better than anything you can buy in a grocery store. 

It is certainly easier to rent out a venue for birthday parties.  But, if you want to save money and create a birthday party that is different and something that the kids will remember, host it yourself.  It’s fun, saves money, and may even bring back memories of your own birthday parties when you were a kid.  What a fun way to make your own children’s birthday parties memorable.

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