This month is a huge birthday month in the Frugal Upstate house. Not only do Princess & I both have our birthdays, but there are 2 nephews, an aunt and an uncle all in the month of April. It keeps it busy!
So you can see where I tend to think a lot about birthdays and how to celebrate them during this month. We even chose to do tonight’s radio show on the topic of Birthdays on a Budget* (tune in tonight at 8:30pm EST or listen later on demand!)
In the past I’ve written in a lot of detail about the parties we’ve thrown for Princess & Buddy. I thought I’d provide you with the definitive Frugal Upstate Family Birthday Roundup:
Birthday Fun and Games
Throwing a Birthday Party Fit for a Princess
Hosting a Frugal Hannah Montana Birthday Party
Tutorial: Making a Barbie Cake Part I & Making a Barbie Cake Part II
Tutorial: How to Make a Lego Cake
Frosting Recipe
Tutorial: Just Hit It (Making a Pinata)
Birthday Decorating on a Dime
Tutorial: Making Birthday Invitations in Word
It’s the Thought that Counts: Birthday Present Philosophy
Keeping a Gift Box
Keeping a Card Box
So what are some of your favorite frugal birthday ideas? Please share! Either tell us in the comments or add a link in this Mr. Linky:
Photo by Rob J Brooks
*Don’t forget-you can always see the most recent shows, as well as sign up for email reminders on the Frugal Coast2Coast show website! That’s also where we post any links or sites mentioned during the show.
Sometimes being Frugal can become priceless!
Some of the best memories that my kids and I have shared are from their birthday party preparation. Weeks before their birthday they would decide on a party theme. Then we would get creative and make and use things for the games and decorations that we all ready had on hand. Kids are easy to please and their imaginations are wonderful. Our memories of those birthday parties are priceless. And isn’t that what it is really all about?
http://www.countrywayoflife.com/kids-stuff.php
What a fabulous list of money-saving ideas! This is such an important topic in today’s economy, and because we struggle with providing today’s parents with the best in party planning, we also try to provide cost-effective ideas and party supplies on our website http://www.birthdayinabox.com. We have over 75 free party planning guides (found here: http://www.birthdayinabox.com/party-ideas/ under “choose a theme party”), which provide free ideas for do-it-yourself invitations, decorations, activities, and more. We also just posted an entire page dedicated to helping parents plan a party on a budget (found here:http://www.birthdayinabox.com/parties-under-100.asp-lk-13972-id-2884), and our party boxes, which include everything you need for a party for 8, are all under $25. Thanks for the opportunity to share our thoughts!
Great topic! I have to admit that, with no kids of our own, my kid-birthday party experience is very limited.
I've always LOVED the idea of a teddy-bear tea party for little girls–a few friends with their favorite stuffed animal come in their favorite dress-up clothes, sweet, milky tea, little sandwiches and birthday cake. Sounds like fun to me, and an inexpensive way to make birthday a special event.
I have thrown many, many an adult birthday parties, and I definitely prefer to keep the cost down. The best way to do that is to do something at home, although my husband threw my most recent birthday at our local Friendly's–paid for coffee/tea for everyone and bought an ice cream cake. The bill for 8 came to about $25.
For my husband, who is as southern as southern gets, we have a yearly 'Redneck' birthday party. This is probably the easiest to decorate–throw empty bottles & cans around the yard, don't mow the grass for a week, drag out an old sofa with a throw, mismatched chairs, regular tableware with paper plates, assorted vinyl holiday tablecloths (easter, christmas, whatever) on the buffet table… I could go on and on. Food is usually inexpensive stuff–weenie roast, giant can of nacho cheese and chips, brunswick stew, blackeyed peas & biscuits… really, whatever. Sides are potluck. Generic sodas, byob. And we build-a-bbq fire in a metal grocery cart to keep stuff hot. People love the grocery pit! One year we lined the bed of our pickup with a big blue tarp and filled it with water for a redneck swimming pool. We keep expenses to $50 for this one.
I had a birthday party for my brother who was about 30 at the time. His wife provided the cake and a veggie platter; I made a few snacky things, got the ice cream and made punch. I prefer an adult party that is just snacks & cake as opposed to a full meal.
The last bday party we had for me was even simpler: my mother brought a cake, I made a sugar-free cheesecake. There was ice cream and coffee & tea. That's it!
Great post nice tips on saving. birthdays can be made special at home also don’t need loads of money to enjoy. one can enjoy simpler things as well.
OMG thanks for the shout out! Loved the show–just finally listened to it now.
One of my favorite things to do to make a memorable gift is to go to Target after Halloween and buy up kids costumes and accessories when they go 90% off. I then make a “dress up” box which as I give as birthday gifts. The girls get princess, cheerleader, and other girly costumes plus play shoes, wigs, makeup, etc. The boys get boxes made up of pirate, monster, alien and whatever other boyish costumes I can find. It works out well and it can be as cheap as you want it to be!
Excellent post! Another great idea is to have the kids start early with the decorations. Decide a theme early on. Then make a weekly project out of it. Save on the decor, plus have some precious bonding time with your kids too! They’ll be even more excited for their parties 🙂