Written by Rachel Hayden
Once a year when birthdays and holidays come around it is a time for celebration! Balloons, confetti, a theme chosen with care, the yummiest foods, and of course a birthday cake are all necessities for celebrations of any age. But the issue with all of this is price, decorations are extremely expensive never mind the cost of food and a custom cake is out of the question! But throwing a party on a budget is doable. With the right tools and some creativity, anyone can throw a party for any age or occasion that is budget friendly.
Caitlin is a mom of two little girls and has another one on the way! She insists that even though times are tough she will always still celebrate her babies. “It’s so important for them to have these moments, I sometimes slowly shop for six months before their birthdays to get everything I need at a reasonable price” she says. I asked her how she budgets a family party for them, food, decorations, presents, the works. Caitlin says “It’s hard I’m not gonna lie! I of course want to get them the biggest and best of everything but I’m also realistic. I love to shop the Target dollar section for as much as I can. And seasonally they have the cutest kids’ stuff. Valentine’s Day is our favorite holiday! I try my best to go all out and show my kids as much love as I can on this day. From heart shaped waffles to gift baskets with their favorite red and pink candies, toys, and crafts. Little do they know everything is either from the year before or costs $1-$3! For one to five dollars, I can reasonably begin buying the things I need to give them a special and memorable birthday. Food on the other hand is a little trickier, with the rising prices of absolutely everything I try to buy a lot at Costco and look for sales on meats from Uncle Giuseppe’s. We are big on having BBQ’s. I bake the birthday cake and make the side dishes myself and my husband barbeques, so it saves on catering.” I also wanted to know about how she cost effectively bought toys because we all know how expensive they can be. “I am constantly looking at the ‘deals for you’ section of Amazon and whatever I can’t get there I try to find at Five Bellow or a dollar store. My kids are four and six, they love stuff so the more stuff the better!”
I then asked Jill, a mother of three how as a single mom she always found a way to throw us birthday parties when we were children. “It wasn’t easy, let me tell you!” She starts out by telling me. “Birthdays have always been very important to me. I loved and still love celebrating my kids. Doing it by myself has always been a financial struggle but you learn ways around it and how to make amazing.” “First of all, I make a list and give myself a budget to stick too. After I do that then I know where I can begin to shop and how to split up my money. Having a game plan is key in budgeting.” Jill then goes on to tell me that she has been using a re-using birthday signs for years. She has about five of them that are neutral enough that they can go with about any theme. She also does a lot of DIY stuff found on Pinterest, Google, and even old school early childhood books she used to use from her classroom. "I always knew my mom was creative, but I didn’t know much!" Her daughter adds. “We are a small family, so I always did my regular grocery shop plus a few goodies, so that was never too terrible of an expense for me. Now a days, it must be hard for people especially those who don’t cook like we do. Eating anything costs a lot in 2023.” “Presents were always difficult to get you guys. There wasn’t the internet and shopping around to find the best price when you wanted toys, it was just go to Toys R Us and buy it no matter how badly the sting of the price was. Now I think buys toys is a little easier but still super expensive. I still don’t understand why toys cost so much but whatever! The presents is something that I always had to safe for and even then, to stick to my budget with myself I was usually only able to get you one of the things on your list.”
Budgeting and saving money are difficult no matter what for! If you are saving for a car, a trip, an engagement ring, or your five-year old’s birthday party. It is a task all to itself, but one worth doing! I have learned so many things about budgeting and party planning just from trial and error. Party planning has become a past time of mine that I love doing. For any party I plan on throwing sit down and make a list, supplies, people invited, food, cake, and of course cost. By sticking to this method, I have rarely ever gone over budget. I have even found a few costs friendly and helpful app’s that I have used in the past. Goodbudget and YNAB: Budgeting & Finance are two of my favorites! Budgeting yourself is no walk in the park, don’t get me wrong. But it can go a long way! Being able to earn and safe money is a learned skill that not everyone ca do, but it can go a long way if you know how to do it!
