How to Throw a Fun Birthday Party on a Budget

ybgi1 August 14, 2024

0 0 8 minutes read

Do you have a little one with a birthday coming up? Read this post to learn how to throw a fun birthday party on a budget! Experience all the fun and excitement without breaking the bank!

Throwing a Birthday Party on a Budget

One of the joys of being a parent is celebrating special events and milestones with our children… and there is nothing more important to celebrate (at least from our children's perspective) than their birthdays!

Thanks to the internet, there is no shortage of good, smart, smart… again expensive ideas to show our children how much we love and appreciate them on their birthdays.

But do birthday parties really need to blow our budget so our kids know how much we care?

That's not the case!

Ask any thrifty mom, and they'll likely have plenty of ways to pull off memorable kids' birthday parties without breaking the bank.

In fact, we polled our Facebook fans for ideas, and wow, did you all come up with some amazing budget-friendly and fun ideas for a kids birthday party on a budget! Read on for tons of awesome tips and tricks!

Frugal Birthday Party Decorations

While it's fun to scroll through those party photos on Pinterest and Instagram, the truth is that it can cost a fortune… and it doesn't have to.

Instead of planning elaborate decorations, maybe start by asking your child what they would like. You might be surprised how simple their ideas are!

Here are several great birthday decorating ideas on a budget:

Use decorations you already have around your house (it doesn't have to be for birthdays).
Call the dollar store – they have tons of thrifty decor.
Check your local store ahead of time and grab some party streamers or balloons.
Borrow from a friend who recently celebrated her child's birthday.
Search Facebook Marketplace (you can find a full set of decorations for a fraction of the price).
Blow up your balloons (no balloon arches needed!).
Stick to solid colored plates and plain “happy birthday” diapers for extra use.
Buy a few standard “Happy Birthday” items and reuse them at every family birthday party.
Have your party outside and let nature be the decoration.
Create a handmade birthday banner or sign (other siblings often love to help with this).

Birthday Gifts for Toddlers

Contrary to what society tells us, there is no need to spend a lot of money on gifts to make our children feel special and loved on their birthdays. And toy clutter can add up quickly over the years.

Here are a few gifts that won't put you over the budget:

Enjoy the Gifts — Take yourself to a favorite attraction, movie, park, restaurant, or store (with you and/or a friend). The possibilities with the gifts of experience are endless.
Gift Cards — They can use some of their money and your gift card to buy something they really want.
Want, Need, Wear, Learn – Use this traditional minimalist gift guide to curb your urge to “buy everything for your baby”!
Food Gifts — Put together a basket with snacks, candy, specialty treats, and drinks they love — maybe with a small restaurant gift card to a favorite place.
Thoughtful Gifts — Buy them their favorite book and have lots of friends, family, teachers, neighbors, etc. Write them a special birthday message inside the book. Or make a movie for various relatives and friends who share a special memory together.
Gift of IOU — This is great for older kids who want to choose their own gifts — give them a budget and let them shop!
Returning — Depending on the child, you might consider asking friends and family for donations to a favorite charity and giving them in the child's name. Or you could take a group of their friends to volunteer at your local nonprofit (and maybe go out for ice cream afterward).
Dollar Store Gifts – Let them shop till they get to your dollar store. They can choose 10 items they want and pay the bill!

Check out these 145 non-toy gifts for even more great ideas on a budget!

Cutting Cake Costs

Aside from that perfect photo moment when your child is standing with a beautiful cake that you probably overpaid for, there's really no reason to need a professionally decorated cake for every birthday party.

Homemade cakes often taste better than store-bought cakes, and many children would love the opportunity to help you make and decorate their cake. You will save money and enjoy making special memories with your child. Win-win!

Another (slightly weaker) idea is to provide unfrozen cupcakes and lots of different frosting containers so the kids can decorate their cupcakes. This can work as part of the fun, too!

Or you can skip the cake altogether and make ice cream sundaes, homemade cookies, muffins and fruit, or a candy or popcorn buffet (which can double as their party favors going home).

Birthday Party Food Budget

An obvious solution to saving money on food is to limit the amount of food you serve at your event.

Choosing a time that suits the budget can be really helpful in keeping costs down, so you don't have to serve a full meal. A cake and a few munchies is often enough, especially if you plan your party outside of regular meal times (for example, 10 am or 2 pm).

You might also consider offering a signature “birthday drink” instead of serving individually packaged drinks, which can really add to your costs. Making the same punch recipe for every birthday can be something your kids look forward to year after year – and while it may be frugal, it can still look good if you add frozen fruit and serve it in a pretty bowl. (Here's a great recipe that's easy and economical).

If you want to serve a full meal, think of something that can be made ahead of time and doesn't require tons of last-minute prep work so you don't have to spend the entire party in the kitchen.

Here are a few frugal recipe ideas:

Easy Meals for 20+ People
Cheap Food for Large Groups
Recipes for a Crowd
50+ Cheap Easy Dinner Ideas

Easy Entertainment Ideas

Yes, you want their party to be full of fun, but that doesn't mean you need to spend a fortune on expensive activities or an expensive venue.

There are many budget-friendly options:

Have a house party with a few friends and lots of games.
Host a tea party for a few close friends and have simple cookies or cakes.
Meet up with friends at a local park or outdoor sports facility. Bring some birthday themed snacks and let them burn off all the sugar while they play.
If the weather is nice, put it in your yard and play kickball, wiffle ball, tag, or capture the flag.
Organize a scavenger hunt (indoor or outdoor). The items they get can be doubled as they like their team.
Have a craft table and let their imaginations run wild.
Create a “nail bar” and let them paint each other's nails.
Have a Nintendo Wii competition.
Spray paint a football, soccer ball, or baseball diamond/field in your yard and invite a bunch of kids to a game, then cake/ice cream.

The ideas for inexpensive birthday party games and activities are endless! Just do a quick Google search for “thrifty party games” and you'll find thousands.

You can be even more specific and search for “Economical birthday party games for boys/girls, age ______”.

Select Exit Party

Yes, this is a viable option!

Sure, we want our kids to feel special, but we don't have to throw a party for that to happen.

I guarantee you won't find anything in your parenting book that requires a big birthday party for every child every year.

There are MANY ways to treat your child and make them feel like a million bucks without throwing a party and without spending a fortune at all.

Here are a few fun ideas:

Have a parent-child date JUST for the birthday and let them choose what you do (within reason).
Wake them up early or let them stay up late and have a special activity planned for them.
Let them plan their birthday – the food you eat as a family, the snacks and desserts you serve, the activities you do, and the games you play. They get to “call the shots” on their special day!
Take them shopping so they can choose one gift and then go out to lunch.
Buy them their favorite drink at the grocery store or coffee shop.
Ask everyone in the family to write or say something they appreciate or appreciate about the birthday person.
Invite some cousins over and have a backyard campout — complete with a bonfire and s'mores.
Throw a party every other year, on milestone birthdays (1, 10, 16, etc.), or on their “precious birthday” (when your age coincides with the numerical day you were born).

Check out this fun, creative way to do birthdays on a bare bones budget and make your child feel extra special! I love this idea!

Birthday Party on a Budget: Top Tips!

Skip formal invitations. A simple email or text to the parents of the children you want to invite should suffice. You can use a free program like Canva to create a beautiful digital invitation and send it via email/text.

Planning ahead is important sticking to your budget. The more you can do in advance, the better off you will be. If you wait until the last minute, you will probably spend a lot of time without thinking about it.

Good attitude will go a long way in planning a frugal party. You may not end up with what you thought, but you stick to a budget and your kids probably don't care how much you spent.

Another set of hands can be a big help. Ask a friend or mother of one of the attendants to stay behind to help gather the children, serve the cake, etc. It will probably be a lot of fun for you too!

Remember that change can be difficult. If your children are used to large parties and lots of expensive gifts, it will be difficult for them to make this change. Take your time, and give them kindness – you'll all be so much happier for it.

Let your child do the planning. Depending on their age and personality, your child may be more than happy to do most of their group work. Let them contribute to the decorations, food, and party plans – this can also be an eye-opener for them to see how much some of these things cost! We've always had our kids plan their birthday parties! You can check out Kaitlynn's 13th birthday party that she threw a few years ago, and here's another fun example of a Starbucks themed birthday party that a young child planned!

There are many ways to create lasting memories together and show our children how much we love them without blowing our budget on a fancy birthday party.

So we would like to know…