Use a free download and print your own invites.Save money on invites with the following ideas: Obviously, the guest list is up to you and your child but involving them in the budgeting process might help keep parties on the smaller side. Homemade cake (it doesn’t have to be pretty…kids don’t care).The best budget-friendly tip for saving money on food is to plan the party between traditional meal times, but here are some other ideas for inexpensive birthday party refreshments: It’s good to have a few activities planned but you don’t have to go all out when it comes to finding fun ideas. Let’s be real-it doesn’t take a lot to entertain kids. When it comes to choosing a venue, your home is often your least expensive option! However, think outside of the box for other possibilities, including: We’ve designed a free printable party planning template to do some of the heavy lifting for your next event but let’s do some budget-friendly brainstorming before you put your new event planning checklist to work: Affordable Party Venues for Kids Sure, there may be a party theme with matching party decorations and party favors, but as long as you’ve got those four main components, you’ve got the foundation for a great party that any kid could love. Venue + Activity + Refreshments + Guest list = Party Although there are a few variables, kids birthday parties generally follow a formula: That can add a little more to the budget, but you can still have some affordable fun.
Interested in entertaining resources to teach your kids about budgeting? Check out YNAB Kids ! Budget Birthday Party Ideas for KidsĪlthough we enjoy our family celebrations, our kids have also requested “friend” parties in the past. Playing party planner made the day feel even more special to them-and I snuck in an educational lesson about budgeting and making sure your spending aligns to your priorities, which is a clear parenting win. Not only did this help me stay within our budget, but my kids loved being in charge of the planning process for their big day. Another child chose to eat dinner at a sit down restaurant, so we stayed home for the activity and dessert. One child chose an expensive activity so we had dinner and dessert at home. They could choose any combination they wanted, as long as they didn’t go over $75. Then, I told my kids that they each got $75 to celebrate with our family. I also made sure to include at least one free option in each list.
Each list contained several ideas and a price next to each idea. I created three lists: an activity list, a dessert list, and a dinner list. It turned out to be a great way to teach my kids about budgeting and priorities. I ended up giving each of my kids a birthday celebration budget and full ownership over choosing how we celebrated as a family. So, since I didn’t have a time machine to sort out the birthday spacing issue in our family, I had to find another way to make the birthday party madness more manageable. So I created a birthday celebration category in my YNAB budget that I fund every month, however, I often ended up overspending from that category by the fourth birthday because celebrating birthdays-as fun as they may be-adds up quickly! Although I could have just started budgeting more, I decided to try something different last year. With four kids who have birthdays that take place within 25 days of each other (two of them actually share a birthday, and no, they’re not twins), having a plan to fund birthday celebrations was essential. Our Senior Support Manager, Melissa Barnum, has plenty of experience to share. Want to plan fun-tastic kids’ parties without breaking the bank? All you need is a plan, a budget category, and our handy-dandy birthday party planning template.