Save money now

This part three of a five part series on throwing a cheap child’s birthday party. Today, I want to look at the food options. Personally, this is my favorite part of the party. I like to cook and I especially enjoy creative cooking. Food is also where I am most likely to go over budget if I’m not careful. If you are throwing your party at a pizza place, the only ways to save on food is to use coupons and handle the cake on your own. But parties at home and at parks allow you to up the wow factor without spending a ton.

Cake and Ice cream

One way to save on food is to throw an early afternoon party—the guests have already had lunch and they’ll go home before dinner. All you have to serve is cake and ice cream. The only sure-fire way I know to save on ice cream is to buy it on sale and keep it hidden in the freezer until party day.

With cake, on the other hand, it is simple to make your own. Frosting is the tricky part, but here is a tip that many home cooks are unaware of. You actually have to frost the cake twice. Place the cake in the fridge for a couple of hours once it has cooled. Then coat the entire thing in frosting. It will like have crumbs in it and will look like a rough job, that’s perfectly okay. After frosting it, return it to the fridge for another hour or so. Then, frost it a second time. This second coat of frost will go on smoothly, all the crumbs are already caught in the first coat. If you aren’t that artistic, use some dollar store toys or sprinkles to decorate it. Kids aren’t too picky as long as the cake matches the theme of the party in some way.

Pizza

If you do plan on serving a meal, pizza is the standard in kid party food. Make up a few home-made pizzas the day before the party and stick them in the fridge. Just toss them in the oven to cook on the day of the party. Another option is to make small pizza crust and pre-cook them the day before. Let the kids top them then heat and serve. Yet another way to make personal pizzas is with English muffins. Purchase them on sale or at a day-old bread store. Top with sauce, cheese and the desired topping then pop them in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. Either make these yourself or let the kids top them.

Sandwiches

Most kids love sandwiches, and they are quick and easy to make. Make a selection of PB&J, turkey and cheese, or whatever else you fancy. Cut them into triangles and arrange them attractively on a trays. A twist on this is the roll-up. Coat a tortilla with mayo then top with meat and cheese (you can also use peanut butter and jelly). Roll it up then slice the roll into 1 inch pieces. You can hold the rolls together with a toothpick if you want, but I find they stick together pretty well on their own. Arrange prettily then serve.

Hot dogs

There are few meat products cheaper than the hot dog. Kids love them and they are quick and easy to make. Serve hot dogs on a bun, if you desire, or dress them up a little bit by making pigs in a blanket. Make a batch of biscuit dough and cut into rounds. Roll out each round slightly, top with cheese, then wrap it around the hot dog, pinching the edges of the dough together to secure it. Bake at 350 F for about 10 minutes.

Hopefully these give you some great ideas for your own party. Tomorrow we’ll be looking at ways to entertain your guest for free or nearly free.

What are some of your favorite inexpensive party foods? Let me know in the comments!

For more frugal tips subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter!

Welcome to part two of the Cheap Birthdays series (or birthdays on a budget of you prefer something that sounds less miserly ). Yesterday I threw out a couple of ideas or party location. Now let’s look at some inexpensive decorating ideas, which are especially necessary if your location lacks some of the wow factor. If your child wants a theme party, try and steer them to themes such as monster trucks as opposed to Transformers. Licensed goods always cost an arm and a leg. If they insist on a specific theme, think of ways to recreate it with your printer, artistic skills and their existing toys. Also talk to other parents, they may just have that Transformers plastic tablecloth left over from a party they hosted in past.

Balloons

Kids love balloons, especially the under-five crowd. Helium can get expensive, whether you buy a ‘party-tank’ or pay someone to inflate them. If you must have helium filled balloons, consider getting enough to give each guest and the birthday child one balloon. Tie them to the chairs or use them in a centerpiece, which you later disassemble to give the guests their balloons. Another option in balloons on sticks. Blow up balloons the old-fashioned way then tape them to the end of a wooden skewer or straw. While they don’t float like helium balloons, kids still enjoy them and they are less likely to loose them outside. You can also get large bags of balloons inexpensively. Cover the floor with them and the kids won’t care if they float or not!

Streamers

Call me old-school, but nothing says let’s get this party started like colorful crepe paper streamers. A single roll is enough to decorate most rooms, but with the rolls costing around 50 cents each at party stores grab two or three theme appropriate colors. A standard design is to twist two colors of crepe together and make swags reaching from the center of the room to each corner. You can also tape a balloon to one end of crepe and tape the other end to the ceiling so the balloon dangles over the guests. You can swag it on the walls, drape it over chairs or decorate door ways with it. Streamers are the ultimate tightwad festive decoration.

Bunting

Bunting is much more attractive than streamers, but it does require more work then just plunking down some change at the store. The simplest way to may bunting is to cut small pennant-shed triangles from colorful paper with decorative-edge scissors or pinking shears. Staple the short sides of the triangles to a length of ribbon and drape the bunting around the room the same way you do streamers.

Tablecloths

You can make any room say party with a theme-appropriate table cloth. For an alien or space theme use aluminum foil to cover the table (and doors, walls, etc). Cheap sheets from the thrift store can be used with a variety of themes. Paint roads on the sheet for a car or truck party or paint castles or fairies for princess party. Another option is to use butcher paper to cover the table then present the guests with a few crayons. They can decorate the table covering themselves between actvities.

What are some ways you have decorated a party room inexpensively? Let us know in the comments!

For more frugal tips subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter!

It feels good to be back! Sorry for the lack of posting last week, I was getting my rear kicked by a cold. Hopefully the last of those cold germs protected me from all the ones I was likely exposed to at a birthday party yesterday!

Ah, yes, the child’s birthday party. It is way too easy to go overboard when celebrating the passing years. I have seen some pretty outlandish parties in my time, though. For example, renting out fancy hotel suites at a water park for several hundred dollars to celebrate a tenth birthday. A tad over the top!

There are four key components to a successful child’s party:

1. Location
2. Decorations
3. Food
4. Entertainment
5. Favors and invitations

Nail at least one or two of these and both your birthday child and their guests will have a great time. I’ll be looking at each one of these areas over the course of this week. Today I’ll start with location. You can’t have a party without a party place, after all!

Party at home

The least expensive place to have the party is at home. Keep the guest list small, a general rule is one guest per year of age, topping out at eight. There is no reason to invite the whole class, regardless of what the teacher tells you (honestly, she just doesn’t want to deal with whining. Hand out invites to the parents before or after school). I’ve found that boys usually have a core group of three or four guys they hang out with by the time they are seven or eight years old, and they are happy just inviting them. Girls usually have a larger social circle but still only have four or five close friends. If you don’t have room for a party though, you may need to move the fete somewhere else.

Visit a park

This is one of our favorite places to throw my oldest son’s parties, since he is a summer birthday. Most parks have picnic tables available, and all the entertainment is handled by the playground. Some of our local parks have splash pads, which are little water play areas, which makes them even more fun. Check with your park department, some cities require permission if you are having more than a couple families at the party.

That Pizza-loving mouse

You know who I am talking about. Big, grinning rodent that hawks pizza, arcade games and fun to our youth. Throwing a party through Chuck E Cheese and similar venues is not usually cheap, but you can save money. First, do not reserve the party and plan it through the establishment! Instead, show up early and stake out a table or two. Bring your own cake (most places allow this). Purchase pizza and drinks through the establishment, using coupons if possible. Many of these places have coupons available online. Purchase $5 to $10 in tokens and divide them out to the guests. This way, the party doesn’t cost more than $30 or so dollars, plus the tokens double as favors. If possible, plan the party for a weekday afternoon or evening—it is much less crowded.

Outside the box

Think outside the box for party establishments if you can’t have the party at home or at a park. Roller skating rinks are still around and often have inexpensive party packages. Small, kid-friendly restaurants may have inexpensive party packages, as well. Let the birthday child choose two or three guests then visit a pick-your-own farm. Your local community center or church may have a room you can rent cheaply to host the party at. Look at what is available to you locally and see if they offer party packages or group discounts.

Where are some of your favorite inexpensive party locations that are kid-friendly? Leave a note in the comments!

For more frugal tips subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter!