Birthdays on a Budget: Roundup of Savings Ideas

By Carol Band

Don’t just blow out the candles and wish that you could save money. Here’s a roundup of penny-pinching party ideas that can add up to big bucks:

If the party is at home …

• Embrace technology. Check out the Web for free e-vites, printable decorations and banners.

• Shrink the guest list. Keep the guest list small and the budget will follow.

• Keep it real. Use real plates instead of disposables, or opt for generic paper products that you can decorate yourself instead of those with copyrighted (and expensive) characters.

• Play outside. Consider having the party at a local park or playground and play whiffle ball, kickball or capture the flag; hire a teenager or enlist an older sibling to help keep the chaos under control. “For my son’s seventh birthday, we had a pirate party at the beach,” says Mary Horgan. “There was no charge to park because we went late in the afternoon.”

• Employ your guests. As they arrive, recruit party guests to make paper chains to string around the room or create a mural that supports the birthday party theme.

• Be on the lookout for bargains. Shop at discount stores for after-holiday sales on streamers, balloons and paper goods.

• Recycle and reuse. Use colorful wrapping paper instead of buying a tablecloth; recycle gift bags as goody bags. Look around your own house with a fresh eye. Do you have a bedspread that would make a perfect tent for a jungle party? Are there bathtub toys that could top the cake? Don’t forget to save the hardly-used candles for the next party.

"My daughter had a 'Christmas in July' birthday," mom Chris Tomlinson says. "We already had everything. I just dug all of our decorations out of the attic."

• Smash the expense out of your piñata. You don’t have to shell out perfectly good money for a piñata that will be ransacked by 7-year-old boys with baseball bats. Make your own – without the mess of papier-mâché: fill a paper grocery bag with goodies, roll the top few inches down and staple. Decorate the filled bag with tissue paper and streamers. (Sanity Tip: Instead of filling the piñata with loose candy, put the treats in small individual plastic bags inside the piñata. Now, each child gets a bag with the exact same amount of candy and trinkets. No hogging!