Birthday Parties! A Yearly Expense

I don’t know about the rest of you single mom’s out there but when I know one of my children’s birthday’s are coming up I start to tear up, and it’s not only because they are another year older! Birthday parties have become an expensive event. You can almost rank it up there with Christmas and it usually exceeds Easter and Halloween!

Why? After you buy all the party supplies aka: matching decorations, the present, a new outfit, party favors, food and a cake do you have anything left for entertainment? I don’t, so I try to find creative ways to bring my cost down. I have already talked about my Ohio Direction card which takes care of the food, cake and snacks. However, even with it I don’t usually have any extra every month so I must plan and budget for these things.

If you have the money to it can seem like a great idea to give store baought party favors. Where do those little toys that you can buy from Wal-Mart and other stores really end up? Mine usually end up in the trash or sometimes as bath toys for a while, because I don’t mind throwing them away.

Instead of giving cheep toys why not give something that they could actually use? A picture or a t-shirt is something they can have fun designing and keep forever. If you give a picture you could buy a cheap frame from a dollar store or make them from Popsicle sticks.Let the kids decorate them as part of the entertainment. T shirts can be bought in packs of 5 and then either written on with cloth markers or puffy paint. These materials can also be used over and over and are somewhat of an investment. Doing cheep crafts with them helps with something to do and gives them something to take home.

I also believe in using things you already have, for girl’s slumber parties, old dress up clothes and make up is an easy way for them to be entertained. Food crafts are always fun too. Have them help bake some cookies, cupcakes and then decorate them. Having a dance contest is cheep and makes for great video's that can be made into keepsakes. The winner doesn’t need to get a prize, they can get other perks, like the first to pick an outfit or get their hair and make up done. There are tons of cheep sleepover games to play with all different ages.

For summer birthday parties a trip to the park is always an A+ with my kids, the playground equipment is the entertainment and all I have to do is worry about getting the food around, the presents opened and taking good pictures!

Super Single Mom Moment: Fun is the most important ingrediant in a good Birthday Party not Money!

Photo by: Heather Camden