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Birthdays on a Budget
Tapping Your Imagination Instead of Your Wallet
By Deborah Ng
It's expensive being a parent these days. Food, clothing, toys – and just when you think you have a handle on the expenses, your child turns another year older.
Birthday parties for preschoolers can be especially daunting. According to Diane Warner, party planner and author of several books, including Diane Warner's Great Parties on Small Budgets: Celebrations for Grownups and Kids of All Ages (New Page Books, 2002), parents feel the need to outdo the last party their child attended where the hosts might have rented a jumping castle or hired a clown. Also, says Warner, "Parents feel pressured to buy all the theme-oriented items at the party store, which includes tableware, decorations and party hats. A preschooler doesn't need an expensive party with all the 'necessary' trappings to have fun."
Rather than keep up with the Joneses, Warner says there are ways to keep expenses to a minimum.
To start, you can print invitations on a computer using clip art or even hand-print the invitations. Try using construction paper and cutting it into six or eight pieces to become a jigsaw puzzle. To further cut costs, you can even hand-deliver them.
Invitations aren't the only areas where you can save money. Renee Kaestner, of Odenton, Md., shops for goody bags, as well as their contents, at her local dollar store. But she does have one word of warning: "Don't get the bags at the party store – that's where they hook you," says Kaestner. "Prices can be double."
Warner suggests using items such as large drink cups with string handles, Chinese take-out containers, green plastic strawberry baskets woven with ribbon and even painted egg cartons to hold treats and prizes. In fact, having the young party-goers design their own favor bags helps keep down expenses in two areas: goody bags and entertainment.
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