How I Threw The Easiest Birthday Party For My Daughter

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We celebrated our youngest daughter, Melanie’s birthday recently...and I spent almost DOUBLE what I normally spend on my kids’ parties...so I wanted to share what I bought + why.

First of all, let me clarify, I didn’t “go over budget” because I simply set my budget higher than I normally would. Back when we were in debt I’d spend $50-$100 on a party and a week home-making everything possible! Then when we became debt-free the party budgets went up to more like $150-$175 (including food + a gift). Buuuttt my baby turned 4, and this could potentially be my last at-home-birthday party (my other girls’ last ones were 4 + 5)...sooo I justified a higher budget + the convenience of less home-made stuff for my sanity’s sake.

So, Mel had a Minnie Mouse themed party + we spent $276 total.
Here’s how we spent it…

Decorations + Activities

$2 Banner

$1 Table Cloth

$0.67 Poster Board

$2 Balloons (the rest were gifted by my mom)

$17 Air Pump

(gifted) Bubble Machine

$2 Bubbles

$1 Minnie Mouse Cup to hold Utensils

(owned) Minnie Mouse Coloring Pages + Crayons

(big sister made) Pinata

$17 Mel’s Party outfit

$139 Bounce House (this was my justified splurge)

Food

$5 Pinata Candy

$2 Chips (also used 2 leftover bags from camping)

$3 Dip (2 ct)

$4 Cookies (24 ct)

$2 Mini Donuts

(had) Fruit Rolls (gifted from Grammy)

$13 Cupcakes (24 ct)

$5 Tiny Cake

$5 Ice Cream

$28 Little Caesars Pizza (5)

$5 Case of Water

$2 Lemonade

$7 2 Cases of Soda

(gifted) Ice (from Grammy again)

Tableware + Such

$5 Plates

$2 Forks + Spoons

$3 Cups

$1 Napkins

$2 Candles

(borrowed) 2 Chips Bowls (from my sister)

(borrowed) Extra chairs (from my sister)

Total = $276
(yes, I rounded)

$139 Bounce House
$81 Food (and we had about $15-$20 worth of leftovers)
$56 Everything Else

Takeaways…

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This was probably the easiest party I’ve ever thrown! We bought all of the snacks + drinks in our regular weekly Walmart Grocery Pickup...super easy. Then the day before Mel and I got all of the baked goodies from the Walmart Bakery...simple and not super expensive. I ordered Pizza online a few days before + scheduled the pick time 30 mins before the party so my mom could grab them on her way over, as well as the ice (lesson: ask people for help).

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Balloons were the main decorations...my mom gifted us a ginormous bag of balloons so I ran with that and YouTubed how to make a balloon garland (it was simple), bought a small air pump on Amazon, grabbed $2 worth of Black + White balloons from Walmart, and blew up roughly 6 dozen balloons in a half-hour.

I took a cheap piece of poster board and drew some Minnie Mouse-related designs (bows, hearts, etc) with colored pencils I already had, and taped them onto the balloons to enhance the theme.

I called in more favors and borrowed some serving bowls, extra chairs, and a table from my sister (free and easy). My mom gifted us a small bubble machine a few weeks before, which I quickly hid so it wouldn’t get broken before the party, I grabbed 2 big bottles of bubbles from Dollar Tree, and it was the cheapest, most entertaining thing EVER!

And the cherry on top of the party…we brought out our BlueTooth speaker to play some JoJo Siwa + Taylor Swift…don’t ever underestimate the fun that music will add.

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How I could have made this party cheaper…

For my parties in the past I would have homemade all of the cookies, cakes, and regular food. I’ve totally used $1 cake mix instead of a store bought cake, served hot dogs or sandwiches instead of pizza, and opted for iced tea + tap water instead of sodas + bottled water. Little changes like this could easily save you $40-$50. I also used to home-make all of the decorations saving a few more dollars. And I’d skip the cutesy plates + napkins, and just go with regular disposals, saving another $5.

Plus, I DEFINITELY wouldn’t have splurged for a $139 bounce house back when we were in debt, and I guarantee you that the kids still would have had fun running around the backyard with just the bubble machine + music.

Taking all of those changes into account this party could have easily been done for around $80-$100.

Final thoughts…

I don’t at all regret spending extra money on this party. Intentional Living + Budgeting don’t always have to mean going the cheapest route possible. Sometimes it means intentionally spending more than you would have in the past for the sake of sanity, convenience, or just plain-ol “my baby is turning 4 blues”. However much you decide to spend on a birthday party, make sure that you set the money aside in your budget so it doesn’t hurt your long-term goals.

There are different answers for different seasons of life. Sometimes it makes sense to DIY the crap out of everything and throw a $50 party to save money, and other times it makes since to go the convenient route and throw a $200 party to save sanity. Whichever way to choose to go with your parties, just make sure you’re doing it intentionally...with your heart + your money in the right place.

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HEY I'M SAMI WOMACK

I'm the wife to my high school sweetheart, Daniel, + homeschooling momma to our 3 girls. I'm the Budgeting Coach + Motivational Speaker behind 
A Sunny Side Up Life.

My family used to be in $490k of debt + living paycheck-to-paycheck, but after we hit rock bottom everything changed for us!

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