How to Throw an Affordable Recession-era Birthday Party
The economy may be less than robust right now but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate birthdays in style. If you’re the designated party-thrower in your family, these tips will help keep costs down, while still creating a party everyone will remember:
Be Creative with the Birthday Party Theme
Why not try an unusual theme that would also be affordable for both your party guests and you? For a children’s party, the guests can bring low-cost items that would be appropriate for a homeless shelter that serves families or a local animal rescue organization. If you call the organization’s manager, you can get a list of low-cost items you can recommend to your guests. Instruct them to wrap the items as if they were regular birthday gifts and then everyone can go as a group to deliver them. Doing this would be a meaningful experience for everyone and would also teach the children the true concept of giving.
If the event is for an adult, you can help your guests save money by having a recycling/re-gifting party. Most people have at least one gift in their closets that they’ve been given but don’t want, so why not have them wrap them up and give them again? Make sure to let them know who is coming to the party though, so people don’t re-gift items they received from other party guests! If you don’t want to risk hurt feelings, this idea also works well for items that people have bought new on impulse but never used. Make sure to provide a specific dollar limit for the gifts, so people at all income levels can participate.
Make Your Own Birthday Party Decorations and Invitations
The Internet has a nice assortment of invitations for kids and adults. So why spend money on invitations from a party or stationary store when printing them at home is so easy and inexpensive? There are also a lot of birthday clipart options on the Web, many of which would make ideal party decorations. If you can find high resolution art, you can make your own banners and signs for the party. If you can’t find the right kind of clipart, you can at least use smaller art to make table place holders or to cut out and sprinkle throughout flower arrangements or plants. If you like antiques, try printing and cutting out various free printable vintage birthday cards and tie them with fancy ribbons to a string that forms a garland. This is an easy way to get a vintage feel and make the party more festive! To finish off the vintage theme, get intentionally mismatched plates, glasses and silverware at a thrift store to use in place of plastic and paper partyware.
The most important thing to remember when trying to save money on a birthday party is that you need to be creative. If you infuse style into your party plans, no one will ever know the party was actually a bargain!
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