Birthday party budgets?

[Luvdancink]

our daughter is turning 1 and I can’t believe how much her first birthday party is costing us! We’ve already decided to take her to Disney for her third birthday, but I thought I’d ask here, what do you guys do for birthdays with your kids?

 

[amcnj]

our daughter is turning 1 and I can’t believe how much her first birthday party is costing us! We’ve already decided to take her to Disney for her third birthday, but I thought I’d ask here, what do you guys do for birthdays with your kids?

When they were real young we just celebrated their birthdays with family. We made food, or if a lot of relatives could make it, maybe sometimes supplemented it with a tray of something from a local pizzeria/restaurant, and of course cake. As they got older then the parties with friends and classmates started too. I recall bowling, chuckie cheese, an indoor gymnastics place, a slot car racing place, an indoor soccer place, an arcade/go kart place, sleepovers, and I am sure I am forgetting some as it has been a while now.

What is making your planned party so expensive?

 

[marcyleecorgan]

1 - high chair, Mom & Dad, carrot cake (BLECH, she did not like cake)
2 - high chair, Mom & Dad, ice cream cake (BLECH cake)
3 - Mom & Dad, ice cream cake (BLECH cake again)
4 - Mom & Dad, ice cream cake (okay she ate some of it)
5 - WDW week of Fun and Family (WAYYYYYYYY too many treats)
6 - whatever she wants to do... with ice cream cake... there may be indoor swimming...

It's as expensive as you make it. We don't have a large herd of children she knows to invite... so if you have attendees, that is likely most of it And all the grandparents are vacationing somewhere warm during her birthday month of January. So it's super low-key which is nice because she just goes overboard for Christmas decor and cheer.

 

[shoney]

First bdays around here are
Big parties that cost $$$. Family and friends with dinner and drinks usually at a restaurant or catered somewhere unless summer bbq is possible. Entertainment if there are lots of kids
We had a clown with karaoke

2 and 3 were much cheaper close family parties

4 to 10 we had kid parties usually around $400 or so. Plus small
Dinner party of close family.

Then smaller things with friends as they got older.

 

[powellrj]

Posts like this make me glad my kids are grown. We did cake and ice cream with family at the park. We had a smash cake on top of the regular cake.

 

[Tinknalli]

As soon as my kids were old enough to want money I would tell them what the birthday party budget was that year and give them an option to plan a party in that budget or take the money. They always took the money. Something to think about as they get older.....

 

[ZephyrHawk]

DD only gets a party every other year (like I did when I was little).

 

[mjkacmom]

When they were little, we did home parties with family and friends. Once they were school aged, we had parties out with their friends, ranging from $15 - $20 a kid. Once they got to older elementary, they did something fun with their close friends (sleepover, ice skating, hibachi...).

 

[TwoMisfits]

It's pretty much home parties with decorations and homemade cake until they are tweens (cost $25 or less)...then, if they want, they can invite a few friends for dinner and a movie, ice skating and ice cream, or have a small home party (10 friends)...I try to keep this bill at $150 or less (at least so far), and they get 1/2 the normal birthday present budget from me (since their friends bring presents, so it all evens out)...

I only go "all out" and have to host lots of family and friends for religious ceremonies (every 3-4 years, the way my kids hit them)...and for those, I now do a prix fixe lunch at a restaurant ($20/person + tip for everything), get a bakery sheet cake ($40 or less), and then plan an optional, weather-contingent swim party with bottled water and a homemade fresh fruit tray for all those interested afterwards (thankfully all these ceremonies are once pool season opens)...the pool costs me $2/person, and it lets everyone relax and have "family" time after we do the proper "celebration" (and it gives the out of towners staying in a hotel something to do the rest of the day after the morning ceremony and lunch...

I've done this twice now, and everyone says it's exactly what they want when they come here...so I'll be continuing this one for the next few I have to do...

 

[kymom99]

We don't go all out for birthdays, but the first 2 were big. By that I mean lots of people because we invited all our siblings and their families. We didn't spend a fortune. First one was at a park where we could reserve the whole thing for something like $75. It's a gated place that you have to reserve. We had subway and pizza and a bakery cake. Second one was at my sisters house. After that we just had grandparents and my siblings plus my friend and her kids. Never went to a huge expense. When he got big enough for friends, we just had a couple kids at the bowling alley, later tag, etc. I never paid for the organized parties.

 

[colormegreen]

I have a big family. With just inviting my mom, sisters and their families we are about 25 in total. I haven’t calculated exactly how much I spend, but we do buy candy for the candy bags, cake and food, and I have a person I order Caleb pops and churros from. In addition, I do rent a jumper for the kids if I don’t have a piñata. My estimation is about $750 not including his presents. Sometimes I just want to go to skate land or something similar as it would be above the same price, but I know my family and the 2 hour limit is not enough to socialize and that includes the kids.

However, now that my oldest is eleven he wants the most up to date iPhone. He is willing to trade what I would spend on a birthday dinner for that so that’s what I’ll be doing this upcoming November. With my youngest, we have decided to just spend the four of us and do probably San Diego Zoo and Safari weekend trip come October.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

My DS is only a month old but I'm already cringing at what his first birthday will cost us. We'd normally probably do something pretty low key (cake and homemade dinner with 1 or 2 family friends since we live far from family) but with his birthday falling in early December we will likely be visiting family out of state for Thanksgiving the week before his birthday, and I know they'll want to do something, especially since it will likely be the first time most of them will meet him.

I have a very big family too (about 30 FIRST cousins- not counting all their kids) so things can get out of hand pretty quickly for these parties, and it's tough to leave anyone out without hurting feelings. The good news is that they're an easy to please, low key bunch, so some pasta and salad should be enough to satisfy everyone, and I can make that myself pretty cheap.

I already know one way we'll be cutting costs is by enlisting help of friends and family wherever we can (this is where the big family can come back to help us!) I already know my aunt will host at her home and my cousin will bake the cake(s) so that's two big expenses saved. I can go to Costco for pasta, sauce, salad ingredients, etc and probably save a good bit over ordering sandwich trays or something. I'm sure we can borrow decorations from one of my cousins from a previous party if need be. We did all of the above for our engagement party a few years back and it worked out well!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

People are a bit out of control with their first bday parties. I specifically only invited my parents so I would be able to focus my attention on the birthday baby and not on cleaning and entertaining guests. It was wonderful and never overwhelming for the child or the mama.

My older kids sometimes choose a party somewhere (usually $300 range) and other times choose an experience...ski weekend etc.

 

[Luvdancink]

It's pretty much home parties with decorations and homemade cake until they are tweens (cost $25 or less)...then, if they want, they can invite a few friends for dinner and a movie, ice skating and ice cream, or have a small home party (10 friends)...I try to keep this bill at $150 or less (at least so far), and they get 1/2 the normal birthday present budget from me (since their friends bring presents, so it all evens out)...

I only go "all out" and have to host lots of family and friends for religious ceremonies (every 3-4 years, the way my kids hit them)...and for those, I now do a prix fixe lunch at a restaurant ($20/person + tip for everything), get a bakery sheet cake ($40 or less), and then plan an optional, weather-contingent swim party with bottled water and a homemade fresh fruit tray for all those interested afterwards (thankfully all these ceremonies are once pool season opens)...the pool costs me $2/person, and it lets everyone relax and have "family" time after we do the proper "celebration" (and it gives the out of towners staying in a hotel something to do the rest of the day after the morning ceremony and lunch...

I've done this twice now, and everyone says it's exactly what they want when they come here...so I'll be continuing this one for the next few I have to do...

Jealous that the pool costs you $2 Ours is $15 ouch!

 

[Luvdancink]

We are having about 20 people with food plus first birthday outlet plus I splurged for photos ahead of time and smash cake plus decorations. I work full time and Im a full time doctoral student so I am not able to be the pintrest mom that many are expecting. Costs just seem high for a baby that wont even remember it lol

 

[TwoMisfits]

Jealous that the pool costs you $2 Ours is $15 ouch!

Yeah, it's built with our community, so we "own" it and all have to pay in every year ($275 for the summer)...it only charges for guests to make sure it has enough life guards to manage the influx (usually if you are gonna guest in 10+ people, they want notice, so they can add another guard for the day)...it's one reason we chose this town home community. They keep HOA costs low and only spend on what actually improves/keeps up the neighborhood...nothing fancy, b/c we don't have fancy money...but we do community really well...

 

[TwoMisfits]

We are having about 20 people with food plus first birthday outlet plus I splurged for photos ahead of time and smash cake plus decorations. I work full time and Im a full time doctoral student so I am not able to be the pintrest mom that many are expecting. Costs just seem high for a baby that wont even remember it lol

For future kids...an unwrapped bakery grocery cupcake with a #1 candle in it works great as a smash cake...usually you can buy those for $2 or less at the same time when you are ordering a $20-$40 sheet cake...

 

[kymom99]

For future kids...an unwrapped bakery grocery cupcake with a #1 candle in it works great as a smash cake...usually you can buy those for $2 or less at the same time when you are ordering a $20-$40 sheet cake...

Never did get into the smash cake, although it's very common around here.

 

[duffybear32830]

I've spent between 400-600 for parties between age 4-7. It does add up by the time you get invitations, cake, whatever other food, and cute decorations. Balloons alone aren't cheap (ones from the party store anyways - can always go to the dollar store though).
My recommendation for saving money is stay away from party stores and stay off of pinterest! Grocery store vs. custom cake (no one really cares)!

 

[DreamIsaWish]

I work really hard to keep parties around $150, and I've never done an at-home party. My best deal was a bounce house party for under $100 (the radio station had an auction and I won the main party for $57, then Costco cake, drinks, and $1 books from Scholastic as favors). Last year was awfully good, too. About $100 for the party at a park district nature center, plus a few snacks, a Costco cake, and favors (kites I got for 25 cents each after season). If I get juice boxes, I don't need to get cups. I try to choose party times that don't correspond with a meal time, which really helps with costs. And seven-year-olds really don't eat that much and don't care. They were happier with one giant bag of Veggie Straws and string cheese!

For a first birthday party, we took some friends to the pottery painting place. Prices have really gone up on those parties, though. I think I paid $8 per kid a decade ago, but for an upcoming party I'll be paying $14 to $18 per kid. Yikes! I know some folks will say they're too young for that kind of party but for me it was great to have it "not at my house" and even the youngest guests could finger paint (which is a keepsake the parents loved). It also gave a great activity for older siblings. Again, food was simple and geared toward the kid audience -- goldfish crackers, Cheerios, string cheese, etc.