Only Supplies You Need for a Kids Birthday Party on a Budget!

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Looking for a list of the only supplies you need for a kids birthday party on a budget? Me too! Thankfully, I have complied a list of all my favorite kids birthday party supplies that you must-have to host a birthday party on a budget and I’m going to share them with you!

This list of the only supplies you need for a kids birthday party on a budget will hopefully save you a lot of time, money, and energy when you are smack dab in the middle of planning your child’s birthday party.

Plus, a lot of these supplies you only need to buy once, and you can use over and over again!

WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?

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Feeling Overwhelmed With Party Planning?

Are you overwhelmed just thinking about your child’s upcoming birthday party? I know how you feel. Planning a birthday party is so much work!

Because I know how much work they are, I’m here to help take away some of the stress! For me, I love planning birthday parties for my kids, but just because I truly love the process, that doesn’t mean I don’t get really stressed too!

Thankfully, I’ve learned some tips and tricks over the years that makes planning a birthday party so much easier and I’m happy to share them with you! I’ve found that there are some supplies you can use year after year and customize to make them fit the theme of the party. Which not only saves money, but also time.

For the most part, party planning is hard! It can be so stressful, and it’s time consuming, especially when you are trying to plan your party on a tight budget.

Just because it’s hard work, doesn’t mean it’s not possible!

Just because planning a kids birthday party is hard, doesn't mean it's not possible! Share on X

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You Can Plan a Party The Frugal Way!

Here at Frugal Fun Mom, I think you can plan an amazing birthday party for your child the frugal way, and have tons of fun in the process! And, I’m here to help!

You CAN plan an amazing birthday party for your child the FRUGAL WAY! Share on X

Join me, as I share the only supplies you need for a kids birthday party on a budget! With this list of supplies, you can pull off an amazing birthday party that your child will love without costing you a fortune.

The best part about most of the supplies on this list is that you can use them over and over! Which means, you only need to invest in them one time! Which is a frugal mom’s dream!

Only Supplies You Need For A Kids Birthday Party on a Budget!

I’ll list out the supplies and give a short explanation of why you need each item, and the cheapest place to buy each item, as well as where to get that item online right now if you are in a pinch for time.

Things I hope you already have at home:

Scissors
Printer
Ink
Paper
Snacks – just simple stuff like pretzels, popcorn, goldfish
Tape

Supplies you need to purchase (or might already have):

Again, most of these supplies, once you purchase, you can reuse for your next party!

Drink Dispenser – so you can make flavored water with slices of fruit. No mess, very cheap! Use again and again!
Colorful Note Cards & Envelopes –use to make your own invitations. Design your invites in Canva and print and glue to a matching note card. Super cheap, easy, and fun! Plus, you can save the extra note cards for your next party!
Double Sided Tape – use for your invitations, and signs, banner, and lots of other things! Don’t get the cheap stuff – it makes a difference to get Scotch – trust me, I have a lot of experience and Scotch is much stickier and works much better!
Poster Board – use to make all your signs that you will use for decor. As well as your birthday banner. Print out the adorable birthday banner from my Instant Part Toolkit and reinforce it with posterboard. Glue each piece to poster board, cut out and string together. Super cute and easy and matches any party you have!
Ribbon – use to string your birthday banner that you made with poster board. You need at least 3/4in thick fabric ribbon in order to make sure your banner stays put on the ribbon and doesn’t slide all to the middle.
Hole Punch – use to punch holes in your birthday banner to string with ribbon. Also use to hang any other signs.
Snack Bowls – Get a plain, nuetral, solid color and then reuse for years to come! Serve your favorite snacks instead of meal to keep costs down.
Helium Tank – I love home helium tanks! Just get some coordinating balloons and fill them up right before the party. You can fill as many as you want and then save the tank for your next party!
Balloons – Use the helium tank to fill the balloons right before the party and enjoy! Pick colors to match your party or buy a bag of assorted colors and save the leftovers for your next party!
Balloon String – Use for all the balloons you just filled up with your helium tank. White is a great choice for string color because it will match any party. Buy a roll so you can save and use for all your parties. I like to store my ribbon in the same box as my helium tank so I don’t lose it!
Streamers – There is a lot of decoration you can do with streamers to make the party room look festive! The best part, streamers are so inexpensive! Get a varitey pack of colors and save them for upcoming parties.

How to Save Money on All the Supplies

If you want to save as much money as possible on party supplies, so you can spend more money on the fun, then the below ideas are a few ways you can do that.

Remember, your party can still be amazing without spending a ton of money. Your child will remember the fun, not the price. I promise!

How to Save Money On Paper Products

For paper products, I’d highly suggest going to your local Dollar Tree or Walmart.

Pick solid colors that match your party and buy them in bulk – then you can save whatever is left over for your next party.

WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?

Walmart is a great place to buy paper products in bulk. Keep in mind, you do not need to buy big plates for food and smaller plates for cake. Just get one size for all and buy the bulk size to save money. I usually buy the smaller plates because with a smaller plate, kids tend to put less food on their plates, which helps stretch your snacks even farther.

You Don’t Need Forks AND Spoons!

You don’t need forks and spoons – just pick the one that you think is best for your cake. Then, make sure to only serve snacks that you can eat with your fingers.

Also, when picking utensils from Walmart, you will notice that they have really cute fun colors in individual packages. While these are cute, you don’t have to get the colored ones!

The white forks or the white spoons will always be cheaper and you can buy them in bulk and save whatever is left over for the next party.

White matches every party and the kids will never notice that the forks are not pink. They just need a fork to eat their cake. Keep in mind, you don’t need to serve a full meal to kids, just some snacks and cake and you are good!

EXTRA SAVINGS TIP: I’ll let you in on a little secret in my house. I love the color red. We tend to have a lot of birthday parties that have red as a main color. Really, red just goes well with a lot of party themes. When I’m buying paper products for a birthday parties, I always buy red stuff in bulk and save whatever is leftover for the next party. If you have a color that you love and that you think might go with a lot party themes you might host in the future, don’t feel bad about buying those paper products in bulk at the store.

How To Save Money On Snacks

Another great way to save money is to only serve light snacks and cake. No need for a big meal. Just host your party during an non-meal time – like mid morning or afternoon. Then serve light snacks like pretzels, popcorn, and gold fish along with the cake. You can even consider only serving cake – and that is ok!

Budget Friendly Drinks

No need to buy individual drinks, instead get a large drink dispenser and serve flavored water! It’s genius and let me tell you why – it’s water, so there is no extra expense and it won’t stain.

With a bunch of kids running around In your house, I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want is a giant red Koolaid stain on my carpet.

The only thing you need to do is buy fresh fruit, slice it up, and place it in the drink dispenser filled with water, about 20 minutes before the party starts, so the flavors blend into the water.

Just make sure to pick up some matching cups, or buy a bulk package of white cups to use for this party and the next. Our favorite fruit water flavors are strawberry, lemon, kiwi-lime, orange, and blackberry. Our most favorite is strawberry! And, once you have a drink dispenser, you can use for other upcoming birthday parties or large family gatherings. We even use it for our summer bake sale to sell lemonade!

Streamers Are A Budget Friendly Decoration

Streamers are a great way to decorate with a pop of color, without spending a lot of money! All you need is tape and some streamers.

For kid birthday parties in my house, we have a pretty standard set-up with our décor. We hang streamers from all four corners of the room to the chandelier in the middle. Sometimes we even use up to 8 colors to do this!

Then we hang strips of steamers over the main doorway so all the kids have to walk through it to get to the party. We just use coordinating colors to match the party. Super cheap, but super festive!

WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?

Save Big On Balloons

Balloons always remind me of a party and I love the visual impact they make! Just pick up a bag of balloons in coordinating colors and decorate your space. I love to control how many balloons we use by filling them myself – just make sure you wait until right before the party to fill your balloons with helium – instead of the night before.

The home helium tanks don’t keep the balloons afloat as long as they do when you buy them at a party supply store. I learned this the hard way. One year, we got the party all decorated the night before, and we filled over 15 balloons with helium.

The next day, on the morning of the party, all of the balloons were laying on the floor, deflated. Make sure you fill them pretty full and you do it just before the party starts. In the long run you will save money by filling your own balloons.

Now that you have the full supply list, you may want to check out these posts for some great kids birthday party themes. My two most popular parties are my Cheerleading Party and my Hot Wheels Birthday Party. Both are fun and frugal!