3 girls. This means 3 birthday parties a year to plan, organize and pay for. We better get this party planning business down now because before you know it we will be planning the “big party” (AKA weddings).

Since Steve and I are saving now for the future weddings and college educations and of course the new kitchen counters I have needed for the last 10 years, Chloe’s party was on a pretty tight budget.

Instead of looking at the fact we did not have a lot of funds for the party and feeling limited, we decided to see how awesome of a party we could do with as little money as possible.

22 children. That is the class size in the SF Public school district. We were looking at about 22 kids, potential siblings, parents, family and friends. About 50 guests.

Here is how we did it:

Invitations for the class. Walgreens, $15. Evites for the rest of the family and friends.

We reserved a park site in Mountain Lake Park in SF. See earlier blog post New Discovery. The reservation cost for the day was $27.00. The site we got was a covered area with 6 tables.

For goody bags, streamers, balloons and plates we went to the Dollar Store. Tons of stuff for $28.00.

Next stop–Party City Piñata $19.99, cupcake making supplies $18.00, huge bag of candy $9.99. All in all, $51.15.

Safeway was next for more cupcake ingredients $25

I sent Steve into the Mission District Saturday afternoon to get the ingredients for the guacamole. Lucky for him and the kids they also got to stop by Bi-Rite Creamery for some super yummy ice cream too! Guacamole ingredients- $12

Sunday Morning: Steve dropped the girls and I off at the park site where we cleaned up a bit and decorated. He went to Costco and got 4 large pizzas, a veggie tray, chips and drinks. $65

Instead of a jump house which seems to be at every birthday nowadays, we opted for classic field games. A water balloon toss, wheelbarrow race, egg on the spoon race, etc. The winner got a dollar. Some of the parents took part in the fun too. The supplies for the races were about $10.

Part of making this party fun and stress free was good planning. Friday I made a list of all things that needed to get done and by when. I left as little as possible for Sunday so the day would feel relaxed and not rushed.

It was great to have organized games, but also a lot of run around time at the park for the kids in between. It was a really happy time. It cost $233.15 total.

 

 

Cupcake and guacamole recipes will be coming soon!