How I Make Birthday’s Special Frugally

Looking for birthday traditions that don’t break the bank? Today I am sharing how I make birthday’s special frugally.

Growing up we never had elaborate birthday celebrations, but I can just about remember every single year. My mom knew how to make each birthday special without spending hundreds of dollars or going into debt for the perfect gift. She’s inspired me in many areas of my life, but most definitely in my frugality. Mom knew how to take a little and make it spectacular. She knew how to make birthday’s special frugally.

When our first little one was born (17 years ago!!) I knew that I wanted to have a small family party. Fortunately for me, that was long before the days of Pinterest telling us how elaborate birthday parties must be. I threw together a few small things, invited our family and close friends, and thus began my frugal birthday celebrations. I have three simple traditions that we follow each and every year. The kids always look forward to them, and I do too.

Our three simple traditions

Decorate their bedroom door

I decorate the birthday kid’s bedroom door while they’re sleeping the night before their birthday. This is my favorite. One year I taped a clear table cover (from Dollar Tree) about 3/4 way up his door frame, blew up 30 or 40 balloons and shoved them between the closed bedroom door and the plastic table cover. When he opened his bedroom door on the morning of his birthday he was showered in balloons and had to bust through the clear table cover. That was a fun one. You can be as creative as you’d like with these, and that is why I love them. I try to personalize them each year for each child. If you have an exceptionally large family, most dollar stores sell decorative door kits. All you’d have to do is open the packaging and put it up. So easy!

Birthday pancakes

We all love birthday pancakes. I go the whole nine yards and add birthday candles and everything. The birthday kid usually gets sprinkles, and a sash or a badge to wear proudly as they eat their birthday feast. This started when Eli was 2, and he loved it so much that he asked for it for the next birthday. It became a tradition 15 years ago!

Small family party

Every year we have a small party for each child with just our family. They get to pick their favorite meal, and the whole family comes over to enjoy it with us. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just a good meal shared with our family. Of course, there are gifts given, and games played. It’s a lot of fun. We usually give the option for the birthday child to have a day with friends playing or doing something fun, but we don’t make it a party. Usually, they just have a couple of friends over to do what kids like to do. 🙂 Keeping the party small tremendously helps keep birthday’s special frugally.

Ways to Keep Birthday’s Special Frugally

• Set a budget
• Combine birthday celebrations if you have a large family or birthdays close together
• Bake and decorate your own cake.
• Reuse decorations and keep it generic
• Use a public space to keep the party costs down

I am a firm believer that things don’t have to be expensive to be special. Truthfully, I feel like the most memorable experiences are the ones someone puts a lot of thought and effort behind, not just spent a bunch of money on.

I’d love to know how you keep birthdays special while being frugal.

As always, thanks so much for spending a tiny part of your day with me!

Here’s an image to pin for later…