[Kayla Buell – Ambassador]

With my first child arriving in December, there have been a lot of events recently that have been really expensive. We’re currently in the process of planning my baby shower, and in order to save a bit of money, we decided to host the party at my mom’s house. Most venues here in Miami, FL will charge almost $20/pp for lunch, so we thought we’d be able to reduce the cost of things by hosting it ourselves.

However, between the table and chair rentals, decorations, food, centerpieces, etc., it’s still pretty expensive to throw a party like this! This whole thing’s got me thinking about all the other events I’ll have in the future like her Baptism and birthday parties and I just wonder how we’ll be able to afford these celebrations! For you parents with kiddos, any advice on reducing costs for events like this? Or should I just accept that I’ll be broke forever? Thanks in advance!

[Josh Johnson – Ambassador]

I salute all you parents! Because I can’t even imagine paying for myself + a spouse and kiddos.

[CHO at KD, Inc.]

Kayla – right there with you! I have a 10 year old and 7 year old twins. We’ve had and will keep having lots of family celebrations 🙂

Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned:
– Don’t be afraid to borrow. Ask neighbors and family nearby if they have folding tables/chairs they can bring so you don’t have to rent them.
– Watch for sales at party and craft stores (Michael’s and Party City are two of our faves) and stock up on fancy paper plates and decorations when things are on sale or when you see a great coupon come out. It feels like a lot of planning to work around their promotions, but its SO worth it. This Halloween, I saved $35 on costumes just by buying the right day 🙂
– Costco is actually worth the membership fee, at least for us. Between savings on gas as well as being able to buy party food at really good discounts, it pays for itself. One example – for my 10 year old’s birthday we had to make goodie bags, right?! Ugh – that’s a whole topic in itself. Anyway – I was at Costco and they had 6 packs of EOS lip balms. 10 year old girls (and me!) love their EOS. So I bought them to inlcude in the goodie bags. It worked out to $2 per lip balm, I think. I was at Target later and each lip balm was $2.99. For the quantity I purchased, I saved $15!!
– The dollar store is also your friend! Cute decorations, doo-dads for goodie bags, etc.

Good luck and congratulations on your little one and all the exciting events to come!