This is what I did for my daughters 10th birthday party. I actually started planning in January, but she and I have been talking about it for a few months. Since this is such an important b-day double digits and all. We decided on a sleep over with 6 of her closest friends and a family party the next day. So here are some of my tips: shop clearance, simple is better, and have everthing possible done ahead of time, so you can sit back and enjoy too. I got a mystery party game for $5 (so the girls can act their part at the party) and 7 puzzles at $3 each (party favors).  So for $26, are party was underway. We got decorations, plates, napkins and cups at the $1 store. We bought cookies(they’re cheeper to make, but we ran out of time and needed them for the mystery game), ordered pizza (I ordered 4 pizzas and 2 orders of bread sticks $50, but next time 2 pizzas store bought and bake them myself to safe money so tops it will cost $20. Live and learn.) The girls had a  tea party with their pizza. Then the  girls played a few other games we have like twister. We all ate a homemade cake with strawberry jello in it and whip cream on top.  Afterwards, they watched a movie, ate popcorn and went to sleep. (Beware they got popcorn everywhere, so don’t use butter. Spray with cooking spray and favorite popcorn topping.)  While all this was going on my friend and I played cards and kept an open ear out in case they needed us. As one of my daughter friends said “this was the best sleepover ever” not only for them, but for me too.  Now this party cost $80, but I made a mistake of over ordering pizza. So in reality the pizza they ate, decorations including plates etc…  cost $55. Note:  my family and I enjoyed the rest of the pizza later.

Lets take a step back for a minute: during the week I cleaned a little each day. So, the day of the sleepover party, I only needed to cook  and decorate. I made two dishes of baked ziti, a BLT salad (which is: bacon bits, lettuce, tomato, croutons and lite ranch dressing) a cake and cupcakes for the “family party!” The next day, we went to my father in laws for the family party, his house is more accommodating for 50 people. I reused the decorations from sleepover and baked the ziti. Hubby picked up $10 worth of soda. (On SALE!) The ziti, salads, cakes and decorations  ran approximately $40. So for under $50 we had a wonderful family party. Since everything was done prior to party and I recived help cleaning up, I got to enjoy celebrating my daughter’s big 1 - 0 birthday party. I hope your next party goes as well. Good Luck!

By: Stephanie Foster

Kids are expensive, there’s no doubt. Food, clothing, entertainment, education… it all adds up.

If you take some time to talk with them, they can also help you save money. That’s helpful at any point.

In my experience, children are very sweet about things when you talk to them about why you want to save money. My daughter at age 5 offered to start a lemonade stand when we explained about money being tight. She just really wanted to help.

The first thing you want to give your children is a reason to help you save money. You may choose to share with them a portion of what is saved. You could set a savings goal for a family vacation. You just need to figure out what will motivate them and you.

Have a family meeting to start discussing options. You want to get everyone on board with the general concepts. You probably won’t come up with every possible idea for saving money right away, but you can get the thought processes moving.

One of the great things about talking things out with kids is that sometimes they are very willing to make sacrifices. They can really surprise you, even at a young age.

Some things they should help you with will be obvious. If keeping extra lights turned off is an issue, come up with a reward system for that. It doesn’t have to be significant, perhaps just a mark on a chart that will eventually lead to something.

You may be able to compete with each other a bit too. You can each pick a habit that’s wasting a bit of money, and see who does the best at beating it. You should be sure the competition stays lighthearted, and keep encouraging your children so that there’s a good chance that they could win. Your purpose here, after all, is two fold. You want to save money but you also want your children to get a good lesson.

Another good area to explore with your children is snacking. Could they go from a more expensive snack to a cheaper and possibly healthier one? It can be done. Things like fruit snacks really aren’t that cheap.

This should lead to your kids helping you shop for bargains in the grocery store. Have them help you with the ads, figuring out which stores to visit and what to buy. Maybe even have them help with some menu planning.

Another big expense for many families comes from video games. You may want to consider renting video games rather than buying them, or talking with other families in your area about trades. Your children will probably know which of their friends have the same system and might be open for trades. Setting up workable rules can be a challenge but also a good lesson. But if things are tight enough, new games may simply have to be given up on.

Your family can probably come up with a lot more ideas to save some money. You can figure out what kind of rewards for saving money makes sense for your family, and really get everyone motivated. It’s really wonderful to be able to get some control over some of the expenses associated with raising a family.