LIFE IS A PARTY! So let’s remember to celebrate!

June has been a HUGE month for Handsome Man and I. In one week we bought a house (more to come on that!), Handsome Man turned the big Three-Oh, and I may or may not have told a billion fibs to keep his SURPRISE PARTY a surprise. And man did it work! Friends and family came from all over to celebrate his birthday with us, and even though he is a rather stoic man at times, he was incredibly moved.

But I hear you over there, “wait, didn’t she say they just bought a HOUSE?! How did she afford to feed and party with all of those people?” Well first, I had this plan in the works for months, so preparation started early, and I had some help from my fabulous hosts (my lovely parents). Together we were able to save big, and learned how we could have save even more.

1. Venue. First, consider where this party will be. This determines a ton about the party itself; how many people are going to be invited/how many can the venue hold? Does this venue charge for food and drinks? Can you find any where that would let you host a party for free? Any friends with barns or large plots of land? We are fortunate enough that my fabulous parents were gracious enough to offer us the use of their home, yard, and pool. I think they were secretly just jazzed about having a bunch of “kids” around.
2. Decor. Does your party have a theme? Mine did not, which was helpful, however I was able to find some gold, black, and silver balloons, plates, and such on clearance at Target. Were matching place settings an absolute must for me? Nah, but when I found them on clearance I sort of said “why not?” Which brings me to balloons.
3. Balloons. Balloons are fun. The ones I got on clearance were the kind you blow up on your own, with the idea that everyone would throw them at Handsome Man when we walked in. It was not as grand as I planned but balloons are still fun so it was worth the headache I got from blowing them all up. I also got the helium balloons from the local party store, I wanted to hit up the dollar store for these but on the day I was running short on time. However I spent like $50 on like 6 balloons, which were super basic and I definitely could have gotten the exact same thing for $6 at the Dollar Tree. I also got Handsome Man an Air Swimmer, a big shark shaped balloon that you are SUPPOSED to be able to fly around drone-style. I say SUPPOSED to because it DIDN’T WORK and I was very sad. Handsome Man still liked his shark shaped balloon, and I was able to have it blown up for me at the same party store for like $10.
4. Food and DRANKS. So let’s talk about feeding a ton of people. It’s spendy. Let’s talk about providing beer, liquor, and non-alcholic drinks for everyone, dang Felicia. Our solution? We were very specific with our menu. We made one main thing that we could make in bulk, pulled pork, and then provided sides like salads, chips and salsa, and fruit/veggie trays, which we could buy in bulk also. For drinks we hit up Total Wine, which is like buying booze in bulk. Their prices are much lower than buying a bunch of 6-packs from the local liquor store. We also tried to keep our selections narrowed down, I got his favorites and few I’d heard were popular as I am not a big drinker myself.
5. Entertainment. If you are hosting a full-out rage-er, maybe you need a DJ or a whole band. We certainly did not. Yard games were the perfect, totally free, entertainment for our party.  The games we didn’t have, I reached out to friends and my brothers to bring.

All in all, we had the BEST TIME! How much we spent on everything certainly didn’t matter to anyone else, but it was reassuring to me to know that we had done pretty well at keeping costs low.

I hope this Summer your time is filled with good times and friendship. Ours certainly has been so far! Now we launch into our numerous home projects as new home-owners, and I can’t wait to share our journey with all of you!

Don’t forget to sign up to my email list to get reminders when I post new ways to save you money! Also, I am now booking clients over on my Facebook page or else you can email me here at sugarandsavings@gmail.com. Work with me personally to get yourself on a budget that WORKS!

Until next time, wishing you all sugar and savings,

Taylor