It's Ya Birthday! Party on a Budget

I have four kids. I am a single mama, divorced since 2007. 

Trying to come up with birthday ideas for my kids that are budget friendly that I can do on my own is tough. 

When my youngest turned thirteen this summer, I knew I had to make it special. At the time (and still to this day) I was obsessed with candy cakes....over the top cakes topped with anything you can find. I am no baker but I loved making her cake.

I opted for a simple taco bar. Easy enough, right? You cook your meats and everything else is pretty much prep. Yes, this was so easy.

This is a fabulous idea because, well, who doesn't love tacos? What kid hates candy? A win-win, right?

Right.

My kids and our guests loved it. Even though the cake fell on the back side, nothing was left. All food was eaten and we didn't know whether to pass out from food overload or be super hype from our sugar high.

This was one of my favorite parties to put together. Outside of the taco bar, we had an ice cream mini bar and the best part???? The best part was that it all cost me less than $100. I'm taking all the food, the Dollar Tree decorations and errthang....less than $100.

Tips for buying on a budget for a birthday party:

• Check out your local dollar store. 

• Dollar Stores have tons of candy for goody bags, candy bars, chips, drinks, and decorations. 

• Clearance!

• Tons of grocery stores and stores in general have clearance sections or baskets. Look at those clearance bins for candy or decorations for some awesome deals. I got all the toppings for the ice cream bar for 90 cents a bag.

• Plan a simple menu but display it in a high end fashion.

• Burgers, hotdogs, tacos, etc....display your food items on coordinating serving platters. It really makes a difference.

• Be Creative!

• Make decorations for inexpensive items.

I had hard taco shells, flour tortillas, and bags of doritoes that they could use to make their own Taco-in-a-Bag. Seriously, dudes, this was so good.