Holidays are always a stressful time without the added stress of money. If you are looking to save a little money and have a frugal Easter, here are some tips from bargainbabe that will make this Easter holiday full of spending time together instead of money.
Discounted Gift Cards – Purchase discounted gift cards from websites such as giftcardrescue.com to hundreds of popular merchants, that you can in turn use to purchase the things you need to make this Easter’s handmade candies.
Homemade Candies – I’m a total foodie so I love to bake and create my own candies. I really find this fun AND it’s a great way to save. You can purchase a mold to make your own Chocolate Bunny! There’s one for only $2.06 onAmazon. This mold will last years and this one time purchase will end up being worth it. I’ve bought chocolate bunnies for $5 or more! You can also buy a mold to make many different types of chocolate Easter candies, like eggs, bunnies, ducks, and more! These are usually around $5 but if you score a deal at Michael’s or JoAnn’s fabric you may find one cheaper. I use Pinterest to find recipes and I found a great list of 50 homemade Easter candy recipes. I’m sure that for many of them you already have the ingredients lying around at home. Score!
Homemade Goodies – Candy isn’t the only item you can make at home. You can also make items like sidewalk chalk, homemade puppets, homemade finger paint, and bubbles. Most of these are made with items that can be found around the house. For bubbles, all you need is laundry detergent, sugar, and water. Also, if you have children who don’t believe in the Easter bunny you can make them together. My sisters and I are going to make some homemade treats for our four-year-old nephew.
Easter Egg Coupons – I love the idea of giving adults homemade coupons for Christmas and I also thinks it’s a great idea for Easter. You can find adorable coupons to print that your child will love. Some ideas for coupons are: Stay up late an extra 15 minutes, you get to choose dinner, free pass on chore of your choice, go somewhere with mom etc. You can use these printable Easter coupons or make your own. This is a great way to make the Easter eggs a little different…and avoid having to buy tons of candy!
Easter Basket Steals – My mom always used the same Easter baskets for us so she didn’t have to buy a new one every year. Spending the money on one Easter basket and reusing it can be a money-saver. If you really don’t want to buy a basket you can use milk containers or shoe boxes that you decorate. Another option is to make the basket a gift. You can use a pail and shovel as a basket that kids can use later at the beach. Fun!
Movies – When I was younger I was absolutely obsessed with Disney movies so every Easter my Mom would put one in my basket. She would get the videos on sale either at Walmart or online. You can do the same! Pick one movie (or other “big” toy) you know your child would love and look for a bargain. If your child is a movie lover, I already found some deals for you. Currently, I found All Dogs Go to Heaven for only $3.00 on Amazon and The Land Before Time for $5.00. This would be a fun addition to a candy filled Easter basket. You’ve got a movie night ready to go, complete with snacks.
Give Items They Need – My parents would always put staples like socks, clothing items, and as a special treat, an electric toothbrush in our baskets. These were things that they needed to buy for us anyway but turned into presents. You can find cheap socks at Target (sometimes in the $1 bin) and shop sales to find cheaper clothing items. You’d be surprised how much my nephew loves his electric toothbrush. He acts like it’s a toy! I found a cuteDisney themed toothbrush for girls for $5.91 on Ebay and free shipping!
Non-Candy Snacks – If you’re going to do an Easter egg hunt you can easily, and frugally, vary the types of treats in the eggs. You can buy items in bulk such as goldfish or trails mix that you give your kids year round. Then, you can put these items into the eggs. Not only is this cheaper but it will keep your children from having a sugar overload without feeling like they were cheated out of treats!
Stuffed Animals – You can snag small Easter Bunny stuffed animals for just $1 at the Dollar store. They usually have cute stuffed animals year round as well. Just be sure you go early in April if you’re looking for an Easter Bunny stuffed animal. If you’d like to find something even cheaper, you can check out garage sales. I’ve seen stuffed animals for as low as 25 cents.
Books – You can often find small Dover books at your local bookstore for only $1. These are high quality books that have paper dolls, activities, coloring pages, etc. You can also find them online but they are a little pricier usually around $1.75 to $3. Also, books could be a good idea for older children. If you know there’s a book they’ve been dying to read you can look on Amazon for deals or check out the books on sale at your local library. These tend to be much cheaper than buying in-store.
Dollar Store Toys – Another great Easter egg filler are dollar store toys and stickers. You can usually find bags of little toys such as dinosaurs or cars at your local Dollar Store. You can also find variety packs of stickers. For just a dollar or two you can fill up a ton of eggs.
Photo via weheartit.com