5 Tips for THE BEST Budget-friendly Inside Out Party!

This Budget-friendly Inside Out Party has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #InsideOutMovieNight #CollectiveBias

Want to guess how many times we have seen Inside Out since it came out on video? Approximately 1,395,958. Approximately. Not that I’m complaining because it’s one movie that the kids and my husband and I love. It’s witty, fun and emotional. So, we of course had to celebrate with what my daughter calls THE BEST PARTY EVER. Not going to lie…our Budget-friendly Inside Out Party was fun and yummy!

I rarely go over a budget for parties. When I do, it’s from buying key party items like apothecary jars or cake plates. I didn’t have to buy much with this party because I have a lot of things on hand, but even when I added up the price of everything I included on the table, I still would have stayed in my $160 budget. This party can easily feed 8 kids (a dozen really young ones) and they’ll leave with some cute party favors and awesome memories, as well.

So, how do I stay within budget for my parties? Follow these 5 Tips:

Plan everything, then scale it down.

I always come up with numerous ideas for parties and I narrow down the items that I absolutely must have. I knew I wanted a new apothecary jar and I wanted enough prizes to fit in the jars. I also didn’t want to make all the food because I had a tight timeline after being on vacation, so I fit premade cookies, cupcakes and donuts into the budget. Since this was a movie night party, I also needed to include Inside Out the movie in my budget. 

Find Cheap Substitutes

This doesn’t mean it has to look “Cheap.” For instance, going back to my apothecary jars…you’ve probably seen them filled with fun candy. You can definitely do that, but it can get pricey to fill a jar with color coordinating candy. One bag is around $10. I found some fun party favors at Target and spent $15 filling up three jars. For the eyeballs, I also filled it halfway with purple tissue paper. It’s colorful and I think it fit the theme even better than candy!

Don’t overdo it with the Sweets

Store bought cupcakes are not expensive, especially my mini cupcakes from Market Pantry. However, if you plan on buying a lot, it adds up. I try to buy 1 of each item for each guest and no more than that. The reason? I don’t want to end up with a bunch of food that goes to waste. Most people will not feed their child everything that is on the table. Don’t over extend your budget on food that won’t be eaten, so you can spend your budget on more fun items!

Popcorn is a great and inexpensive treat for parties. Plus, they’re adorable. To make the popcorn boxes pictured below, you’ll need:

• White popcorn boxes from Target’s Party Section
• FREE Printables, for personal use only
• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Lollipop (or ornament lollipop)
• Tissue paper
• Popcorn

Simply print out the printables on page 2. Cut out the flags with scissors, then hot glue them to the front of the box. Fill the box with tissue paper, leaving plenty of room for the popcorn. Add popcorn to the bag, then stick the lollipop in the side.

Shop Seasonal

You’re right…Inside Out is not seasonal. You can have this party all year. But sometimes seasonal items really fit the theme and they’re inexpensive because they need to sell their items in a short amount of time. Those lollipops? Christmas ornaments. So are the hanging ornaments in the backdrop. Target has some super chic and colorful Christmas decorations that worked perfectly for this party!

Try to One Stop Shop

In some cases, it’s cheaper to find everything in one place. Since I work at home, it’s more cost effective for me to go to one store and get all my shopping done at once, rather than wasting hours and gas trying to find “deals” at every store, or spending money on shipping from multiple companies. I purchased almost everything for this party at Target, including Inside Out on Blu-ray! I love that I can run in real fast, buy all my party items, then head over to the grocery section and purchase the budget-friendly Market Pantry brands. 

And bonus tip! Make your own food, if possible…like my Ridiculously EASY Inside Out Fruit Salad. It’s so easy, I’m embarrassed to let you know how simple it is…but it wouldn’t be nice if I kept this from you!

Print Recipe

Inside Out Fruit Salad

Prep Time15 mins

Total Time15 mins

Servings: 24

Author: Erin @ Strawberry Mommycakes

Ingredients

• 1 Fresh Pinapple diced
• 2 Red Delicious Apples diced
• 2 Pears diced
• 3/4 c. Purple grapes
• 1/2 c. Blueberries
• 1/4 c. Market Pantry Coconut Flakes
• 3/4 c. Market Pantry Marshmallows
• 1/2 c. Pineapple juice

Instructions

• Combine all fruit in a bowl.
• Add marshmallows and coconuts, and mix until evenly distributed.
• Pour pineapple over the mixture, and stir.
• Refrigerate for an hour, then serve in individual treat bowls.

Another bonus tip! Download my free printables…they’re free and paper is cheap, so can’t get much better than that! You’ll also want to check out my other Inside Out Printable board game…kids LOVE it!

Make sure you head over to Target to get Inside Out on DVD or Blu-ray and find more party ideas on Instagram!