Throwing A Baby Shower On A Budget

If you need to throw a baby shower for a friend but don't have a lot of money at your disposal, then the following tips for throwing a baby shower on a budget may be just what you need for a fun and memorable occasion for the new mother to be.

There are a lot of things that you can do to reduce the overall costs of throwing a shower. We'll cover a few of the important ones here.

First, when looking for shower supplies, search local discount party stores and wholesale party supply companies. Also consider looking into wholesale mail order party supplies both online and offline as you may find good prices that aren't available locally. Some basic supplies can be found at "dollar" stores and other local discount stores selling miscellaneous goods. Another place to get great, inexpensive shower supplies would be from a yard or garage sale. Some people may think, "why buy used?" Give it a little thought, people impulse buy and have left over items they never use. You can purchase lots of "new" items from a yard sale for a fraction of the cost! Another suggestion, check your local "Craigslist" or freecycle group. Same concept applies! You can find other people excess of party supplies among other things.

Another tip for throwing a baby shower on a budget is making sure you get the invitations for the best price. Doing the invitations yourself or with the help of a tech-and-design-savvy friend is often a good option, as long as the results don't look amateur. Some of the best baby shower invitations are DIY ones, so don't dismiss this option! You can prepare these invitations in a photo 4x6 format, take it to your local Walgreen's or Wal-Mart and have each one printed for less than 20 cents each and look professional!

The third and final tip for today is to make sure you know how many people are coming. This can be done by simply communicating with the guests and/or trying to get everyone to RSVP as soon as possible so that you know well ahead of time who is and isn't coming (and therefore know what supplies you do and don't need.)

There are more ways to save money on a baby shower than I'm covering here today, but the above tips are a good start and will hopefully help get you thinking on the right track for an inexpensive but wonderful shower for the new mom to be.