Easter is coming up and I am kind of dreading the whole Easter basket purchase. If you are not careful you can end up spending way too much on these! As a mom of 4 children I am trying to budget and keep the cost really low this year – in fact I was hoping to spend around $5 per basket. Not sure if it’s possible or not, but I would love to keep that budget.
So I was hoping you all could please share some ideas on how you save money on Easter Baskets?
I always buy the non perishable gifts on sale, after Easter and keep it in a box until the following year Easter. I do that also for all the other evens like Valentine’s, Christmas etc. I keep the boxes in the attic and it makes it so much easier and cheaper.
I have 3 children. I got tired of all the waste, sugar and disregard for what we were truly celebrating… so, using a basket I already have, I fill it with some shredded paper and a bag (I don’t open the bags because we have a problem with sugar ants) of jelly beans and a bag of malted eggs and a video or something else small. There is a big age gap with my kids so maybe this year we’ll have a Skylander for the 2 younger and a gift card to Target for the older. We do an egg hunt at church so we don’t do it at home.
Like everyone else said, I reuse baskets/sand buckets/plastic eggs each year. I don’t like the plastic easter grass so I skip that. I also reuse the easter themed stuffed animals; once the kids are done playing with them, I scoop them up and hide them in my gift closet for the next year! I also shop all year for small things so that I have them on hand whether it is for an easter basket or christmas stocking. The last thing I do to save money is shop for those things my kids need for the summer like swimming suits, sandles/crocs and sunglasses and the end of the last season and then save them for this year. I am going to be buying those things anyway, so I give them as a gift to fill the basket.
Baskets are very cheap at thrift stores watch the blogs for free candy.
Karrie the regular green grass is priced at .28 a bag at the Richland WalMart.Also,if you go to the Goodwill they usually have baskets.We have learned that buckets (sand) make great easter baskets.The kids can use them all summer if they’re younger.I put homemade easter bunny,flower,chicks,egg frosted sugar cookies in them.A bag of jelly beans goes a long way.I usually buy them at under a dollar.Balloons,bubbles,chalk are all fairly inexpensive.I found some little stuffed animals at WalMart also for .97.Have fun and remember one of the most fun things for the kids are coloring easter eggs and hunting them!! 🙂
We use things in my toy stock plus bathroom stock pile for hair goodies. Then a run to the dollar store for items like note tablets, puzzles, pencils, bubble bath and stickers.
I reuse basket, eggs, grass too. I get tons of $1 stuff from the dollar store or Target (playdough, stickers, sunglasses). This year I already have everything for baskets and I spend very little. I also got candy from rite aid with the bogo and got reeses eggs and cadbury mini eggs. I decided to join Disney movie club cause I got 5 dvds for $1 and free shipping (even buying the 2 at regular price-but I just paid for the promo so far- I get each movie for $7 or under so everyone is getting one movie in their basket).
I reuse most of the basket items also. I buy the left overs valentine walmart deals. They always have packages of little heart soaps and bath stuff. After to take it out of the v-day packaging you can’t tell it was from another holliday. I try to save one bigger toy item from the xmax deals to put in the middle. The dollar stores sell the clear wrap and ribbon to finish it up.
Goodwill has really inexpensive stuffed animals. Most of them look brand new too, so your kids would never know. Most of the time they are $0.50-$1.00 each
I made garden baskets one year and since yuo are planning a garden this year it might work out for you. Gloves, seeds, watering can tools and dirt. Of course I also put candy in there as well.
YEAH, WE REUSE ALL THE EGGS, GRASS, AND BASKETS YEAR TO YEAR. MY MAIN SECRET TO SPENDING VERY LITTLE IS USING STUFF FROM MY STOCKPILE! IT ALWAYS CONTAINS CANDY AND I KEEP A BIRTHDAY BOX WITH RANDOM CLEARANCED TOYS FOR THAT LAST MINUTE SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY-SO IUSUALLY HAVE TOYS ON HAND AS WELL:)
You know, come to think of it I do have some toys I stocked up on during clearance events. I will go look and add them to the basket. I wish I would have saved my baskets, but I let the kids play with them after Easter and they always get destroyed. I should start saving all the grass and eggs! 🙂 Great ideas you guys, thanks so much. Also I think I will go and get some inexpensive candy with all these great sales at stores right now.
I try to purchase things that come in multiples and divide among my children. We also reuse certain plastic eggs each year for each child. (Each child has a theme like sports, animals, etc. so their plastic eggs match) Then we aren’t repurchasing those kinds of things.