Raise your hand if you love buying holiday decorations! It’s so hard to resist all the adorable Easter stuff. If you’re not careful that bunny will come and eat up all your hard-earned dollars before you even know what happened. Let’s avoid that together, shall we? In this post I’m going to share 7 tips to save money on Easter. 

7 TIPS TO SAVE MONEY ON EASTER

The most important part of reigning in the Easter spending is to make an Easter budget. Actually write down exactly what you need and how much you want to spend. Having a plan on paper where you can see it makes it much easier to follow. 

Track your spending as you go. A plastic egg here and a cute outfit there and all of a sudden you’ve spent your entire budget.

Be intentional. Track all of your Easter spending. And stick to the budget you set.

Here are some more tips for spending less on Easter.

REUSE, REUSE, REUSE

Do not buy a thing before you check out what you have from last year!

Pull out your old Easter things from the basement, the attic, the garage, or anywhere else that you keep your holiday stuff.

Go through it all. Make a little list for yourself of what you already have that you can use again.

Especially, reuse the same Easter baskets every year! Make them part of your tradition.

And don’t buy any kind of decoration that you can’t reuse for years to come.

DIY YOUR BASKETS

While we’re talking about Easter baskets, PLEASE do not pay a premium for pre-stuffed baskets! It’s super easy to stuff them yourself.

The pre-stuffed baskets cost so much more to be done for you and be wrapped in cellophane.

Save that extra money. Use the same baskets from the year before (see tip #1) and fill them with inexpensive treats.

Here is a great post with 10 ways to save money  on your Easter baskets.

DIY YOUR EGGS

Coloring Easter eggs is part of the fun of the holiday. It shouldn’t cost a fortune.

Eggs are cheap, but stores do tend to up the price of eggs the week of Easter so be sure to buy your eggs a week ahead of time.

If you’re buying a lot of eggs, consider visiting a warehouse store.

In my area, Costco always has the best deal on eggs. We actually buy our eggs at Costco on a regular basis because we go through them so quickly in my house. My husband really loves eggs. True story.

You can even make your own egg dye.

Instead of buying those egg dye kits, you can make your own egg dye with vinegar, food coloring and water.

Or you could even use kitchen scraps to make egg dye!

Here is a complete tutorial on how to make egg dye with food.

CUT THE GIFTS

It isn’t Christmas, friends. You do not need to buy your kids a ton of gifts.

Instead of buying lots of Easter gifts for the kids, center your celebration on doing fun things together.

Crafts, games, egg hunts. There are so many fun possibilities that your children won’t even be thinking about gifts.

Here is a complete tutorial on how to make egg dye with food.

GO HUNTING

Host an Easter egg hunt instead of an Easter lunch.

This will be way more affordable (not to mention more fun!) than having to feed every guest a meal.

Grab those plastic eggs from the dollar store. You can get cheap, fun egg fillers while you’re there too.

And fill those plastic eggs with only ONE thing.

One piece of candy. One little dollar store toy (from a pack of 6 or 8 that you got for a dollar – party favors work well for this). Or one coin.

You don’t need to be using whole dollars, friends. If you want to do some money eggs give the children at your hunt a chance to practice their math skills and use change.

Here is a guide to organizing the best Easter egg hunt ever.

PARTY WITH A POTLUCK

If you have your heart set on hosting an Easter meal, make it a potluck.

You can cook the ham (or whatever the main dish generally is for your family) and let everyone else bring a side dish or a dessert.

You can assign each guest with a dish or let them decide on their own.

Chances are your guest will love the opportunity to bring something.

This will drastically cut down on your grocery spending and your stress in the kitchen.

Here are some must-read tips for planning the perfect potluck.

DRESS FOR LESS

Instead of buying fancy brand-new Easter outfits, accept those hand-me-downs that your friend’s child wore that one time on Easter.

If you don’t have a friend like that, you can put together so nice clothes that your child already has.

If you absolutely need to buy an outfit, head directly to your local thrift store.

Do not pay full price for a one-use outfit that your child will outgrow by summer.

SAVE FOR NEXT YEAR, TOO

When Easter is over stock up for next year!

Right after the holiday, stores will sell their leftover merchandise at a deep discount.

Make a list of what you’re going to need and then go find it for a massive discount during the after holiday sales.

HAPPY EASTER TO YOUR WALLET

Now you are armed with the tips you need to save money on Easter this year.

Start by setting a written budget for the holiday. Make sure you reuse the things you already have. Make your own Easter baskets and Easter eggs. Focus on fun instead of gifts. Host an egg hunt or a potluck instead of a fancy sit-down meal. Skip the expensive outfits. And don’t forget to stock up for next year after the holiday. Happy Easter! 

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Keep reading about ways to save:

25 Frugal Living Tips

How to do a Spending Freeze

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