We all know the economy isn’t great right now but that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate birthdays in style. If you need to create a birthday party for someone you love, these money-saving tips will help you watch your checkbook, while still allowing you to create an event no one will forget:

Get Creative When Planning the Birthday Party Theme

Why not try something different, like a theme that would also be affordable for both your guests and you? If you’re giving a children’s party, you can ask all the guests to bring inexpensive presents suitable to give to a local animal rescue organization or family homeless shelter. If you call the organization in advance, you can compile a list of low-cost items that can be included with the invitations you send to your guests. Instruct them to wrap the items as if they were regular birthday gifts and then the entire party can meet at the organization to deliver them. Doing this would be a meaningful experience for everyone and would also teach the children the true concept of giving.

If the event is for an adult, you can help your guests save money by having a recycling/re-gifting party. Most people can locate at least one gift they’ve received that they don’t want, so why not have them wrap them up and give them again? Make sure to let them know who is coming to the party though, so people don’t re-gift items they received from other party guests! If you don’t want to risk hurt feelings, people can just bring impulse purchases they made but have never used. Make sure to provide a specific dollar limit for the items, so people at all income levels can participate.

Make Your Own Birthday Party Decorations and Invitations

The Web is full of a great selection of free invitations for both adults and kids. So why spend money on invitations from a specialty store when you can print them at home for just the cost of card stock and ink? There are also a lot of birthday clip art options online, which make ideal party decorations. If you can find high resolution art, you can make your own banners and signs for the party. If not, you can at least use smaller art to make table place holders or to cut out and sprinkle throughout flower arrangements or plants. If the guest of honor likes vintage art, try printing and cutting out various free vintage birthday cards and attaching them to a string that you drape around the room or the cake table. This is an easy way to get a vintage feel and make the party more festive! To finish off the antique theme, get intentionally mismatched plates, glasses and silverware at a thrift store to use in place of plastic and paper partyware.

The most important thing to remember when trying to save money on a birthday party is that you need to be creative. If you implement even the most low-cost ideas with style, no one will ever know the party was actually a bargain!