Help - 9yo birthday ‘stuff / ideas’ on a budget!

[Disorganisedfish]

Not a begging thread just to put it out there - my son is generally very fortunate and will have 1 main present to open which is already purchased.

I normally go massively OTT for birthdays, but this year money is incredibly tight and my sons birthday is next week and I have zero other presents apart from the main gift. I have approx £50 ish to spend, but I need to get cake etc out of that too.

What can I get that looks big / is lots to unwrap but is cheap? Any ideas on how I can make it special when it is just me and him (single parent)

My ideas so far are balloons all over the living room floor to walk down into - but that’s all I have.

Help?!

What is he in to and what space do you have? If he likes nerf can you set up cardboard box targets in the garden or a t-shirt painting station if that's more his thing? Own sleeping bag and dvds and popcorn for a film night on the sofa? I think my boy would have liked hitting pinatas with a plastic light sabre at that age.

Fill a huge cardboard box full of ballons and wrap it up? I've done this for my kids and they absolutely loved it!!
Maybe wrap a Nerf gun up and he could shoot the ballons 😁

I'm sure you're DS will be happy with whatever he gets, mine just had her 8th birthday and we spent £100 on everything including cake and party food.

The favourite gifts were a (secondhand) bike, a "Draw with Rob" book - if he likes art i'd highly recommend we did the videos on YouTube as part of Home Learning but the book is great, and Tesco Jenga which have been used mostly as building blocks instead 🤨

We did the balloons on the floor which went down well, a badge to wear to school, rainbow cake was £12 from M&S and she chose a party buffet for dinner!

We put up a couple of banners and cheap bits for her coming from school too as a surprise with bubble wands and a YouTube playlist to dance too. She said it was the best birthday ever!

Balloons are a good start, don’t do expensive helium balloons if money’s tight. Maybe turn it into a treasure hunt for him to find the presents. Or the Russian doll thing, giant box, smaller box etc... Aldi crisp boxes are great, I’m always grabbing them for my DCs to use to play with. Or instead of unwrapping lots of boxes, as wrapping paper costs, maybe use one big box and fill it with crumpled paper, ask around for anyone with old tissue or other paper they are getting rid of. Or if you have a friend with toddlers and ball pit balls, fill it full of those for him to find his gifts in. Have upbeat music playing when he comes into the room, lights off, see if b&m have any disco light bulbs and get some glow sticks or glow in the dark face paint to have a mini rave.

As for gifts, check marketplace for anything decent on sale, or even ask your local gifting sites. Dont be afraid to ask. I get lots of gifting sites, my DCs know this and don’t care, we regift when out grown. I suppose it all depends what he’s into, I have girls and they are easily pleased with cheap notebooks, pens, anything that sparkles, makeup etc... maybe look at books, I’ve bought some good Harry Potter ones in asda, books on spells, marauders map book. If he likes Lego may be look at some of the Lego books. Check sports shops for any sale items.

Could you make a cake, far cheaper. If it’s just the 2 of you would be be happy making it with you and decorating it? It’s a lot cheaper to just buy some cheap non branded cake mixes, I think I pain 35p in Morrison’s, buying all the ingredients to bake from scratch can be expensive. YouTube is fantastic for tutorials. You don’t need fancy tools, use your hands for fondant or a knife for butter cream icings. Also use existing toys you have at home for decorations.

Good luck x

eBay are good for printed hoodies (Roblox, minecraft or whatever he is into), The Works online do great discounted book bundles (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson), also craft bundles if he likes making stuff. Smyths toys has some chemistry sets for under a tenner, offers on POP figurines. Amazon have some good stuff too: Air craft modelling kits, origami, rubix cube game, build your own robot kits.

Good luck, I was in the same boat at Xmas!

Look at mini fridges in Argos. Loads of bargains to be had (around £20) they only fit a couple of cans inside. Quite a novelty gift but big enough box and impressive for a 9 year old 😏

What does he like? The Works is excellent for books on a budget plus art/craft things and science type sets and construction toys, puzzles, board games, things like Rubix Cubes. They have offers like 3 books for £5, 2 for £5 gifts, 2 for £10 gifts(you can order online).
Don't waste your money on balloons. If I was 9 I would much rather want a £1 bar of chocolate than a £1 bag of balloons.
£50 is plenty of you have already bought the 'main' present. A cake is a few quid from the supermarket. Candles etc buy from a Poundland. You could probably get the cake plus the candles, birthday banner etc for less than £10 all together. That's £40 left. That can get you loads.

Infact you could probably even do a basic cake, candles and a banner for less than a fiver.

Fleece onesie.

A onesie is a great idea, big but not expensive. A browse through any discounted Lego on Amazon? Bulk buy of books? Big stationery set? My 9 year old would enjoy all of these? He also loved a big fleece blanket he got for Xmas and a cushion shaped like an emoji poo. I don’t know where these came from but don’t think they were expensive.

If he likes chocolate cake, buy Betty Crocker chocolate devils food cake mix and Betty Crocker icing. The cake is absolutely delicious. Betty Crocker chocolate fudge icing. Both are £2 each in Tesco. My 8 year old says it's the best cake ever! Put a Cadbury's dairy milk bar chunks on the top in a pattern!

I second the works for gifts definitely. We always get gifts to go with the main present from there. Also, if you have a Tesco or Asda that sells books/toys, worth looking there too.

Make up some smaller hampers with cheap items eg

Bath hamper - bubble bath, a flannel, bath bomb, a bottle of lynx.

Sweet hamper

Or a theme eg fortnight, or minecraft.

Wrap a box in wrapping paper, items can be bought cheaply from pound shops and you can display it nicely.

@Bugbeau

A onesie is a great idea, big but not expensive. A browse through any discounted Lego on Amazon? Bulk buy of books? Big stationery set? My 9 year old would enjoy all of these? He also loved a big fleece blanket he got for Xmas and a cushion shaped like an emoji poo. I don’t know where these came from but don’t think they were expensive.

Fleece onesie was suggested by the MN Hive mind last year when I forgot about DS’s until 2 days beforehand.

Decorations wise look at home bargains- 29p for a banner, huge inflatable happy birthday balloon thing £3.99. Tons of balloons everywhere, cost under a fiver but will look amazing!!! Cake wise if it is just you two, cupcakes?

What are his likes? Lego / minecraft? You could pick up a couple of T-shirts (roblox / minecraft) Asda has some good value ones at the moment. some craft things from the works?

Totally do-able for under £50. At his age he won’t know how much you’ve spent but will remember the fuss made, balloons, banners, party food tea? That’s all the bits that matter.

Also will he get anything from grandparents : family / friends? This also adds to the present pool.

The amazon fake oodies kids size around £20 and have gone down a storm as presents for my DC and relatives. We go for 'boss of the day' as a birthday treat and it's the DC favourite part, they decide what we eat, where we go, what movie we watch etc - oddly they never picked anything that costs too much.