Easter For Under $50

Spring for a Cheaper Easter

While more than half of the 81% of people who celebrate Easter acknowledge its religious roots, at the end of the day this Holiday can be fun for everyone. Easter is often symbolic for the start of warmer weather, colorful plants coming back to life, and more daylight hours. After being cooped up all Winter, it's a welcome change to be outside in the garden or taking long walks in the park.

The amount spent on Easter has only increased since 2014. In fact, consumers have spent an additional $1 billion dollars each year- rising from $15.9 billion (2014) to an anticipated $18.4 billion this year. As of 2016, the average amount spent annually. on Easter food, clothes and supplies/decorations was $225.43--a lot of money for one day!

If you're far from able to commit that kind of money to this occasion but don't want to let the kids down, there are ways to cut that number in half.

Easter Candy

$2.1 billion dollars is spent annually on Easter candy alone, 70% of which is chocolate. An amazing 190 million pounds of candy can be expected to sell each year. The only question is when are you buying yours, and are you spending too much?

When to buy

You can save as much as 50% on a bag of candy if you shop at the right time. It may be too late now, but next year make an effort to start picking up candy right after Valentine's Day. Research shows that your chances of scoring discounted sweets are best after a high volume candy event like February 14th. The only catch is you may have to settle for hearts on the wrappers instead of bunnies and eggs.

If you're concerned about keeping the chocolate for a couple months before it will be consumed, throw it in the refrigerator or freezer. If you store it in the fridge, wrap it tightly in plastic, so it doesn't absorb the odors of whatever else is in there. Milk chocolate has a shelf life of one year, and dark chocolate even longer than that so a cool, dry place out of the sun or any artificial light should work just fine. Don't forget where you put it!

Keep an eye out for deals right before Easter. For example, Target is selling a package of 4 PEEPS for $1, with a buy 3 get one free deal. For $3 you can walk away with 12 PEEPS! They have similar deals on Sour Patch Easter Bunnies, SweetTart Easter Chicks, Ducks & Bunnies, and more!

Limit the sweets you give

The average amount spent on Easter candy per person is around $30. Decide to limit the amount of sweets you include and offset it with small, cheap trinkets or homemade treats like cookies. Avoid candy with festive packaging, as it will be more expensive than the every-day kind.

What are you always throwing away after Easter? Spend money on the candy that your loved ones are sure actually to eat and enjoy; leave the filler on the shelf. Savings can come in all amounts, big or small!

Fun fact: The amount of chocolate purchased and consumed by Americans over special occasions like Easter, Halloween and Christmas was predicted to decrease between 2012 and 2017 by 9% due to concerns related to obesity. However, it is clear that sales have done anything but. From 2009 to 2014 sales rose 24%, amounting to $21 million. By 2019, revenues are expected to hit $25 million.

Easter Egg Decorating

In 2015, 180 million eggs were expected to be sold for dyeing and decorating. Fortunately, it doesn't cost too much to do and there are a variety of ways to enjoy this crafty tradition.

Dyeing kits are cheap

A quick search shows that the classic PAAS Friends Egg Decorating Kit is only $4.89. Assuming you already have vinegar in your house and aren't buying organic eggs that usually cost $5+, you will spend less than $10 all told. Most kits come with extra ways to decorate like stickers or wax pencils, so there's no need to pick up extra materials.

Don't buy a thing

Use household items to give your eggs some color this year. Nearly every household with children already has markers. Keep it cheap and simple by merely drawing your designs on the white or brown eggs.

Other folks have used temporary tattoos, chalkboard paint/chalk and even colored paper and glue! The options are endless and won't take much from the wallet.

Also, there are several ways to dye eggs without a traditional dye kit. Check to see if you have Cool Whip or even shaving cream as well as basic food color. In just a couple steps, you can have beautiful marbled eggs.

Keep in mind, good shaving cream can run you anywhere between $7-20, so you may want to consider the cost of replacing the item before you use it for egg dye! It's also not considered as safe as using whipped cream. Just look at the ingredients in shaving cream and assume that some, if not all of those may make its way through the eggshell. This is a non-issue if you don't plan on eating them, but frugal folks will want to get every penny out of their eggs after Easter festivities.

Get the most out of it

As long as you used safe-to-consume materials and didn't have them out sitting too long, the newly decorated eggs may still be edible even with a dyed shell. Make up some egg salad or snack on the hard-boiled eggs after the holiday.

If you don't want to make egg decorating an annual tradition, but hate the thought of losing the festive decor next year, blow out the eggsprior to dying/decorating. Store them in a safe place. For the price of one dozen eggs and one dye kit you can have decorative eggs for years to come!

Fun Fact: Ever wonder why egg decorating is a thing around Easter? As a symbol of new life, Eggs were often associated with pagan festivals and various Spring celebrations. Now, many families use this tradition as a way to get everyone together to do something seasonal and fun- whether they apply the religious and historical context to it or not.

Easter Egg Hunts

Don't let the complexity or the cost discourage you from setting an egg hunt up. Party City has 48 colorful, fillable plastic eggs for just $3.99! Don't go overboard with the items you put inside to ensure smart spending. With a little effort and careful planning a fun, frugal activity for all is well within reach.

The bigger the better

Want to spend less than $10 to throw a great egg hunt for your kid and their friends? Get the neighborhood or town involved! Assign each family one or two components to take charge of depending on how many children they have participating. The more families that join in, the less any one person will need to spend to give their children a good time. It's a great opportunity to connect with neighbors, and give the entire event more space! There are many free services like SignUpGeniusthat will make coordinating this easier.

It is in these instances where buying in bulk will make all the difference. Sites like Oriental Trading sell 150 toys and trinkets fit for filling Easter eggs for $30 ; Candy Crate sells 250 pieces of candy for $25. For $55 you have enough to fill over 400 plastic eggs (another $33 based on $3.99/48 at Party City. You could have a lot of happy children for under $90 - split it multiple ways and you may not even have to pay $10. Hopefully, you won't need 400 eggs, and the amount spent will be even less.

If spending money is a problem altogether, offer to fill the eggs and hide them, so those that purchased materials don't need to do anything else.

Substitutions are your best friend

Whether we're talking large or small scale egg hunt- you can take some creative liberties with what is inside the eggs. One way to offset spending is to create "coupons" on notebook paper; "this is good for 1 hour of extra TV" or "Get out of 1 chore free", for example.

With enough creative substitutions you could eliminate the need to spend that $30 on the bag of trinkets and toys, and nobody would bat an eye.

Easter Baskets

The most exciting part of Easter for a child can be a basket full of treats--but it's not always as fun for the 87% of parents who give them since it can get expensive quickly, particularly with a $25 pre-filled basket.