Easter on a Budget

Easter is a great time of year to get away, or to get together with family. For many of us, it’s the first chance we’ll have had since the start of the year to relax and take a break.

Unlike Christmas, which we plan and agonise over for months, it’s common for us to let Easter creep up on us a little bit. We’ve all been caught flocking from shop-to-shop on the Thursday night before the Easter Long Weekend frantically looking for any egg-shaped chocolate left in bargain bins!

Without a bit of planning, your exuberance for the season can soon translate into unforeseen and unbudgeted costs. Knowing Easter is around the corner will allow you to still enjoy the dinners with friends and family and shop for eggs, decorations and entertainment without hurting in your back pocket. (Easter Sunday is April 17th, by the way…)

Here’s how to enjoy your Easter without the biblical price tag.

Easter Savings

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The lead-up to Easter is a great time to introduce your kids to the concept of saving, if you haven’t already. Tell your kids about the fun stuff you want to do together, and ask them where they think the money will come from to do these things – you may be surprised at their answers!

If you’re planning to head to the Royal Easter Show, or another regional Show, the kids will surely want Showbags. Maybe they’ll want to give gifts to their friends at school, or to their family – chocolate or otherwise. Or you might even want to see if your kids would like to create their own Easter decorations this year. Having a planned activity like this will give you the opportunity to set a Savings Goal.

Setting a savings goal is great, because it allows kids to understand the concept of small savings contributions growing into something rewarding for them. And what’s more, once you’ve set your savings goal together, it’s the perfect time to chat about budgeting. So that your child can continue to build their savings, what will their regular contributions need to be towards the goal? How will this impact their regular income source – how much of their pocket money or first job earnings will they have to put aside each week.

You can use our handy Savings Goal Calculator and Budget Planner to track your progress, and for more great advice on helping kids understand savings, head to our SPARK learning portal.

Homemade Easter Presents

If you’re looking for ideas for presents for Easter that won’t stretch your budget, there are plenty of ways to be practically festive. We’re gonna be honest with you – your kids will be expecting some sort of chocolate – we’re not miracle workers. So, you may need to just tick that box.

But, if you’re after affordable or cheap Easter gift ideas for friends, family, or even some of your older children, here are our top picks.

Easter Egg bath bombs

Chances are after chasing their little ones around the garden on Easter Sunday looking for what the bunny left, your parent friends might need a relaxing soak. We think this simple, easy-to-make recipe might be just the ticket – all you need is some common pantry ingredients and some good essential oils. You could even make these with your kids to give out as gifts! Recipe here.

Easter Seed bombs

If Easter really is the season to represent new life and growth, then what better idea than to give your friends and family the opportunity to expand their fruit or vegetable garden with these ready-to-plant seed bombs. Made simply with paper, water, your seeds of choice and a food processor, simply pop your creations in an Egg mould and allow a few days to dry before gifting. Recipe here.

Homemade Easter Eggs

If you feel like going one step further and making your own Easter Eggs, it’s really not that difficult, or expensive.

Often, by making your own Easter Eggs, your costs can work out to be less than you’d spend on individual large eggs for each family member.

Greater Bank

Here’s how to do it:

• Choose the best quality chocolate you can afford, and try to find one with a good amount of cocoa solids.
• Purchase two egg moulds if you don’t already have some (silicone ones are easiest to use), and clean them thoroughly, then buff the insides with a cotton-wool ball.
• Melt your chocolate over a bain-marie and then temper your chocolate (if you don’t know what tempering is, a quick search on Youtube will sort you out).
• Pour some chocolate into each mould, and tip around until the inside of the mould is covered evenly.
• Pour out any excess, and repeat with the other mould, so you have even numbers of egg-halves. Chill in the fridge until hard.
• Once your eggs have chilled, remove them from the moulds. Cover a baking tray with grease-proof paper and heat in a low oven for 10 minutes.
• Once warm, remove the tray from the oven, and place two egg halves on the warm tray and grease-proof paper until the edges slightly melt.
• Press the two melted edges together, then place back in the fridge until set. Repeat this process until all your eggs are complete!

Cheap Easter Decoration Ideas

Every parent wants Easter morning to be magical for their kids, and if you plan on entertaining over the Easter weekend, it’s normal to want to decorate your home to set the mood.

Here are a few of our favourite tips to set the Easter theme without breaking your budget or having to rely on a lot f store-bought plastics.

Fairy floss egg nests

Whether you’re setting the table for Easter lunch, or setting the scene for the kids’ egg-hunt, an easy and cute way to add a festive touch is to buy some fairy floss and shape it into mini-nest shapes to place small Easter eggs in. Tip for the wise, though – wearing kitchen gloves makes this easier and less sticky.

Origami Egg Cups

Using some simple coloured paper that you may already have around the house, you can create the perfect egg-holder for your table or egg-hunt. A great one to do with kids, and super affordable. Ideas here.

Home-made Egg-hunt baskets

If you love nothing more than rampaging around the house with your little ones on Easter morning looking for eggs, what better way than to do so carrying personalised Easter Egg hunt baskets? Using either a paper bag or a craft basket – paint or colour and decorate your baskets and let your artistic side loose.

Enjoy Easter on a Budget!

Everyone has something that makes Easter a special time of year for them. As kids, we all look forward to it for the abundance of chocolate, but as adults we grow to realise that it’s a time for family, relaxation and reflection.

So, when planning your Easter this year, remember to mark the calendar, to plan your budget accordingly using our Budget Tracker Calculator, and to not worry about having to negatively impact your budget in order to make it a long-weekend to remember.

We all deserve to have a fantastic Easter, and this shouldn’t be measured by how much we spend, so regardless of your budget or your plans, we hope you enjoy yourself!