Question for The More With Less Mom: How do I calculate food cost per month?


Question for The More With Less Mom: How do I calculate food cost per month?

This is question from Quora that I answered:

How do I calculate food cost per month?

The answer really depends on whether you are just tracking your spending, or creating a food budget.

If you are trying to track expenses, the best method is different for everyone. The easiest way is to save all of your receipts (start getting them if you don’t already) for a week and add them up at the end, then multiply by the 5 weeks in a month. This is not the most accurate method, but will give you an idea. For an accurate measurement you need to track your receipts for an entire month. Since different things will happen each week, the number will be different and you need a full month to get a good picture. Also sometimes you are “good” for the first week since you know you’re keeping track, and then relax your vigilance as time goes on and you spend more. You have to keep track of every single purchase. That one $3 coffee you buy once a week cost you $159 a year. No judgment, you are the best judge of what is worth your money, just cover everything so your total is precise. There’s nothing like going to all the trouble of working out a budget and then sabotaging yourself with untracked purchases.

If you are trying to create a monthly food budget you should start with what you are currently spending, by tracking your current purchases. A price book is a very important tool for tracking food spending. This does not need to be a big, complicated thing. I have a spreadsheet in Excel where I keep the average prices for the things I buy. I check off a box on my sheet when I make my shopping list, just print those lines, and know exactly what I will be spending when I get to the store. If you want the lazy man’s method write down what you remember eating for the last week, estimate the prices for eating out, coffees and work snacks, and ingredients for meals – search the site of a local grocery store with online prices, or use NetGrocer.com or Wegmans.com. Then add this all up. This will give you a vague idea of what you are spending. Alternatively, as before, you can start by tracking a week and then multiplying, and if you like where that gets you keep a record of things for a longer period. For one week write down everything you eat and food you buy (it’s only a week – you can do it!). This includes all meals, drinks, snacks, work lunch splurges, dinner out, etc. If you happen to be shopping you can write down the price so you have it later. You can have a separate budget line for eating out, it’s better to eat out when you want and budget for it (or decide you won’t and stick to it), than decide you’re going to cut it and then give in and go out anyways. Take your receipts, or your list, or your other tracking method, and make yourself a mini price book/list. List your ingredients and other foods and the price you paid, and add it all up. If you don’t have a price you should be able to get one online as I detailed above. Once you have your week’s worth of food you multiply it by 5 to get a month, unless you were a good doobie and kept track for the full month. Keep in mind expenses do vary month to month so even if you were meticulous about tracking it will still go up and down from that point.

I hope I answered your question!

Price List from The More With Less Mom
Download a sample price list & shopping list

Also see our Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning from The More With Less Mom
Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning

Retro woman graphic from The Graphics Fairy

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We hope you enjoyed our Question for The More With Less Mom: How do I calculate food cost per month? post



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July 2014 Real Food Monthly Meal Plan

July brings a few holidays, including the 4th of July, Teddy Bear Picnic Day, Embrace Your Geekness Day, and National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. We really don’t have a lot of plans this month, except splashing in water and hanging out outside. This is how I like it. And ice cream! Way too much ice cream. And possibly losing track of days and posting the meal plan a week late. But what is summer for if not forgetting what day it is??

July Real Food Monthly Meal Plan from The More With Less Mom

Ideas and resources for menu planning in July, many seasonal summer and real food recipes. Very simple ingredients, from scratch. As always, these are all frugal recipes intended for a tight budget. Real food/from scratch/traditional diet/nutrient dense/whole food/blah blah blah. My monthly meal plans use an alternative meal planning method, recipes organized into tiers based on how perishable the ingredients are, not sorted into particular days.

What is this REAL FOOD I keep babbling about? Real food is just home-cooked meals, from scratch. Nothing weird or super hard, just making food yourself from “real” stuff, not paying someone else to prepare something for you and add weird stuff and franken-food ingredients. You have control over exactly what goes into your family’s dinner, and your body. Good stuff, like tomatoes. And mozzarella. And dark chocolate. Lots of chocolate. But no glitter. That would be bad.
*Attention real food purists/whole foodies – the recipes I link/pin are all from scratch, but some of them you may have to make substitutions or modifications. For example, I link recipes that have sugar, but you can substitute whatever your favorite sweetener is.

*Don’t forget to read about how I meal plan at Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning!*

In this post: Seasonal Produce ~ Recipes ~ Download PDF ~ Pinterest Boards ~ Other Plans


Seasonal produce for July includes:

Vegetables

Corn
Cucumbers
Green beans
Tomatoes
Yellow squash
Zucchini

Fruits

Apricots
Blueberries
Cantaloupes
Cherries
Figs
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Strawberries
Watermelons

Epicurious Seasonal produce maps by state
CUESA Seasonal vegetables by month


Recipes from the July Meal Plan (organized by how perishable ingredients are)

Download this cute printable from Oh She Glows to keep track of what is the perishable-est

Two-thirds of these are no cook recipes. When I get sweaty my brain melts and I’m unlikely to cook. Search the Pinterest board for “no cook” to jump straight to those.

Tier 1/Most Perishable (ie avocado, cucumber, lettuce, zucchini)

Brazilian Chicken Turnovers w/ Avocado Yogurt Dip from Dinners and Dishes and Desserts
Broken Lasagna With Zucchini-Tomato Sauce from Food Network
Cauliflower Hummus Burgers with Mint Tzatziki from Oh My Veggies
Chicken and Arugula Pita Pockets from Giada De Laurentis
Chinese Noodles from Fitness Magazine
Confetti Chickpea Salad from Budget Bytes
Cucumber Avocado Tea Sandwiches With Dill & Mint from Post Punk Kitchen
Dana’s Marinated Vegetable Pasta from $5 Dinners
Fettuccine With Summer Vegetables and Goat Cheese from Food Network
Lemony Fusilli With Chicken, Zucchini and Pine Nuts from Fitness Magazine
Lemony Orzo-Veggie Salad with Chicken from Cooking Light
Mama Ghannouj (Baba Ghannouj Made With Zucchini) from Oh My Veggies
Mango-Avocado Chicken Orzo Salad from $5 Dinners
Mexican Chopped Salad with Greek Yogurt Cilantro Lime Ranch from Cooking Classy
Peruvian Ceviche from Sunset
Pesto-Peach Chicken Salad Wraps from Fitness Magazine
Roasted Zucchini and Black Bean Tostadas with Crisp Radish Relish from Cooking Light
Smorgastarta sandwich cake from Panini Happy (Saveur)
Speedy Veggie ‘n Brown Rice Noodle Bowl with Homemade Teriyaki Sauce from Oh She Glows
Sprouted Quinoa Black Bean Burgers with Pineapple Salsa from Oh My Veggies
Summer Salad with Mango, Cucumber, Avocado, and Curry Vinaigrette from Choosing Raw
Tomato, Corn, and Butter Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Chive Dressing from Choosing Raw
Ulimate Green Taco Wraps with Lentil-Walnut Taco Meat from Oh She Glows
Zucchini & Corn Panini with Pepper Jack Cheese from Oh My veggies
Zucchini “Fettucine” with Tomato Sauce from Ani’s Raw Food Essentials
Zucchini-Mushroom “Linguine” from Southern Living
Zucchini Noodles With Peanut Sauce from Post Punk Kitchen

Tier 2/Less Perishable (ie corn, spinach, tomato)

Crab, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing from Cooking Light
Fettuccine with Seared Tomatoes, Spinach, and Burrata from Cooking Light (can sub fresh mozzarella)
Heirloom Tomato, Kale and Basil Pumpkin Seed Napoleon from Choosing Raw
Marinated Kale, White Bean, and Tomato Salad from Budget Bytes
Penne with Herbs, Tomatoes, and Peas from Cooking Light
Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce from Real Food Real Deals
Simple Chickpea Salad from How Sweet Eats
Stuffed Baguette from Baking Obsession
Vegan Caprese Sandwiches with Garlic Cashew Cheese from Oh My Veggies

Tier 3/Pantry or Make It Whenever (ie cabbage, carrot)

Chilled Parsley and Pea Soup from My New Roots
Cheesy Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas from Aggie’s Kitchen
Asian Slaw with Red Chili “Peanut” Dressing from Rawmazing
Coconut Chia Fruit Salad from Laws on Wellness
Buffalo Chickpea Pitas With Ranch from Post Punk Kitchen
Chickpea Salad Sammiches from Post Punk Kitchen
Overnight, No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal From The Yummy Life

Download Free Printable PDF July Real Food Monthly Meal Plan from The More With Less Mom
Download PDF. This has the links in the order listed above. Keep in mind I don’t limit myself to particular days, so this is not in order by date. Save it to your desktop and you will always have a quick reference when you’re hunting dinner, you probably have the ingredients for Tier 3 recipes at this very moment!


Other July Real Food/Whole Food Meal Plans

Bi-Weekly Whole Food Meal Plan for July 6–19 from The Better Mom and Nourishing Home
Frugal Real Food Meal Plan from Don’t Waste the Crumbs
July Meal Plan from Letters from Sunnybrook
Real Food Grain Free Meal Plan 7/7 – 7/12 from Real Food Outlaws
Real Food Meal Plan: July 11, 2014 from Real Food Whole Life
Real Food Meal Plan Week 24 from Real Food Real Deals
Whole Foods July 2014 Menu from Once A Month Meals


July Meal Plan Pinterest Boards:

Meal Plan July (just look at all that tastiness!)

Recipes to Try Summer

Other July Real Food Pinterest Boards

July/August Seasonal Recipes from Real Food Freak
Real Food July Recipes from One Moms Autoimmune Disease Fight
Real Food Meal Plans: Summer 2014 from Real Food Whole Life


In this post: Seasonal Produce ~ Recipes ~ Download PDF ~ Pinterest Boards ~ Other Plans

*Also see our
Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning OR Free Weekly Meal Plan Printable Template from The More With Less Mom
Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning OR Weekly Meal Plan Printable Template

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We hope you enjoyed our July Real Food Monthly Menu Plan post

Photo credits:
Farmers market photo from Allen Sheffield on Flickr

We hope you enjoyed our July Real Food Monthly Meal Plan post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Favors

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Favors

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Favors

I will put extra glowsticks, pop rocks (3 for $1 at the dollar store), and ring pops (4 for $1 at the dollar store) in the goodie bags. I don’t want to spend money on junk people will toss out. But I am sorely tempted by some of the glow stuff on eBay. And I would love to include neon socks in our favor bags to let the kids do a “sock hop” dance contest with their glowing socks.

Update: There are big packs of glow sticks at WalMart, the party store, and the craft store for $10-15 for 40-50. Usually the Dollar Tree has a pack of 10 for $1, but apparently in July they only have 5 for $1. We got a big pack and some Dollar Tree ones, and the ones from the craft store glowed for much longer, and reacted to blacklight even after their glow went away.

Goodie bags

Use a potato and fluorescent paint to stamp a white lunch bag with balloons = nearly free favor bags.

Candy dots

We will make candy dots in neon colors (royal icing recipe on Real Simple)

Paper fortune cookies

We will make paper fortune cookies. (Instructions on Fiskars.) You print out some funny fortunes and make little strips. You cut out a circle of neon scrapbook paper and there’s a nifty way to fold it so it holds your fortune and looks like a cookie. You can make fortune cookies yourself, and they are awesome, but they’re much better really fresh and I doubt I will want to be in my kitchen.

Fondue favor

These little fondue favors are the best thing ever, and it’s hard to resist chocolate. From A Subtle Revelry

*Update: I got neon pipe cleaners and pony beads to distract the littles with, and they all glowed under blacklight.

Birthday Party 15th Teen Girl Glow Party

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous

Do you give favors? If so do you give one big thingamajigger or a bunch of little doodads?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party

Photo credits:
Goodie bags from Celebrations
Candy dots from Tikkido
Fortune cookies from Fiskars
Fondue favors from A Subtle Revelry
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Mustaches from
Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Favors post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Blacklight Party Time

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Blacklight Party Time

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Blacklight Party Time

As soon as the mosquitos start to come out we will go inside for cake and ice cream. A few girls will be staying overnight. We’ll bring them in for the cake ceremony while the bugs are worst, and let the tiki torches kick in.

*Update: You need 4 feet of blacklight to properly “light” a regular sized room. The party store was supposed to have a 4 foot light for $30, but of course it was out of stock. So I got two 2 foot lights for $20 each from WalMart. I also got three blacklight bulbs and put them in the ceiling fan fixture between the lights, but these made no difference when you flipped the light on and off. Most party spaces are going to be bigger and need more light. We had christmas lights in the other end of our open first floor. Also you need to block out the natural light, we put black trash bags over the windows and thought about covering the white walls too (but that was too much work).

Glow body paint

I want to make DIY glow face/body paint. (Instructions on Lightbulb Books.) You can only make one color but it’s completely safe. You can always buy glowing face paint from Amazon. (And get glowing tattoos while you’re there.)

*Update: It was hard to get this “paintable” but it did glow.

Glow in the dark slime

My daughter is dead-set on a slime fight. We will use a recipe from Growing a Jewled Rose. We will make it a little looser so it is easy to throw. The paint needs to charge in the sun, so I will need to “charge” the slime and then they need to have their slime fight before the glow wears off. Glow in the dark paint is $2 a bottle at my Walmart, or see it on Amazon.

Glowing chalk

You can make chalk that will react to black light. You use a highlighter to make glow water, and then soak chalk in it. (Instructions on Growing a Jeweled Rose.) I thought the teens might like to write on the road (and not get hit by cars). But if you don’t have a handheld black light you won’t be able to see it (see one on Amazon).

As the evening winds down we will use the browser on the computer to listen to a custom music station on Pandora, and watch anime on the Netflix channel on the Wii.

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous ~ Next: Favors

What’s the bestest blacklight party trick have you seen?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party

Photo credits:
Glow body paint from Lightbulb Books
Glow slime from Glowing a Jeweled Rose
Glowing chalk from Growing a Jeweled Rose
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Goodie bags from
Celebrations
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Blacklight Party Time post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Summer Party Time

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Summer Party Time

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Summer Party Time

Our party will start in the afternoon, hopefully on a glorious July weekend, rather than a melting one. We will invite a crowd of both boys and girls. I know teens are most likely going to be cell phone zombies most of the time, but I figure if I feed them enough sugar and have enough temptation strewn about the place, they might get off their butts and have some fun.

A couple special friends will arrive a little early and sleep over. We will use glow-in-the dark puff paint ($2 a bottle at my Walmart or see it on Amazon) to decorate white tshirts.

Glowing nails

We also plan to mix nail polish and a glow stick to make glowing nails (instructions on Family Frugal Fun), but you can’t do this early (the glow fades over time as usual) so we’ll see if they want to do this with the boys around.

We will set up the laptop outside so they can listen to fun music on Pandora outside.

Of course we will have water balloons.

Party fans

Early on we will have fans made from cardstock or posterboard and craft sticks. I will use neon paper and probably cut out black Batman symbols (and surprise her, she wants to be Batman when she grows up). These will be out in the middle of the day to help beat the heat.

Outdoor Activity Games

Blanket Ball: Use a blanket like a parachute to bounce a ball and keep track of how many you can do before it falls off. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Flying Disk Tic-Tac-Toe: Tape a grid on a tarp or sheet and mark Xs and Os on frisbees. More info: Better Homes & Gardens

Lawn Twister: Spray paint circles on the lawn and make a cardboard indicator for homemade Twister. More info: DIY Showoff

Sponge ball

We will make sponge balls to help cool off. If I can make enough glow water (with glow stick innards) to fill the kiddie pool we can even have a nighttime glow sponge-ball fight.

Games for teens

Anytime Snowballs: Fill pantyhose with flour to make snowballs! More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Footsie Pop: Tie a balloon to your foot and try to pop other people’s balloons without losing your own. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Forbidden Letters: Pick a letter the guests cannot use. A questioner asks people questions trying to slip them up. More info: eHow

Gift Grab: You need some small, wrapped gifts. Guests pick gifts. Then guests can steal gifts. The ones at the end get to keep them. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Head Pop: Hang some balloons outside. Attach a pin to a hat, and guests have to pop the balloons with their (hatted) head. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Mystery Balloon Pinata: Fill balloons with a variety of gooey things, candy, and treats. Guests pop a balloon and “get” whatever is inside. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Pass the Peanut: Put a spoon handle in your mouth and use it to pass a peanut. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Spin-A-Dare: Like spin the bottle but whoever gets the bottle has to pull a dare from a hat. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Also check out my “safe” truth of dares for tweens
Safe Truth-or-Dare Game Questions and Dares for younger girls/tweens

Steal the Stickers: Steal stickers from other guests backs without getting caught. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

Tshirt Relay: Guests hold hands. The first one puts on a huge tshirt, and they must pass it to the next person in line without letting go. More info: eHow

Whipped Bubble Gum: Put a piece of bubble gum on a plate and cover with whipped cream. Guests must use only their mouth to dig out the gum and be the first to blow a bubble. More info: Fun Stuff To Do

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous ~ Next: Blacklight Party Time

How do you keep guests comfortable for those summer fun parties?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party

Photo credits:
Fans from Better Homes and Gardens
Glowing nail polish from Family Frugal Fun
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Goodie bags from
Celebrations
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco
Sponge ball from It’s Overflowing

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Summer Party Time post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Real Food

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Real Food

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Food

Almost all of the food can be made ahead. I want to be essentially ready a full day ahead of time. Too many things can go wrong at the last minute. I like to make real food, but I am not above resorting to the dollar store for a bag of chips if I run out of time. This is another reason to plan ahead. As with our decorations, we are saving money by making this ourselves, but paying in time.

We will have a fruit platter, grapes, cheese, crackers, hot dogs, and burgers.

Ice balloons

We will freeze water in balloons (water balloons are too thin and will break, use regular ones). These will help keep drinks cold and the big chunks will take longer to melt than ice cubes. Balloon ice from Babblings and More

Glow salad

I will make this glow salad from Hubpages, we’ll see if the teens will take any.

Pasta salad

I will make this delicious pasta salad from Bowl of Delicious.Definitely go with a vinegar-based pasta salad over mayo.

Neon deviled eggs

You can have neon deviled eggs, the trick is to hard boil them and then dye the peeled, nakey eggs. Like these from Katina Dyer on Pinterest. Real food deviled eggs from 100 Days of Real Food.

Kale chips

Kale chips are super easy, from EatingWell

Sweet potato chips

Sweet potato chips are super tasty, from She Wears Many Hats

Cheesy crackers

I may wimp out on the Sprouted Cheddar Crackers, I always forget to start them (or continue my sprout babies). But I can sub regular flour.

Trail mix bar

We will have a trail mix bar like this one from Dollar Store Mom

Snack cones

Make a cone with a square of neon scrapbook paper for a container for snacks like popcorn, such as these from Hostess with the Mostess. Cover a cereal box with paper and poke holes in it to hold them upright. Add washi tape for a pop of color.

Gummy stars

We will make “healthy” gummy stars from Mommypotamus in my skull silicone mold. You can get molds at the dollar store, or get a skull one like this from Amazon.

Glow jello

We will use tonic water to make glow jello from Learn Play Imagine (I know the glow water jello looks awesome, but it’s not edible). Use the real food jello recipe from Holistic Squid, substitute some tonic water, and add a little honey.

Glowing cotton candy

You can make diy glow cotton candy. Roll a piece of white paper in a cone and stick a glow stick in it, or just use a glow stick. You can get bagged cotton candy from the dollar store or party store, but I don’t know if this will stretch enough for the cotton candy to glow, just the stick. I don’t think you can make “real food” cotton candy, although I have seen maple syrup cotton candy, and I doubt making it from scratch improves the nutritional value. But cotton candy is fun, and if you have a maker at home you know it takes like 1 teaspoon of sugar to make a big poof. You don’t have to have a machine to make it yourself.

Brownies

Brownies from Health Home & Happiness are gluten free and real food

Neon marshmallows

We will make these fabulous neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco. Please note, you have to use gel food coloring to color candy melts. Use this recipe from An Organic Wife for “real” marshmallows.

Neon Macaroons

We will bake these darling neon macaroons from Domestic Charm (not real food, but from scratch, tasty food). You could try the real food recipe from Use Real Butter

Neon whoopie pies

My daughter is spastic about these neon whoopie pies from Orange Cardamom. I haven’t decided if I’m going to try to dip them to make them glow like my cupcakes. These are from scratch, but do have ingredients like flour and sugar; you can substitute your preferred ingredients, or make your favorite “healthy” chocolate cake and frosting and diy it.

*Update: These were really good, but I had to let the frosting sit in the fridge for a while before I could spread it thick enough.

Smores bites

S’mores bites are bound to be a hit, and these aren’t even horrible for you, from Self. You should be able to get whole grain rice krispies. Use the real food fluff recipe from An Organic Wife. Make your own graham crackers with this recipe from Real Fit Real Food Mom

*Update: These were the best things we made!

Neon cupcakes

We will make neon tie-dye cupcakes. (Instructions on Pie with Sparkles.) Kitchen Stewardship has two real food cake recipes you can try, and edit to your dietary preferences, since you just need to add dye and layer the batters for the tie dye effect. Or try this cake from Granny’s Vital Vittles and substitute some of the water for tonic water. White cake is better than yellow for bright colors.

Glowing frosting

I will frost them with white buttercream frosting and use this dip technique from Food Snots to make them glow in the dark. Tonic water will make them glow but tastes terrible, so you have to find a good balance and I think this will work. This recipe from Modern Alternative Mama is a real food buttercream that you could try substituting the water for tonic water, but you may need to sweeten it more, and the frosting itself does not look white and may not glow as much, but since you’re coating it with a jello dip that will glow it should still look good.

Punch

This nummy “real food” punch from Real Food for Life is easy-peasy

*Update: Bonus! I mixed this punch with seltzer and told the littles it was soda, they felt included.

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous ~ Next: Summer Party Time

Do you stick with real food and healthy choices for parties, or do you go hog wild?

More With Less Mom

Participated in Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Fat Tuesday Forager Festival, Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party Hop, Thank Goodness It’s Monday, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Natural Living Monday, Real Food Wednesday, and Unprocessed Fridays

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party

Photo credits:
Balloon ice from Babblings and More
Brownies from Health Home & Happiness
Cheddar crackers from Mommypotamus
Glow cotton candy from Wedding Chicks
Glowing cupcakes from Food Snots
Glow jello from Learn Play Imagine
Glow salad from Hubpages
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Goodie bags from
Celebrations
Gummy stars from Mommypotamus
Neon deviled eggs from Katina Dyer on Pinterest
Kale Chips from EatingWell
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon cupcakes from Pie with Sparkles
Neon macaroons from Domestic Charm
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco
Neon whoopie pies from Orange Cardamom
Pasta Salad from Bowl of Delicious
Popcorn cones from Hostess with the Mostess
Punch from Real Food for Life
Trail mix bar from Dollar Store Mom
S’mores bites from Self
Sweet potato chips from She Wears Many Hats

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Real Food post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Decorations

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Decorations

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Decorations

Most of the decorations will be ready to hang about a week (hopefully more) in advance. Many will actually be hung the day before. We are saving money doing it ourselves, but we are paying in the time it takes to make them

Tiered trays

Spray paint silver trays and candlesticks and adhere to make tiered trays like these from Joy’s Hope. I will paint them in colors that will go with her room so she can use them after. (Note: not food safe once you spray paint them)

Spiral ceiling decoration

Cut a spiral from neon posterboard for a super cheap ceiling decoration, from Alpha Mom. If I have time I will paint the edges with fluorescent paint.

*Update: Neon posterboard was the cheapest decoration ever. One piece makes multiple ceiling spirals, and glows nicely under blacklight.

We will get some helium balloons from the dollar store to put on the mailbox, since we live in the boonies and GPS dumps you far, far away from my house (but on the right road).

Glowing balloons

My Walmart has a helium tank and balloons for sale for $21 (see it on Amazon but don’t buy it here, the shipping is killer), and if I did that I would get mini glowsticks (see it on Amazon) to put in there for diy glow balloons (instructions from DIY Projects Journal.)

Tissue paper pompoms

We will make fabulous tissue paper pompoms (instructions from Martha Stewart).

Neon tray

I will create a tray like this one from Style Me Pretty with a clear plate from the dollar store and washi tape. I won’t worry about the tape being on top since it’s not for regular use, and I’ll probably use it for something else later, like holding kiddie hair bows.

Paper rosettes

We plan to make neon paper rosettes. I like these because they look good during the day and glow in the blacklight. You accordion fold three of pieces paper, and stick the sides together. Once you have a full ring, you smoosh it down so it is flat and you have a rosette. (Instructions from Broke Ass Bride.) In the photo they used gold paper doilies to make layers and I think that adds a nice touch.

Birthday banner

We will make a loverly birthday banner like this one. I think I will use white cardstock paper, since it should react to blacklight, and paint the letters with fluorescent paint ($2 a bottle at my Walmart). I have some purple zebra ribbon that will make an appearance here.

Party doorway

I have a separation between the kitchen and living room, way too big to be a doorway. But I would like to do something like this with neon streamers and balloons. I want to make it shorter in the middle so there actually is a kind of doorway.

Bowl backdrop

Use cheapo neon disposable bowls to make a backdrop like this one from Simply Creative Insanity.

Postit backdrop

Fold postits to form another neon backdrop like this one from Simply Creative Insanity

*Update: The postits I got glowed, and the highlighters I got were good for drawing on neon posterboard, white tshirts, and apparently teens.

Hanging streamers

Use an embroidery hoop (around $1 in the craft section), or strong craft wire, and neon streamers to make the spiffy ceiling decor from Rebekah-Lynn.

Glow lanterns

After dark we will make glow lanterns (instructions on The Gold Jellybean). You put a piece of white tulle in your jar. Cut up some glowsticks (3? 6? 8?) and squeeze the goo into your jar, then shake shake shake it. You can’t make these ahead since the glow wears off.

*Glowstick alert! Normally the dollar store has tubes of 10 glow sticks for a dollar. In July they only have packs of 5. The party store might be a better bet.

Photo backdrop

On my covered porch I will make a photo backdrop like this one from Celebrations. I can get sheer curtains for free from the swap shop in town. I already have some battery-powered led lights from eBay (there is no shortage of fairy lights in this house), or get them off Amazon.

Mustache photo props

I will make mustache photo props with neon paper and leave them out there (like these from Made + Remade).

Straws with washi tape flags

Wrap straws with neon washi tape for a pop of color (like this from Con Botas de Agua), or buy glow in the dark straws (from Amazon).

Washi tape bunting

I will make tiny bunting with washi tape to decorate my cupcakes, like this from Con Botas de Agua.

Duct tape wrapped water bottles

I will wrap water bottles with pretty duct tape like these from The Frugal Girls, one roll of duct tape should do about 20-40 bottles, depending on the size roll you get. If you try the paper covers I would wrap them with packing tape. The paper gets soggy and ends up on the lawn or your floor.

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous ~ Next: Food

What has been your most successful DIY decoration?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party

Photo credits:
Birthday banner from Confetti Mama on Etsy
Doorway from Getting Some Fun Out of Life
Glowing balloons from DIY Projects Journal
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Goodie bags from
Celebrations
Hanging streamers from Rebekah-Lynn
Light backdrop from Celebrations
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon bowl backdrop from Simply Creative Insanity
Neon lucite tray from Style Me Pretty
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco
Neon rosettes from The Pugmires
Postit backdrop from Simply Creative Insanity
Spiral streamers from Alpha Mom
Tiered trays from Joy’s Hope
Tissue paper pompom from PomTree on Etsy
Washi tape bunting from Con Botas de Agua
Washi tape straw flags from Con Botas de Agua
Water bottles from The Frugal Girls

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday (on a tight budget) – Decorations post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday – Free Printable Neon Invitations

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Free Printable Neon Invitations

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Invitations (Free Printable PDF!)

Free Printable Neon Invitations

Because I love you guys, I made a free printable invitation to fit our glow party theme. I made these very versatile. They could be for a neon party, 80s, blacklight, rollerskating rink, glow-in-the-dark mini golf, graduation, pool party, dance party/rave…

I made one version the “classic” neon on black, you need a silver or light gel pen to write on these (a couple of dollars at my Walmart, or Amazon). The other version has a white box with black text, so you can use a regular pen or more closely match your theme colors.

These are set up to be postcard sized, four per page with no margins. You may have to make it a little smaller if your printer can’t handle the current margins. These will fit in the greeting card envelopes you can get at Walmart 50 for $3 (or Amazon, I always keep these around the house for mailing cousins little activities and things).

I put some extra lines in there that you can pretend are decorations, or you can use to add more information. For example, I would put “Glow party – wear white” on the first blank line. Then “Linda’s Birthday” on the For line. The when may take two lines with both a time and date, and the where may take two lines if you need to put the full address. The RSVP can be your phone or facebook email. The last line can be extra instructions like “wear white,” or “bring a bathing suit,” or be the url for your Facebook event.

The color I named the file refers to the text on the invite, ie the black one has black text and a white box to make it more readable.

Download Printable Invitations PDF

Free Printable Neon Invitations white text
Download (dark background)

Free Printable Neon Invitations black text
Download (light background)

Editable Printable Invitations Word Doc (.docx)

You asked, and I listened! I finally dug up my originals for the glow party invitations, and have created an editable version for you.

Free Printable Neon Invitations black text
Download (light background)

Bonus: Facebook Event cover photos

Click to open the full image, then right-click to Save. Note: Be careful how you set up privacy for your Facebook events, especially if you have addresses and phone numbers in there.

Facebook Event cover photo black text
Download (Dark text)

Facebook Event cover photo white text
Download (light text)

In this series: DIY Glow Party ~ Invitations ~ Decorations ~ Food ~ Summer Party Time ~ Blacklight Party Time ~ Favors

Previous ~ Next: Decorations

See more in the full series:
Glow Party Teen Birthday Rave
DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday Rave (on a tight budget)

Hello my beautiful pinners!

What was your favorite DIY invitation?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party OR
Free Weekly Meal Plan Printable Template from The More With Less Mom
*Also see our Weekly Meal Plan Printable Template

Shared with Chain Linky Climb, Click and Chat Link Up Party, Thrifty Thursday

Photo credits:
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean/a>
Goodie bags from
Celebrations
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday – Free Printable Neon Invitations post

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DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday Rave (on a tight budget)

My little geekling, Kid #2 turns 15 in July. She wanted to have a glow party/rave for her birthday bash. This summer party will be fun and frugal, as I try to stick to a tight budget.

Glow Party Teen Birthday Rave

Doing a glow party on the cheap is a struggle. There is a minimum you have to spend on the black lights if you don’t know someone you can borrow them from. And there are lots of glowey things on eBay that look like a ton of fun, just pay attention to what actually glows in the dark, what is just neon and might not glow at all, and what reacts to black light.

Before you start buying stuff, you need a little blacklight to test things for a reaction to uv light. You can get a little blacklight flashlight off of eBay for a couple of bucks, but then you have to wait for it to come from the far reaches of the orient. There is a 6″ handheld blacklight on Amazon for $6. My Walmart did not have anything like this. You want to have this with you when you shop for decorations so you can make sure things will glow, and check what you already have in the house for a reaction.

In order for any party to be frugal you must fit it closely to your lifestyle and situation. You can host a large gathering and end up spending hundreds on your party, while you were careful and strictly frugal. If you are a stay-at-home mom with lots of time you may be able to make everything from scratch (how many people know a stay-at-home mom with lots of free time??), or if you’re a single parent with no time you may need to decide where it is better to invest in an item instead of sacrificing your precious time. Being frugal does not mean not spending money, it means spending your money wisely.

In this series: DIY Glow Party
Invitations
Decorations
Food
Summer Party Time
Blacklight Party Time
Favors

Next: Invitations

What’s your best tip for sticking to a tight birthday party budget?

More With Less Mom

Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party
Also see my Tween Girl Rock Star / Spa Night Birthday Sleepover Party OR
Free printable - Eat Dessert First from The More With Less Mom
Eat Dessert First 80s flair kitchen printable

Shared with Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Best of the Weekend Paty, Busy Monday, Chain Linky Climb, Craft Frenzy Friday, Creative Collection Linky, Flaunt It Friday, Freedom Fridays, Friday Frenzy, Inspire Me Monday, Life Lately, Lou Lou Girls Linky, Motivation Monday, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, The Party Bunch, Say G’Day Saturday, Social Media Mixer, T.G.I.F. Linky Party, Turn It Up Tuesdays, Weekend No Rules Blog Hop, Weekends Are Fun Blog Hop, Weekly Wrap Up, and Welcome Party Wednesday

Photo credits:
Glowstick lanterns from The Gold Jellybean
Goodie bags from Celebrations
Mustaches from Tree Town Paper on Etsy
Neon marshmallows from Sugar Loco

We hope you enjoyed our DIY Glow Party Teen Birthday Rave (on a tight budget) post