5 Ways to celebrate Easter on a budget

With Easter approaching, it’s easy to rack up a pretty major bill while you figure out ways to keep the whole family entertained. The rising cost of living can make your go-to celebrations that little bit more expensive.

While heading to your local Easter celebration is an excellent option if you’ve got the cash, we’re here to help you find ways to enjoy Easter without splashing out. Whether you’ve got kids to entertain or you’re all grown up, we’ve got you covered!

With kids: Arts and crafts are always fun for the family! Depending on how old the kids are, you might want to take care of hard-boiling any eggs (and emptying them, if you’d like to do that). 

Either raid the craft supplies or hit up the local discount store for any decorations you might need, and get creative. Some options might include:

• Paints and paintbrushes or sponges

• Glue, glitter, feathers, and beads

• Food colouring for traditionally dyed eggs

Adults only: Turn it into an Easter-themed paint and sip! Grab your partner or some friends, put on some tunes and crack open a bottle for some Easter painting.

With kids: Make baking a family activity. We’ve already sorted you out with some fun Easter treats, but most of the enjoyment comes from making a day of the baking. The eating…well, that’s also a pretty good time!

Adults only: Use the extra time to cook up a cake recipe you’ve never tried before, or try a new technique that takes a bit longer. Instead of spending money on fancy, costly chocolates from the shops, you’ll have your own sweet treats. 

Extra work = extra reward!

With kids: Rule out the short term sugar rush (and keep the pets safe!) by replacing chocolate eggs with colourful print-outs. 

Hand out some treats at the end to add an incentive instead! Scatter as many as you want – in as many interesting places as you want – to keep the kids busy.

Adults only: Enjoy a day in the garden with some classic Easter egg hunting, but it’s time to get a lot more creative with your hiding spots! You might want to stick to traditional mini chocolate eggs, which can be bought in bulk at cheaper prices.

Alternatively, you can use that same paper print-out method, and you can even spice things up by adding coupons or fun facts to the back of those.

With kids: Do the classic Easter weekend road trip without the accommodation costs (or having to go without the comfort of an indoor toilet) by enjoying some camping in the garden. Gather up the kids, set up the tent and roll out the sleeping bags for a night of star-gazing, card games and marshmallows.

Adults only: Back garden camping goes glamping! Note that this also works on a rooftop, courtyard or balcony, so apartment dwellers can also partake. 

Keep the tent but add the trusty old air mattress, some cosy blankets, a bottle of wine and maybe a movie under the stars for an experience that some people would pay good money for.

A potluck functions the same, regardless of the age of your guests – apart from perhaps finishing a little earlier. Celebrate Easter with a big dinner, but save on the cooking by inviting each guest (at least the adult ones) to bring a dish. To save on doubling up, assign a course or get guests to RSVP with their dish in advance.

Of course, not everyone wants to dial it back for their Easter long weekend. If a more far-reaching location is calling your name, you can check out some Easter travel essentials or look into a holiday loan.

Stay on top of ways to save money at our family finances hub.