Thrifty Easter Baskets

Due to time constraints and lack of energy, I wasn’t as thrifty with my kid’s Easter baskets this year as I would have liked.  I still saved money but I know I could have done a much better job.  First, I started with the fabric lined Easter baskets I bought last year at 50% off at Michael’s.  Buying reusable is a green and thrifty option, plus, the baskets are just cuter than cheapie throw away types.

We started a tradition of putting a DVD in each child’s basket as their main gift.  Luckily, with coupons and rebates we’ve been able to do this without spending an arm and a leg.  This year we bought Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 (see deals here).  I sent Hubby to Toys R Us to pick them up, then realized we could have saved even more by price matching at Target.  Still, we got both movies on Blu Ray for less than $20 and each came with a free ticket to see Toy Story 3 in the theater.

I like to fill the baskets with things the kids need and will use so the second item I put in was a 3 piece pajama set for each of them.  Between working and feeling sick, I just haven’t had the time to shop at all so I haven’t scored any great clearance deals.  My target price for jammies is $5 or under but I ended up paying $10 each.

I filled in around the main items with some little hair bands for my 1 year old daughter and sidewalk chalk, socks, a doodle board and a spiderman cup from the Dollar Spot at Target for my son.

Using plastic eggs I got free from CVS a few years ago, I filled up a few for each of the kids with snacks like Teddy Grahams, fruit snacks and goldfish crackers.  I also bought one bag of jelly beans.  Again, I could have saved a ton of money on these items if I had stocked up during sales.  Instead, I failed by buying everything I needed in one quick stop at Target.

I spent way more than I wanted to because of my lack of planning but I still think I did an okay job for my situation.  Next year, I plan on doing THREE baskets for much less than I spent this year.

How do you save money on Easter baskets?  I am sure that our readers have tons of frugal ideas and we’d love to hear them!  Please share by leaving a comment!