Budget Movie Night Party for Under $50
A dinner-and-a-movie birthday party for up to 6 tweens or teens, food, decorations, games and party bags included, for under $50.
If you’ve got a tween or young teen wanting something a bit more grown up than a playcentre party or traditional at-home party with games, then a movie night is a great option, especially when you can do it on a budget.
Unlike my Entire Birthday Party for under $50 post where I recommend avoiding a main meal to keep costs down, a movie night would, in my opinion, include dinner.
In that article, I also budgeted for 10 kids, but since this party includes a main meal, I’ve capped it at 6 kids: movie nights always feel a bit more intimate to me than a regular party, so I think smaller works better in this setting.
Logistics
As I mentioned, I would recommend keeping this a dinner event. Evening to late instantly feels more grown up, but if the kids are younger, or you just can’t do evenings, then afternoons are still an option.
Thanks to the increasing length of movies these days, it’s likely to run much longer than a standard party. Allow for 40 minutes plus movie running time. So for a 2.5 hour movie, you’re looking at 3 hours 10 minutes.
Suggested time: 5:30 to 8:30/9pm (depending on the movie length).
Parents don’t want to be dropping and picking up kids right over their own dinner time or during the bedtime routine of younger siblings.
- First 20 min, Arrivals: One or two games to break the ice can be good if they’re feeling a bit awkward. I find older kids are more likely to stand around feeling unsure. You might like to check out Party Games for Older Kids for some ideas.
- 2 to 2.5 hours: Movie, dinner and snacks.
- Last 20 min: Happy Birthday and cake.
Movie
To stay under our $50, we need a movie that is free, borrowed or very cheap. Here are the top options:
- Use your existing streaming service, if you already have a subscription.
- If you have a DVD player, re-watch one of your own DVDs, borrow a DVD from family or friends, or borrow one from your local library.
- If you don’t have a streaming subscription or a DVD player, sign up for a free Amazon Prime trial. It’s a 30-day trial and you get access to Prime Video. (Tip: sign up three to four weeks before the birthday, so you can have presents delivered for free!) Note: in the last couple of years there have been some big changes, so the range of movies included in the Prime subscription has dramatically reduced. Binge (Australia) usually has a 7 day free trial too.
- If none of the included films take your fancy, you can rent movies from Amazon for $5 without a subscription. Apple TV also offers movie rentals, but they are a little more pricey and the range is much smaller. I’ve accounted for the $5 rental fee in the budget.
New vs old
Don’t rule out re-watching an old favourite. With a group of friends, chances are there’ll be a lot of distractions and kids will probably miss parts of the movie. For any kids who get anxious, I would definitely steer them towards a familiar film rather than try something new.
For that same reason, I would avoid movies with complex plot lines, where missing a scene or two can make or break your understanding of the rest of the movie.
Rating and classification
This is an obvious one, but always clear the film with parents first, especially if it’s an M+ rating and the kids are under 15 years. But even if it’s PG, it’s always good to let guests know ahead of time what will be shown (or at least the shortlist), so if there are any issues, they can let you know beforehand.
Movie ideas
To get you started, here is a list of movies that younger teens can still enjoy that are rated PG in Australia. Note that while they’re classified as PG, some are still recommended for 12, 13 or 14+ by the Raising Children’s Network. Check with parents first.
- A Minecraft Movie
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Jumanji: The Next Level
- Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum 2
- Wicked
- Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: No Way Home
- School of Rock
- Mean Girls
- Bend It Like Beckham
- Freakier Friday
- 27 Dresses
An exception: Project Hail Mary is actually rated M, but the recommendation is 12+, so figured it was worth noting down here.
Food
For this party, we’ll stick with pizza, popcorn and ice cream for dessert. The ice cream is the cake, so you can swap that out for cake if you’d prefer. I’ve priced up several supermarket dessert options. If you can make your own cake with what you have at home, go for it. This budget is designed to be usable by anyone, so I’m assuming you have nothing to cook with and no time to cook.
I’ve included candles and a lighter in the budget, so this is one place you can save a bit of money if you already have these.
Setup
As this party is for older kids, I’ve put more towards the food than the decorations. But we can remedy this with just a $1 pack of balloons. Walking into a room full of balloons floating around gives instant party atmosphere.
If it suits the vibe, ask guests to BYO pillow, cushion or oodie for a cosy night in.
The paper cups for drinks come in a pack of 18, so you’ll have plenty of spares to use in ice breaker games with the leftover supplies.
As the games planned are just small icebreakers and the kids are older, we’re not using big prizes. Instead, grab an extra bag of lollies from Kmart for $1 and use this for every little “win”, or if you need participation bribes! Alternatively, just use the lollies as movie snacks instead.
Breakdown
Food: $25.70 to $30.20
| Item | Cost | Shop |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen pizzas, 3 x $4.20 | $12.60 | Supermarket |
| Microwave popcorn, 4 x $0.95 | $3.80 | Supermarket |
| Soft drink, 2 x 1.25L budget brand | $2.30 | Supermarket |
| Plain chips, 2 x 175g | $4.00 | Supermarket |
| Dessert / cake (see options below) | $3.00–$7.50 | Supermarket |
| Subtotal | $25.70–$30.20 |
Notes:
- Pizzas: $4.20 at Coles, $4.00 at Woolies, we’ve used the higher price.
- Popcorn: swap for popping kernels ($1.75) if you’d rather DIY it, assumes you have oil.
- Dessert options: vanilla ice cream tub + waffle cones ($7.50, enough for two each), basic supermarket mud or sponge cake ($7.10), or donuts (12pk plain or 6pk iced, $3).
Games: $6.00
| Item | Cost | Shop |
|---|---|---|
| Movie rental | $5.00 | Amazon / Apple TV |
| Bag of lollies | $1.00 | Kmart |
| Subtotal | $6.00 |
Decorations: $7.45
| Item | Cost | Shop |
|---|---|---|
| Balloons, 15pk | $1.00 | Kmart |
| Paper plates, 12pk | $1.00 | Kmart |
| Serviettes | $0.95 | Supermarket |
| Paper cups, 18pk | $1.00 | Kmart |
| Candles | $1.50 | Kmart |
| Lighter (Woolies is cheaper here) | $2.50 | Supermarket |
| Subtotal | $7.45 |
Party bags: $4.00
| Item | Cost | Shop |
|---|---|---|
| Cellophane bags with ties | $1.00 | Kmart |
| Lollies, 3 x 110g | $3.00 | Kmart |
| Subtotal | $4.00 |
Grand total
$48.15, using the most expensive dessert option.
Extras
I’ve done the budget to the bare minimum I think is needed to make this a party, but there’s a couple of dollars leftover ($2.45 or $1.85 depending on which supermarket you go to). So here are some ideas (all from Kmart, of course) where that money could go:
- $2 bunting for added decorations (assuming you have Blu Tack or tape).
- $1 birthday badge for the birthday child.
- $2 for an 8pk of party hats for all the guests to wear (can be a bit of nostalgia for the teens).
- $2 for a 20pk of glow bracelets, especially if it’s dark that time of year: great arrival activity, guests arrive and get 3 bracelets to wear however they like.
- $1 per 15pk of extra balloons.