Parents are looking for ways to save, as average child’s birthday party now costs £279

Research from Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices finds 80% of parents say they’ll be spending more on their child’s birthday party this year.

An overwhelming 72% find party planning to be somewhat stressful, with staying in budget the most stressful part of it.

Now mom and presenter Josie Gibson partners with Sainsbury’s to urge parents to use Nectar Prices to save on party food and drink favourites from top brands.

September is the most common birthday month of the year and this means more parents than usual are in the midst of party planning for their children. 

According to new research by Sainsbury’s Nectar Prices, the average parent spends £278.70 when throwing a birthday party for their child, and that’s even before buying any presents!

With the cost of living still high, four in five parents (80%) say they’ll be spending even more on their child’s birthday party than they did last year, meaning what should be a joyous time is adding strain to their wallets.

As the cost of party planning goes up, parents are willing to get creative to provide their child with a magical experience. 86% of parents are looking for ways to stay within budget, with 62% saying they are considering cooking at home instead of eating out to help save money on their child’s party this year.

To help parents have a more positive party planning experience, TV presenter and mum Josie Gibson is partnering with Sainsbury’s to show how using Nectar Prices can keep the costs down. With constant new offers, parents can use Nectar Prices to help spread the cost and even buy birthday favourites and multipack deals in advance.

Josie Gibson said: “Any parent knows the stresses and pressures throwing a children’s party can bring; as I’m very familiar with, having just organised my son’s fifth birthday. 

"It’s a lot to think about, from bringing to life inventive themes, nailing the entertainment, and ensuring everyone’s favourite food items are on offer while also trying to not spend an absolute fortune. So, it’s great to know there are ways to save with Sainsbury’s, like using offers such as Nectar Prices, which means not having to give up on quality and variety.”

Josie isn’t alone in finding the party-planning process to be stress-inducing; almost three-quarters of parents (72%) confess to finding planning their child’s birthday party to be a stressful task. Indeed, many even secretly admitted some of their most stressful daily scenarios are preferred over party planning, revealing housework (56%), sitting in traffic (35%) and even public speaking (14%) to all be less stressful than planning a child’s birthday party.

The biggest contributor to this anxiety is worry about money. Over half (56%) of parents find trying to stay in budget to be the most stressful thing about planning a kid’s party, and a whopping 81% say they would buy food, drink and essentials for a birthday party in advance if they could get them at a better price.

With Nectar Prices available on over 5,000 products in-store and online across various party-friendly categories including fresh fruit and vegetables, drinks, confectionary and frozen items, parents can be rest assured that finding the perfect party items doesn’t need to break the bank.

Alex Naisby, Director of Loyalty and CRM at Nectar, said: “At Sainsbury’s, our number one priority continues to be doing all we can to keep prices low for our customers. Throwing a child’s birthday party should be a time for fun and frivolity, yet we know that many parents can feel weighed down by the stresses of planning and budgeting. 

"Through Nectar Prices we’ve lowered the cost of over 5,000 products across our stores, which we hope will help ease the stress of the next birthday party, family celebration or other special life moments – so people can focus on spending time with loved ones.”

Party essentials available on Nectar Prices this September are including popular branded items like Walkers crisps, Hartley’s jelly and Robinson’s squash and fruit shoots, as well as Sainsbury’s So Organic Carrots, Jacob's Mini Cheddars, Sainsbury's Millionaire Bites and Sainsbury's Stonebaked Margherita Hand Stretched Pizza.

A lot of this information will also be helpful for people planning for Christmas parties, too.