{"id":176401,"date":"2025-04-07T23:38:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T23:38:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/budget-food\/easter-on-a-budget-cheapskate-cook\/"},"modified":"2025-04-07T23:38:37","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T23:38:37","slug":"easter-on-a-budget-cheapskate-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=176401","title":{"rendered":"Easter on a Budget \u2022 Cheapskate Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Here are a bunch of budget-friendly, healthy(ish) Easter gift ideas. From Easter baskets to Easter eggs, if you\u2019re trying to save money and eat healthy, you\u2019ll find what you need here.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on my link and buy something, I will earn a small commission from the advertiser at no additional cost to you. Read my<\/em> disclosure policy here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re trying to save money and eat healthy, holidays are a struggle. <\/span><\/p>\n

During Easter, I feel like stores throw every kind of baby animal-shaped chocolate at my face. We walk by whole aisles full of pastel decor, baking supplies, and plastic things to fill our Easter baskets. Between that and my inexplicable love for malted milk balls in the shape of robins eggs, Easter brings a lot to tempt my wallet. <\/span><\/p>\n

Easter Gifts on a Budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Easter is so fun. As a kid, I loved everything from the spiritual reasons we celebrated to the more commercial ones.<\/span> Who doesn\u2019t love an Easter egg hunt?<\/p>\n

I want my kids to have good memories associated with holidays. However, over the years, while we celebrated on a budget, I learned a few things about making Easter budget-friendly, fun, and meaningful.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not the parent who thinks we need to throw the bunny out the window. However, as a parent who has to live with hyperactive sugar-high children and all their extra plastic stuff, I want to be intentional about how we celebrate this holiday.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re trying to save money and eat healthy this year, I hope you find some ideas you love. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Budget-Friendly Easter Gifts <\/h2>\n

When I was growing up, next to the cross and remembering God\u2019s unconditional love, the best thing about Easter was the scavenger hunt. My dad invented The Dread Pirate Cottontail<\/strong>, who left buried treasure at our home every year. The only way to find it was by following the clues. These hunts grew more elaborate as we got older. In fact, after I moved across the country (you know, as an adult), he set up an online version, so we could have one more hurrah with the most fearsome bunny on the seven seas.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scavenger hunt cost my dad an hour or two every night before Easter, but it didn\u2019t cost him any extra money. My parents turned the Easter basket tradition into something infinitely more memorable. <\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, it saved them money. Cottontail only left one gift for each child instead of a whole basket, and we didn\u2019t even care. Well played Pops.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe creating a scavenger hunt makes you want to pull your hair out. What can you do instead that will create a fun memory for your kids and won\u2019t cost extra?<\/em><\/span> (HINT: hiding the gifts and playing a round of Warmer & Colder is always a win)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"eggs<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Budget-Friendly Easter Baskets<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When it comes to building a frugal, fun, junk-free Easter basket, I use the same rules for a junk-free Christmas Stocking. Get all those tips here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Budget-Friendly Easter Eggs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And Healthy-ish<\/em> Easter Eggs. <\/strong><\/p>\n

As a parent, I spend far too much time managing my kids\u2019 sugar intake and the cheap plastic toys that come into our home. I\u2019m not against candy, and I\u2019m not against plastic. However, I am against excess and waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

We live in a country where the average person consumes 66 pounds of sugar a year (including children), when the recommended amount is under 22 pounds<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, my kids receive plastic toys from the dentist office one day and don\u2019t even remember them the next. It\u2019s fun, but if I\u2019m going to spend my money on Easter egg fillers, I\u2019m going to be a little more intentional<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also remember how much of our chocolate<\/a> comes from sources that use slave and child labor<\/a>. If I can buy less chocolate and invest in the good stuff, I think I should.<\/span><\/p>\n

Frugal Easter Egg Fillers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here are some ideas to keep the Easter eggs fun, creative, frugal, ethically-minded and hopefully slow our insulin dependence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fair Trade Candy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be something really expensive. I bought a bag of Fairtrade chocolate peanut butter cups from Aldi for less than the price of a bag of M&Ms. They\u2019ll fill the same amount of eggs but will hopefully support a better world.<\/span><\/p>\n

More frugal, health-conscious candy finds here!<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"eggs<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Fruit Snacks<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Aldi carries organic fruit snacks that I use in place of jelly beans. Free of artificial dyes and juice-sweetened<\/span>. <\/p>\n

If you really want jelly beans, try these dye-free jelly beans<\/a>! Trader Joe\u2019s also carries dye-free candies, including jelly beans (this is what they look like<\/a> \u2013 obviously not budget-friendly here).<\/p>\n

(Yum Earth has lots of candy options, are mid-range expensive, and I can usually find them in the health food section of Kroger. Here\u2019s what they look like<\/a> \u2013 again, not a budget-friendly source.)<\/p>\n

Pennies & Nickels<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

This is so easy. Not much gets my kids more excited than cold hard cash. So I fill some eggs with loose change. These are easily their favorite eggs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coupons<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The classic frugal gift that shows extra TLC. Ours are redeemable for gifts like:<\/span><\/p>\n