How to celebrate birthday at home When you are a Broke Person

Wondering how to celebrate birthday at home with family or how to celebrate birthday with friends? We have the perfect ideas, especially if you are broke but still want to do something heartfelt. You get the balloons and confetti and perhaps a handmade banner for the birthday person while we help you take care of the dessert part. The best part about this article is all of it falls under cheap things to do for your birthday and are a pocket pinch.

The Classic Cake

Cakes are the most expensive part of the whole birthday fare, we’re assuming you have no oven. So, here are some ideas for you to subnstite a store bought, non-baked birthday cake.

• Icebox Cake: All you need are a bunch of wafers of your preferred flavour, stroopwafels will do too. The latter won’t get soggy as quickly as wafers. You also need cream or smooth pudding, a little sweet condensed milk, a few drops of vanilla extract and some sprinkles or just a bunch of chopped nuts or chocolate bits for decorating the cake. It can be made a little before the celebration and eaten right away.
• Microwave cake: Put pantry staples in a mug, stir and microwave if you have the baking skills of an urchin. Do it in a big mug in batches to have a little cake, enough for little bites for an intimate celebration. Here are some microwave mug cake recipes to get you started.
• Decorating store bought cakes: If you don’t mind buying a plain cake, you can easily upcycle it with chocolate, cream, ganache and even just condensed milk. In case you decide to make a simple homemade cake here is a recipe for a chocolate cooker cake.

Pudding Cups

Buy an instant pudding mix or follow this simple pudding recipe if you can spare the time and resources for making the pudding. If not, start start with instant pudding mix (chocolate, vanilla, or any other flavor), then mix with cold milk according to package instructions, pour into small cups or bowls. The final step is to refrigerate until the puddings set (usually about 10 minutes). You can use a big bowl to make a huge pudding that can be cut or scooped out to replace the birthday cake entirely. Or, if this is a part of the desserts, then stick to individual servings in cups or small glasses. Right before serving, consider topping with crushed cookies like Oreos, sliced bananas, other fruits and whipped cream if you can afford it.

Parfaits

If none of the above appealed to you and you like assembling things or are into art and craft, you need to make parfaits to be devoured at the end of dinner or lunch. Here is an Oreo parfait recipe to get you started and the best part about this is it is customizable and can be eaten by even the health conscious folks. For them, use plain or flavored yogurt (whatever is most affordable for you) and layer it in glasses or clear plastic cups. Then follow with a layer of fresh fruit (bananas, cherries, strawberries, plums, mangoes). Then sprinkle with crushed cornflakes or muesli for the essential crunch. Repeat the layer and end with the crunchy one. You can also drizzle of honey or a little sprinkle of cinnamon and these can be assembled just before serving to keep the crunchy bits from getting soggy.

No-Bake Cheesecake Cups

Does the birthday person adore cheesecakes but the price of the actual dessert reduces you to tears? Reduce it to individual portions to reduce the cost of making this dessert. Get some plain cookies, like Oreos or freshly baked cookies, crush and layer them at the bottom on individual cups or glasses. Put melted butter into it and give it a quick mix to coat evenly and give it a nice press down at the bottom or a small dish.

Make the cream cheese part next. Make it thaw until it reaches room temperature and mix powdered sugar into it and a little vanilla extract. Add milk to reduce thickness if it's too thick. Then spoon the cream cheese over the cookie base and pat the tops to smoothen. Refrigerate the cups or dish for at least an hour for them to set properly. Serve with fresh cream or jam on top like you would a blueberry cheesecake.

Happy birthday to you if you are celebrating by yourself.