Looking for some cheap things to do on your birthday? Keep reading for our list of low budget birthday ideas for adults!
You don’t always have to break the bank for your birthday. Sometimes you just want to do something to feel good and celebrate, but not do the most.
That’s why I’ve come up with this list of affordable ideas for a birthday for you to enjoy!
This post is all about the best cheap things to do on your birthday.
Best cheap things to do on your birthday
Staying in ideas for a birthday
1. Pot Luck
Firstly, who doesn’t love food?! A potluck is one of the best ideas for a birthday to not only spend time with your friends but also eat some good food (well, hopefully, if your friends can cook!).
You could even add a theme to your potluck, for example, foods from a specific country or continent. Why not also take it a step further and have people dress to match their dish or the theme of their dish?
There are so many ways that you can make a potluck special for some cheap things to do on your birthday – so don’t rule it out!
2. Make pottery
Activities are always a win, especially if you need cheap things to do on your birthday that are still fun!
You can get many DIY pottery kits to use at home online. Some great places to start looking are:
- Pott’d – kits from £44
- Sculpd – kits from £39 (my personal fave, they have so many innovative kits!)
- Noah – kits from £38
There is also lots of really great kits available on Etsy!
3. Murder mystery
For something a little different, murder mystery parties can be for ideas for a birthday. They’re really fun and actually very easy to host and of course – a super cheap things to do on your birthday!
For an easy and stress-free murder mystery party, I’d consider getting a pre-written game. Master Of Mystery is a great place to look with games starting at £14.95. They have so many different options available so, even if you want to host a murder mystery for your next 15 birthdays, you could still always do something different!
4. Make cocktails
Instead of dressing up and going to a bar, why not bring the bar home?
Making cocktails (or mocktails) is one of my favourite cheap things to do on your birthday. You get to have fun and just be social with your friends which, once adult life hits, honestly feels like a luxury.
You can either have your friends prepare cocktails and bring them along. Maybe lay out some snacks or small bites, put on some music and have fun! Or, you could get your group together, gather some ingredients, and host your own mini cocktail making class!
If you need some inspo or recipes for drinks to make for this low budget birthday ideas for adults, I’ve got some great tried and true recipes for you – check out the post below.
{RELATED POST: 5 Amazing Alcoholic Punch Recipes Your Guests Will Love}
These recipes are all really easy to make, and you can get cheap ingredients for them!
5. Ice cream making
This might not be something you’ve thought to do before, but it’s a great activity for low budget birthday ideas for adults!
In general, my friends and I love doing activities (because it’s fun?), but the BEST activities are when you finish with something to eat! Ice cream making is one of the most fun ideas for a birthday, and it’s not as difficult as you might think (or maybe you think it’s easy, idk haha).
If you want to do some quick ice cream making, rolled ice cream kits are the way to go! Rolled ice cream looks so cute and tastes great. Pan-n-ice has a few different sets, with sets including the pan and rollers starting from £39.95. China Blue also have a kit including the pan and rollers with ice cream mix and mix-ins for £37.70.
If you’d prefer a classic ice cream, this kit is available from Granny Gothards for £22.95 and comes in flavours vanilla, Belgian chocolate, and honeycomb.
6. Games night
Surely you can’t consider cheap things to do on your birthday without mentioning a games night!
We all love a games night, there are so many different games out there that you could play. You can do board games, drinking games, card games, video games – literally whatever floats your boat. You could even have a nostalgia-themed games night and have games like Operation!
For some cute and girly games for your games night, check out our post for 7 Amazing Girls Night In Games You Need To Try!
7. Movie Marathon
Who said bingeing TV can’t be a birthday celebration?! You can absolutely binge-watch movies if you need cheap things to do on your birthday!
Movie marathons aren’t just about the movie, it’s the ✨ experience ✨. The first rule of movie marathons, snacks! Ultimately, the snacks make the experience :). Since it’s your birthday, switch it up and get some more innovative snacks like chocolate fondue kits or smores kits.
Cheap things to do on your birthday Going Out
8. Roller Disco
Roller skating is so fun and a really good idea when looking for cheap things to do on your birthday.
There are a lot of really great roller disco’s throughout the UK. My favourite is Flippers London. You can get tickets for Flippers from £11.50, or if you’re having between 5-15 people, you can get a birthday package for £20 per person (18+) which includes a sharing cocktail bucket, a tray of shots and food.
This is also a really great idea if you’d like to have a themed birthday but keep it cheap, because where better to dress up for a 90s roller disco, than an actual roller disco?!
{RELATED POST: 5 Insanely Creative Birthday Party Themes for Adults You’ll Love (& How To Execute Them)}
9. Karaoke
Karaoke is probably one of the most liberating low budget birthday ideas for adults!
Honestly, it’s so fun to just sing your heart out to your favourite songs with your friends. I know you have mini concerts in your room too (it’s called therapy), so why not grab your friends, book a karaoke room and have a mini concert together (aka, group therapy)!
10. Escape room
If you like a bit of a challenge, escape rooms are great ideas for a birthday!
There are sooo many escape rooms out there, just have a look at the ones near you and pick an experience that tickles your fancy. Escape rooms usually work best in groups of 4 or more. I have also been to an escape room with only myself and 2 others and it was still so much fun!
11. Drive-In Movie
To my surprise, despite drive-in movies being associated with the US, we do indeed have drive-in movie theatres in the UK!
My friends and I are obsessed with going to the cinema (we go basically every week), so of course when I found out there are actually quite a few drive-in theatres in the UK we had to go! If you or your friends are fortunate enough to have a car to take to a drive-in movie, this would be really great for cheap things to do on your birthday.
Typically, a drive-in movie will be charged per car, so for an ultra-cheap experience grab as many of your friends as possible and stuff them into your car (within the legal limit of course haha)!
12. Fun Fitness class
For my active girlies, why not try out a group fitness class for ideas for a birthday?
Of course, there are lots of fitness classes classes out there. You could do a group yoga class, group meditation class or some other group wellness classes. You can also do puppy yoga which, if you are as obsessed with dogs as I am, you’ll never want to leave!
13. Trampolining
Satisfy your inner child and head to a trampoline park if you’re looking for cheap things to do on your birthday.
Trampoline parks are super fun and they’re a really great way to get active! You’re giving yourself and your celebrants a bit of a 2-in-1 here since they get some great fun and a hell of a workout with this one.
There are quite a few trampoline parks scattered around, with some of the most popular being Jump Giants (tickets from £15) and Flip Out (tickets from £18.95).
Hopefully, you should now have a nice long list of cheap things to do on your birthday to cover you for the next 13 years! Of course, there are so many other things you could do that are low budget birthday ideas for adults. But, to save you from sifting through 100s of things on a long list, I wanted to give you some of the top choices to save you some time. Oh and, happy birthday!
This post was all about cheap things to do on your birthday.