Father’s Day Ideas That Don’t Cost a Fortune | MoneyNuggets (2024)

As father’s day approaches so does the potential headache of deciding what to do to mark the occasion. Often there can be a “keeping up with the Jones’s” mentality to this day. But surely the pressure of having to keep up or outdo is totally against the spirit of love and appreciation that the day is supposed to be about.

It can be especially difficult if you simply don’t have the budget to buy expensive gifts, or treat the fathers in your life to a pricey meal out.

Let’s take a look at some ways in which you can make father’s day more affordable, and keep the meaning intact.

Father’s Day ideas – Make it

One of the easiest ways to make father’s day both cheap and memorable is to make individual gifts and cards. This is a particularly great idea if there are children involved. There are plenty of father’s day ideas to make; here are just a few to help you get started.

1. Cards with Individuality

All you need to create a great father’s day card is some card or strong paper, coloured pens and a ton of imagination. If you want to invest in a little glue and glitter too then it’s even more fun.

If you don’t want to buy card, or you’re pushed for time, writing paper is often stiff enough to stand up as a card, or you can even just use normal drawing paper, and either attach the card to your fridge with a magnet, or pin it on your notice board.

The great thing about a home-made card is that it can be very personal, maybe with drawings of a recent day out, or cut outs of dad’s football favourites.

It’s obviously important that young children are supervised, especially if scissors are involved, but it can be a really fun activity for you and your children, just prepare to get messy.

2. Scrapbooking

If you’re prepared, and give yourself enough time, you can create an impressive and personal scrapbooking gift. The beauty of it, is that you can choose what to spend and how you want to present the scrapbook.

A few pieces of card tied together with colourful ribbons and containing a collection of children’s drawings, home printed family photos and the dogs paw prints, can be a lot more fun and funky, than something that’s aimed at looking more “professional”.

3. Bake a Cake

No matter what the occasion, baking is always fun, especially if it’s a way of engaging children. A great idea is to use a basic recipe and ask the kids what they would like to add to give a taste that they think dad would like.

You may have to veto the gravy or the gin and tonic, but there’s nothing wrong with having a little crazy fun with flavours.

Don’t forget the icing either, maybe a portrait of dad in fondant. It’s doesn’t have to be literal, a little artistic license never did Picasso any harm.

Father’s Day ideas – Do it

You don’t necessarily have to give a gift for father’s day, if activity is more dad’s thing. Or you can do the gift and the activity; you can even make the gift part of the fun.

There are plenty of ways of having a “doing” father’s day without spending a huge amount of money.

1. Hunt the Present

You’ll need to be prepared, and give it a bit of thought, but all you need to do is hide the present in a strategic place, and produce some clues to guide dad on his way there.

You and your kids will have all the fun of watching the growing frustration, and the eventual successful excitement when the present is discovered.

2. A Little Exercise

If your garden is big enough then you don’t have to pay for a family trip to an adventure course, you can create your own, with ropes, buckets and chairs.

You get the benefit of creating a course that any member of the family can complete, and you can carry on for as long as light allows. Just remember to keep all the obstacles safe, so that no-one gets hurt.

3. Dining on the Cheap

A meal in a restaurant can be great, but if there are a lot of you it can be difficult to book a table. It can also be boring for children.

If you’ve all got a favourite venue outdoors, whether it be the local park or a place in the country a little further afield, just pack a picnic, a football and some board games, and you’ve got the perfect meal out; no overcrowded restaurant and no bored kids, just plenty of fun.

Don’t worry about the weather, a little rain and mud just adds to the memories.

Hopefully this father’s day ideas has been useful and you can have a fun and memorable day without worrying about finances.

Your Turn…

Do you have any Father’s Dayideas? You can leave your comments below. We’d love to hear from you!