Buy Your Own Helium Tank?

Yes, totally worth it!

We used to buy them. It was great having them here.. Beware that they say they blow up so many balloons, but if you purchase the Mylar balloons, they take a tremendous amount of helium to fill up. Of course they last longer than the rubber balloons.

I don't know how it is in your area, but in TX you can't buy helium, tanks balloons, or anything else anymore. There is a major helium shortage.
So check into it, b4 you get too excited!

My dad bought a full-size helium tank. (we used it for Christmas every year... He would fill up enough balloons to make our ceiling invisible... an awesome tradition I can't wait to start when my DD is old enough to safely be around that many balloons!) We had it for years (he would take it in to be refilled whenever it got empty...) and never had any problems with it at all.

Just make sure to keep it somewhere your kids (especially older ones...) can't get to it... My dad locked his in the gun cabinet after he caught us inhaling the helium straight from the tank to get the chipmunk voices....

You can probably find a local company that will rent you a tank and sell you the helium, if you need to blow up a ton of balloons for a party. Depending on the quantity, that can be a lot cheaper. You can get a bag of about 150-200 balloons for $6-8, mylars for $1 or so each, helium tank rental and helium for about $40 in my area, or figure blown-up ballons from a florist or grocery store at $1-2 each for latex and $3-5 for mylars. Unless you go to the dollar store, which is the best bet for mylars at $1 each, but they often run out of helium.