How to Have a Holiday Party on a Small Budget

During the holidays, we all want the opportunity to entertain friends and loved ones in our homes and celebrate the passing of another year. If you are intimidated by the prospect of spending a ton of money on entertaining, but really want to have your own holiday bash, here are some ideas that might help ease the strain!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Friends and family to celebrate with
• Internet access
• Other party items as noted

1. Start with the guest list. If you are trying to keep it on the inexpensive side, your best bet is to keep the guest list small. It is OK to have a "small" gathering for cocktails and snacks - don't get wrapped up in planning a huge event - it will just end up costing more. Keep the invitees to a minimum by including close friends and family only.

2. Invite on the cheap - save stamps! Use a free website such as evite.com. On this site, you can create your own beautiful invitation including your own details and requests and email it to your guest list at no charge. The upside of using a tool like this is that it keeps track of your RSVPs as well as offers planning tools and checklists, also at no cost to you!

3. Make it a pot luck or "****" ("Bring Your Own Bottle")event. Ask each guest or couple to bring along their own covered dish or bottle of cheer. This will not only save you money on food and alcohol, but allows your guests to present some of their own family holiday tradition to share. You can include this request right on the invite that you created.

4. Do a Chinese gift exchange. Why not let your party be a medium for getting your Christmas shopping out of the way? Make it known to guests that your holiday party will also be a gift exchange event. Everyone brings one gift (choose the appropriate price range based on the crowd you will be hosting). Lay out all the wrapped gifts on a table and let each person/couple choose a number (place numbers in a hat and let them pick at random). Whoever has #1 chooses their gift first and so forth. If a later number chooses, they can "steal" a previously chosen gift (which the person has already opened), or choose from the pile.

5. Do the dishes! Many times when people entertain in their homes, they purchase paper and plastic ware rather than using their own dishes. Save a ton of cash by using the dishes you have already. If you don't think you'll have enough to use the same set for all your guests, why not mix and match. You can even ask a close friend or family member to loan you a set of theirs. The use of different china, stem ware and silverware can add a festive flair to your party, and you'll save money in the process.

[ShannaFuentes]

on 1/3/2009 Great article! Thanks!