5 Ways to Save Money on Holiday Parties
As the summer’s festivities draws to a close, it’s time to start thinking about the next round of events on the calendar. The holidays are close at hand, starting with Halloween and taking you all the way through New Year’s Eve. This is a great time to gather with friends and family, but throwing seasonal parties can take a real toll on your wallet. Here are a few seasonal tips to help you celebrate and save at the same time!
- Set an entertainment budget.
Learning how to budget is an important financial tool for many occasions, including the holiday season. Before you start planning parties, you need to take a look at your finances and determine just how much you’re able to spend. Even a ballpark figure will help you with planning, so that you can decide just how much to splash out on entertainment, décor, and catering.
- Give old decorations new life.
No matter what your budget looks like, you can make the most of it by reusing old decorations whenever possible. Most of us have a bag of party decorations tucked into the attic or closet somewhere, so pull this out and see what you’re working with. Paper garlands, party hats, and seasonal décor can all be put to good use for a second time around. Another option is to find old decorations and refashion them into something new! That Captain America costume from Halloween could become a prop for a photo booth, or your old Valentine’s Day garland of paper hearts could be painted white and used in a winter wonderland theme.
- Cut your guest list down to size.
It’s only natural to want to invite a large crowd to your event, but trimming down the guest list can save a great deal of money. Try inviting just a dozen of your friends or family members over, keeping the party small and intimate.
- Throw a potluck.
Food and drink makes up the bulk of many holiday party budgets. You can cut this down in many ways, like serving smaller appetizers or snacks rather than a main meal. To trim your drinks budget offer a single “signature drink” to suit the holiday from pumpkin martinis at Halloween to peppermint hot cocoa at Christmas. The best way to cater on a budget, particularly for a smaller-sized party, is to throw a potluck. Ask your guests to bring the dish of their choice, making sure you balance out the sweet and savoury snacks.
- Make it a dance party.
Don’t spend a bundle on entertainment! Your guests will be happy to mix and mingle with a lively soundtrack in the background. Set up a playlist of your best dancefloor-ready holiday tunes and get the party started with a dance competition. If it’s a smaller group, you could put on a video teaching the choreography to a popular track, and work out a full routine together.
The point of any seasonal gathering is to enjoy the company of your loved ones, so don’t sweat the small details. You’ll be sure to have a grand, wallet-friendly time this holiday season!
What is your top tip for saving money on holiday parties?
*This is a collaborative post.
The pot luck idea is one I will definitely be using. This year we have 3 sets of friends, their kids and their families coming to stay with us over Christmas and New Year, 20 people in total with ages ranging from 2 to 75. The last time we had this many people staying with us was 4 years ago for our daughter’s wedding and it was fun but mad, with people sleeping on the floor in the sitting room and dining room as well as on bedroom floors, and catering was a major challenge. My husband has now told the main cook from each of the families that they will each be responsible for 2 days’ worth of meals, and Xmas lunch will be a joint effort.
Great ideas here should help me budget x
The potluck idea is a classic! Plus you get to taste so much of your favorite family food!
I think I’m better at going to parties than giving them, but I think the budgeting and recycling are very important.
We usually go for potluck parties. It not only helps cut down the budget, it is also a chance to earn bragging rights for a winning dish you bring in.
Throwing parties are fun, but they can definitely get expensive! These are some great ways to save on holiday parties.
That’s awesome! I just love that you’re sharing these tips, in time for my Holiday prep. It’s definitely important to have a budget, you don’t want to break the bank trying to set up a party!
It is easy to go out of your budget zone with holiday parties, and just the holidays in general. I am big on re-purposing things from thrift stores and garage sales. I plan ahead.
I always have a budget set for anything we do. If not, it’s FAR too easy to get lost in buying neat things for the parties.
We like to go the potluck route. That way, everyone feels like they had a hand in putting together a fun time and more than one person can share the cost burden.
Great tips. We would love to throw more parties, but it can really add up. Maybe we need to do more dessert-type things to save on costs.
I save a lot by making a lot of my own decorations. I love the idea of a dance party. That’s a really fun way to keep everyone entertained!
I think it is a great thing to do, to DIY as much of the items as possible.
I love these money saving ideas. A dance party is always fun
Most definitely, always good to get everyone up and dancing.
Making it a potluck is always a great way to save money on entertaining. A lot of our parties are potlucks.
I think it is such a good way to make everything, and not have one person working so hard on it all.
So many great tips to save money on your holiday parties! We always make our own playlist and save on a DJ.
That is such a great idea and these days luckily it isn’t too hard to do.
I love going to Potlucks! Gives me a chance to create a new dish or make one of my favorites! Usually for parties we just have an iPhone connected to a speaker or some radio station playing and we party it up!
These are some great ideas. I love the idea of having a dance party.
Yes, yes, yes to potlucks! The best part about potlucks (aside from the money savings) is the diversity of dishes available. We all get stuck in a rut, making the same things over and over…this is a great way to introduce some new and tasty treats!
It is so nice to be able to try something different and really something fun as well.
I love the potluck idea. This way all the cooking doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders. These are all great tips for saving money on parties this season.
That is so true, if one person is left cooking it can be such a big task for them.
It is so true that we have things in our homes that can be reused, or refashioned and would look great for a party. I loved all your tips and will keep them in mind for my next party.
It is amazing what you can do when you think about it, I hope it helps towards planning your next party.
These are such great ideas! I love the tip about the decorations. I’m a big fan of giving older decorations a twist to keep them fresh and to keep me from having to buy more.
Most definitely sometimes you can really take what you have and change it into something that looks completely different.
These are all great ways to save money when having a party. My friends and I always do potlucks when we get together.
They seem like such a fab way to really have a good time 😀
I am all about being frugal during the holidays. You offer some great tips. I like to stop up on supplies during sales.
Hands up I am a big sales shopper I hate paying full price for anything.