Parties & Entertaining: Planning

Getting together with friends to fete the New Year or cheer on your Super Bowl favorite doesn't mean choosing between chips and dip or bankruptcy. Instead, with a little ingenuity -- and some help from a handful of party pros -- you can host a great gathering for a lot less money than you'd think. Here are six ideas to make it easy, affordable and stress-free.

The economy may have drained your entertaining budget, but that doesn't mean you can't host a holiday party with panache. It just takes planning -- and ingenuity -- to create champagne parties on a beer budget.

Parties are great fun, but they can run you some money. Here are some ways to vary the party theme so you don't end with a financial hangover.

"A couple of times a year, extended family comes to visit. We have sleeping room for all of them, but feeding and entertaining a crew can get expensive. Can you ask your readers: How do you keep expenses down while entertaining houseguests?"

Hosting a party doesn't need to be an event just for holidays. Maybe you and your guests would enjoy a big Mexican-themed celebration for Cinco de Mayo or a brunch on the Fourth of July before going to the local festivals or parades. If you've planned ahead carefully and done much of your party preparations in advance, you'll save money by not being surprised by last minute hidden expenses which tend to accumulate quickly without a definite plan detailed ahead of time.

Party Time photo from Shutterstock

Some tips from a professional caterer and chef can really help you keep your sanity and improve your holiday entertaining this year. Here are some party planning basics, like estimating the amount of food and beverages you need, keeping within a budget, and a few common sense things that you should always have at your party, no matter how small your budget is.

Here are some inside secrets of how high-end hotels and caterers set up, arrange, and organize their buffets so that they seem expensive, but keep the overall costs low. You don't have to have ten tables of food and a carving station to take advantage of the common sense solutions that are widely used in the industry.

The challenge with party budgets is to distribute your precious dollars in ways that will create the most meaningful and lasting impact upon your guests. These tips will help you do just that.

"We need some ideas for centerpieces for our tables for a sports banquet. Do you have any dollar stretcher ideas?"

Party Favors on Calendar photo from Shutterstock

Anyone can host a smashing party. You don't have to spend a lot of money. The key to a great party is creativity. If you utilize some of these tips, your party can still be the talk of the town for less.

Stay Connected with TDS

Subscribe to TDS Newsletters

Join over 250,000 other subscribers!

To subscribe, check the newsletters you wish to receive, enter your email address and then click Subscribe.

Surviving Tough Times Dollar Stretcher Parents Dollar Stretcher Tips The Dollar Stretcher (text-based)

Financial Independence TDS Special Offers The Computer Lady Computer Lady Lessons Healthy Foods

View the TDS privacy policy.

---

Your money saving idea could win you $100!

Each month one TDS reader will win $100 just for telling us your favorite time or money saving idea. It could be you!
Click here to share your idea.

Recent winners are:
- Betty Ann from NY
- Kim from TX
- Matt from CO
- Joan from CT

---

Money problems? The Dollar Stretcher can help: Afraid to lose your job? Struggling with credit card debt? Help for your mortgage? Can't pay your debts? Need some extra income? Fighting bad credit? What you need to know about bankruptcy? Become money smart? Trouble repaying student loans?

Copyright 1996 - 2013 "The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." All rights reserved unless specifically noted.

Contact the Dollar Stretcher at:
Dollar Stretcher
PO Box 14160
Bradenton FL 34280
941-761-7805

"The Dollar Stretcher, Inc." does not assume responsibility for advice given. All advice should be weighed against your own abilities and circumstances and applied accordingly. It is up to the reader to determine if advice is safe and suitable for their own situation.