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Convert to Jehovah's Witnesses. That'll cut out all your holiday/birthday spending.
Convert to Jehovah's Witnesses. That'll cut out all your holiday/birthday spending.
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After hitting a wall of spending just too much on friends, friends spouses, and kids, I introduced the \"Annual Non-Denominational Holiday Fun Gift and Merriment Exchange\" whereby each participant brings a $40 \"uncrappy\" gift which is then exchanged, \"white elephant\" style with the other guests. I've modified the rules slightly since the first (we're in our 7th year now) and I must say this is far more fun (and less costly) than the nightmare of buying individual gifts. We generally have 30-40 participants, we provide booze and guests bring tasty snacks. A friend dresses up as Santa and we all get our drink on. because of the occasional joker (one year someone gave a gift of a softcore pr0n DVD, a roll of frozen cookie dough, and a sock), I provide usually 3 \"consoloation prizes\" for the three people least satisfied when all is said and done - that helps people go away pleased every year.
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YETIWISDOM-
I would love to be your friend.
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Sometimes you don't even have to go to the level of a dinner party. Maybe it's the age group I'm in or just the particular friends I have, but whenever I cook for a get-together, everyone's amazed. We had people over for an informal thanksgiving thing last weekend. I cooked a turkey breast and stuffing, mashed potatoes, an apple pie and some pumpkin muffins. I spaced the baking and prep out over a few days so the actual cooking effort required on the day of the party was less than the cleaning effort (that's another story altogether). Everything turned out well - I'm not denying that - but you would have thought I was serving roast duck and caviar on toast points instead of standard, simple food. A little time and effort goes a long way.
To make sure we had enough food, we did ask people to bring something small. It worked out well because most ended up bringing some sort of appetizer or another dessert.
Another thing that really helped cut down on cost was that we made it BYOB. It also make things less complicated because we didn't have to worry about covering a wide range of beer/wine/soda.
My wife and I combined two of these ideas last year. We like holding potlucks with our friends, but we found that scheduling them over a short time was really tough. Our neighbor had an all-day birthday party earlier in the year, so we stole that idea from her.
This year is our second annual holiday potluck. There is no theme other than \"let's get together and have a good time\". We've told people that our doors open at 3 and will last until whenever. We're expecting good crowds, and plenty of good food. Plus, with the changing guests, we'll probably be doing anything from just fun chatter and stories to board games/trivia, possibly karaoke.
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Don't want to spend a lot of money on holiday parties?!? Simple -- go to other people's parties. Alternatively, go to your company Christmas party and \"appropriate\" things (linens, punch bowls, etc.) for use at your party. Hey, the company owes you, don't they?
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Yeah, nothing says party like 'a steaming crockpot of chili.' Actually nothing says nursing home like 'a steaming crockpot of chili.'
I'd rather find the richest person giving the party and go there. There is always someone that likes to show off and provide the \"best holiday party\" that will be talked about later.