Holiday Hosting on a budget
/Holiday Hosting On A Budget
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Well friends, it is officially time to say hello to holiday micro moments! I know, weird name but let me explain… This year looks a whole lot different than we all originally expected, which means our holiday’s are also going to look a little different. Instead of planning big blow out holiday parties, we’re focusing on creating small moments with those that we care about the most. If you’ve been a reader for awhile then you know finding a sale and creating extravagant memories on a budget is kind of my jam. This holiday season will be no different! Here is my guide to hosting this holiday season on a budget, enjoy!
Last year was our first year hosting Thanksgiving for both sides of our family. Yes, you read that correct and yes, there was a total of twelve of us last year. Thankfully Aaron’s family is used to big family gatherings and my parents were in town to make sure I remembered things like serving trays. This year we are planning to spend Thanksgiving in Ohio with Aaron’s family before heading back to Florida for Christmas.
This post is going to be broken up into three different sections: where to save, where to splurge and how to budget for the holiday’s.
Where To Save
Whether you are hosting a friendsgiving, your entire family or just you and your significant other, it’s important to map out a few places you can easily save. When we were planning to host Thanksgiving last year, we suddenly realized there were MANY household items we simply did not have. For example, if you’re not hosting on the regular you might not think to have a 21” serving platter.
Here are a few ways and areas we saved money last year:
Purchased additional dishes, serving trays, knives, and bowls at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
Asked each family member to bring one side dish to Thanksgiving dinner. All of those dishes can add up fast! It was fun and allowed everyone to feel included in the day, by bringing their favorite side item.
Used decorations we already had. This was a huge one for Aaron, he does an amazing job at organizing all of our holiday decorations so there isn’t any double buying.
Opted to visit Aldi for our veggies, appetizers and drinks. We’ve been shopping at Aldi for years now, and love their low prices, especially when you’re planning to host 10-15 people at your house.
Create a signature cocktail in a pitcher! This allows everyone to enjoy a cocktail or three, without spending large amounts of money on different liquors.
Where To Splurge
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of attending one of our parties then you know we’re firm believers in having nice wine, liquor, and cocktails. It’s just an area that we’re not willing to cut corners on. Instead of purchasing all of the wine and liquor in the same week or month, we slowly purchasing bottles throughout the year. That way when it comes time for the holiday’s there’s less alcohol to be purchased which makes the overall budget that month lighter!
Making sure that all of our family was comfortable was another area neither of us was willing to cut corners on. Since our dining table was not going to fit both sides of our family, we decided to purchase tables that could fit in the living room. Yes, it was an additional cost but it allowed everyone to have a true “dinner” experience.
Since I’m not a huge bakery or frankly that great at it, I also decided to splurge on Cheryl’s Cookies for the day! Not only is our family a huge fan of the cookies, they taste delicious and save us so much time baking different desserts.
How To Budget
Each family is different when it comes to your traditions, but we budgeted $40 per person. This included: appetizers, main dish and drinks. Since we’re both planners and believe in making small adjustments to our budget, not big- we decided to start saving for the holiday’s in September last year and did the same this year.
Save as you can each month and before you know it, you’ll have a nice chunk of change for the holidays this year! Trust me, you would rather start saving today instead of feeling the pressure a month or two from now.
With everything going on this year, I hope you are able to take some time this holiday season relax with your loved ones. And if you’re hosting for the holiday’s I would love to hear your tips and tricks in the comments below!