How to Save Money on Holiday Entertaining

Entertaining guests can be fun to do during the holidays. However, at the same time it can burn a hole in your budget quickly. Therefore, I decided to put together this mini guide on how to save money on holiday entertaining this year so you can focus on having fun with your guests instead of thinking about how you will replace the finances spent entertaining them.

Set a Budget

Before you go to the store to purchase anything, it is important that you have a budget in place. Regardless of how good the “deals” look while in the store DO NOT go over your budget. I understand 100% it can be easy to just swipe your card and say you will pay it back later, but don’t do this.

In fact, to avoid overspending, I would recommend that you only carry the exact amount of cash with you to the store to make sure you cannot afford to purchase anything that was not budgeted in.

Ask for Help

If dinner is involved it is okay to ask the guests to bring their own dish. In fact, some guests are already accustomed to attending events where they will contribute to the entertainment. During the holidays money can already be stretched, so there is no way that a guest should expect you to cover 100% of the expenses and contribute nothing. 

If they don’t want to cook a dish give them the option of contributing some money towards the meal.

Make Your Own Decorations

Pinterest is full of easy to do tutorials for all sorts of crafts and decorations. The best thing about making your own decorations is you can literally get all of the supplies that you need from a dollar store. While we all like to impress our guests when entertaining them, you do not have to put yourself in the “poor house” trying to keep up with the Jones. 

I am sure you are not inviting total strangers to your home. Therefore, friends and family should still be able to come over for an event without expecting luxurious decorations. Besides, who throws those types of lavish parties besides the rich?

Shop at the Farmer’s Market

A turkey is not necessary for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. You eat meals all year without this expensive bird, so don’t go broke or without, trying to scramble up money for it during the holidays, if you cannot afford it. Instead, shop at the Farmer’s Market and base your meals off what they have available.

This is a great suggestion because when the end of the year nears farmer’s start selling their end of season produce for super cheap prices. 

If you want to save money and start the next year with more money in your account instead of less, give some of the tips that I have mentioned above a try and see what a difference they make.

How do you save money when entertaining during the holidays?

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