Entertaining on a Budget

I LOVE to entertain. I love having people in my home, filling up the place with loud conversation and laughter. But, as we all know, entertaining can get EXPENSIVE fast!!! By the time you buy groceries, drinks, and (after forgetting at least twice) run back to the store for fresh flowers and more ice, you’ve spent enough to feed your family for month!

I have found some great ways to entertain on a budget. So don’t stop socializing just because you can’t afford to break the bank to do it!

First, an-old fashioned pot luck can be so much fun! A dinner party is so much more interesting if your guests bring something to share. Guests are invested in the experience and the pressure is off the hostess! My favorite way to host a pot luck is to choose a theme for the guests. Have an Italian night or a Mediteranean theme – there’s no end to the options! Ask each guest to sign up to bring something on evite or another on line forum so it’s easy for everyone to see what’s still needed (no one wants to end up with 4 plates of humus and no main dishes). Ask those that don’t like to cook to be in charge of drinks, napkins, board games for later etc.

Another great option is hosting your own iron chef competition. Jill had a mac n cheese contest at her house awhile back. Every family brought a mac n cheese entry and Jill had awards for winners in the “kids’ choice” and “grown ups favorites” categories.
Something I’m planning to try this winter (this one is really just for grown ups) is a beer tasting. I’m planning to make a big pot of chili and have each guest bring a different unique beer selection (not anything commercial). Making chili and a little corn bread is cheap and very easy, and each guest only has to spend a few dollars on beer. The taste test can be done blind by covering the labels on the beer. This kind of thing is much more fun if you create little score cards for each participant to write their notes down. Make the cards similar to those you would use for a wine tasting – because it’s sooooo funny to hear a big beer guzzling guy describe the nose on a hefeweizen or the notes in a pilsner!!

Have fun with entertaining but most importantly remember, you don’t have to have the house in perfect condition to entertain. Let go of your perfectionism – these are your FRIENDS after all! They know you’re not perfect and believe me they have pets that shed, and messy kids too.

Please share your ideas for entertaining on a budget! We would really love to hear from you!

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www.LaBump.com was created by 3 sisters with the help of our mother, better known as “Amma” to all of our little ones. We believe that every woman should have access to fabulous maternity clothing and beautiful, gently used children’s clothing and gear. We spent years sending the same old box o’ maternity clothes back and forth to each other in an effort to share cute maternity wear among sisters. Finally, we concluded that there must be more women out there like us, looking for maternity clothing and gently used toys and items for their little ones. We started this site as a way to expand our own network and hopefully help other mommies do the same. As every smart mommy knows, one of the ultimate forms of recycling is recirculating gently used items for children and mothers. We have put a new spin on typical hand me down clothing by creating a network of women in your city who can buy sell and trade maternity clothing and accessories and gently used clothing, toys, and gear for our little ones.