Holiday festivities on a budget
- Author: FruGal
- Filed under: Christmas
Nov 22,2009
It’s getting to those last few weeks before Christmas when you start getting endless emails from everyone you know about meeting up for drinks before Christmas (even those people you haven’t seen since Christmas drinks last year).
And so begins the season of debauchery.
As you are well aware, meeting up with different people for dinner or drinks every night can get massively expensive.
So this year we are planning on doing more celebrating at home than usual. Having people around for supper and drinks works out a lot cheaper than hitting up restaurants and bars, especially if everyone brings a bottle of wine. And you also save a bunch on all those £30 black cab rides home after too much champagne when you’ve missed the last tube.
There’s been a lot written lately about how dinner parties are back in fashion these days now that everyone is giving the expensive restaurants a miss. Are you? Got any other tips for frugal socialising over the holiday season?
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4 Responses for "Holiday festivities on a budget"
Sounds like a great idea. I was wondering though, do you live centrally in London, or are all your friends nearby? I lived in London for 6 years and I found that hardly no one wanted to come round to your house, they’d much rather go to the pub after work, mostly because the pub was central rather than hiking back across the city at the end of the night. It was a bit different when I was in Holborn and my partner in Islington, but when we moved out there was no chance of getting mates over.
Now we’re back in Aus it’s almost exactly the opposite, everything’s done at home mostly on weekends, and we rarely catch up in town.
Firstly – hi, not commented before but have read your blog for a long time.
My tips would be:-
1. If you are going out don’t even consider buying something new. Plan an evening to ’shop’ in your wardrobe with a glass of wine and some nice music.
2. If you have kids and therefore friends with kids do an afternoon drinks thing. No need to mass cater and everyone feels included. Nice and festive to include the little ones.
3. Remember the makings of a good night with friends – much laughter and good conversation. Not what you wore, the new handbag you used, the restaurant you ate in or the champagne you drank.
I’d say that maybe learn how to make one easy dish so you can make it over and over for different parties!
@ Nicky it can be tricky, especially as London is such a huge place and your friends are likely to be spread all over the place. But I find that the people I pop to the pub with after work are not really the people I would invite round for supper. As long as you give plenty of notice and it’s not a last-minute suggestion, I’ve never had a problem. But I do agree, that as an Aussie as well, going round to someone’s home is a much more Australian thing to do. I guess we are just more laid-back than the English!
@Anna thanks for the great tips! I am totally happier in a group of good friends with a bottle of wine at home rather than in an uptight restaurant!
@ Mrs Money: agreed. My speciality is chicken and veg pie. I think I’ve cooked that for everyone I know!
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