How to Host a Budget Christmas Party

My best friend and I host a holiday party every year in her dorm room. Since we are college students, we consider ourselves experts on doing everything on a tight budget. This year the purse strings are tight for everyone, so I wanted to share some of our tips for keeping the cost low but still having a great party.

Instead of everyone giving each other gifts, we tell everyone to bring one wrapped gift. It can be serious or funny, but it must be something suitable for anyone attending the party. We limit the gift-giving budget to $10, but no one has to spend anything, since homemade gifts are perfectly acceptable. When everyone arrives we collect the gifts under our "tree" (it is really a branch) and then towards the end of the party we number the gifts and throw the same numbers in a jar. We go around the room and everyone pulls out a number. If they get their own gift, they put it back in the jar and pick a new one. Once everyone has a number we start opening the gifts, starting with number one. It is a lot of fun as people try to figure out who brought their gift and everyone is laughing and hugging.

We always make sure to save on our budget by never having a mealtime party. If we had to provide dinner for everyone, we would probably go broke. Instead, we start the party in the late evening, after everyone has already had dinner. We just set out some cookies and eggnog, which are delicious and much cheaper than a pan of lasagna.

For decorations, we go the cheapest route possible. Instead of going out and buying bows and flower arrangements, we make everything out of construction paper. We have a lot of fun setting up for the party, cutting little snowflakes out and hanging them up with string. Making paper chains is also a fun idea for decorating. You can make gingerbread man or Christmas tree chains and cover them in glitter.

The holiday music doesn't need to cost you a cent. Many radio stations play a constant stream of Christmas songs this time of year, so you can set up a radio in a corner. Or, for some more fun, my friend and I like to find a radio station from another country and stream it on our computer during the party. Everyone always enjoys the songs and tries to figure out what language they are.

A Christmas party really does not need to be budget draining to be lots of fun. Everyone enjoys getting dressed up and just hanging around with friends, relaxing and talking. It is easy to get caught up in the crowd at this time of year, and the best parties are the ones that let friends spend quality time together.