Everyone wants to host a holiday party at some point in their lives. I mean, why wouldn’t you? You get to invite all of your friends and family over and you get to have a great time with all of them. Plus, you get to enjoy some delicious foods and drinks. Unfortunately, hosting a holiday party can easily double or even triple the amount of money you’ll spend on groceries. Below, I’m going to give you some tips that will help you save money if you’re trying to host a holiday party.

#1. Use Cheaper Alternatives

Are you thinking about serving prime rib at your party? If you’re on a budget, you may want to reconsider. Instead, you could choose a cheaper alternative, such as chuck roast, rump roast or rib roast. When you serve the food, you want to make sure you offer plenty of condiments and garnishes. That way, people won’t notice they’re eating cheaper alternatives when they add some gravy or maybe even some horseradish to their dish.

Also, you may want to consider purchasing a honey baked ham as your main item. Ham is a great choice, it’s cheap and it will last for quite some time. Therefore, if there are leftovers, you could reuse the leftovers for a meal later in the week.

 #2. What to Do with Expensive Ingredients

Okay, so you still want to include some expensive ingredients like salmon or lobster at your holiday party. If you buy enough of these ingredients to present everyone with their own platter, you’re going to blow through your budget. Instead, consider only getting enough to make a soup or a dipping sauce out of these items. That way, you can still feature them at your dinner party and you won’t have to spend as much money.

#3. Make Plenty of Side Dishes

If you have plenty of side dishes to offer everyone, it will take their mind off of the main menu item.

#4. Don’t Supply the Alcohol

Alcohol can easily go through your budget, especially if you have some wine snobs as friends. If you want, you can ask your guests to bring the drinks and you’ll supply the meal.

#5. Have a Casual Dinner

Consider keeping your holiday party more casual than some sort of fancy feast. With a casual atmosphere, you could make a crockpot of chili and serve that as the main course. A lot of people these days have a frugal mindset, so they’re certainly not going to judge you.

#6. Save Your Leftovers

I try not to waste any more food than possible, so I always make sure that I keep leftovers. However, I do know a lot of people that will just throw leftovers out. This is a waste of food and you’re essentially throwing money in the trash can, as well. Instead of throwing stuff away, you should wrap it up and store it in the refrigerator and/or freezer. You may even have enough leftovers that you can heat up later in the week, so you don’t have to cook meal.