98. 11 Tips for Hosting a Budget Friendly Christmas Party

In this episode, financial coach and money mindset specialist Laura Sexton shares 11 practical tips for hosting a festive and budget-friendly Christmas party. Laura provides advice on setting a realistic budget, leveraging potlucks and digital invitations, DIY holiday decor, and keeping food and drink costs low with appetizers and affordable drink options. She also emphasizes the importance of low-cost engaging activities, simple yet impactful decor, and fun, frugal gift exchange ideas. Laura integrates her personal experiences and encourages an approach that prioritizes meaningful family and friend interactions over extravagant spending.

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Transcript

Laura: 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Accelerate Your Legacy podcast. I'm Laura Sexton, your trusted financial coach and money mindset specialist. Join me as we explore the world of money and money mindset while also paving the way for a lasting legacy that extends far beyond money. Together we'll eliminate stress, amplify freedom, and ensure you stop paying for your past so you can start saving for your future. If you're seeking peace in your finances, more margin in your budget, and a legacy that inspires generations to come, you're in the right place. Hey Accelerators, today we are going to be talking about 11 tips for hosting a budget friendly Christmas party. The podcast today is designed to provide practical advice, emphasize mindful spending, and highlight how you can create a warm, festive atmosphere on a budget. So let's break it down. Hosting doesn't have to mean financial stress. We see all over Instagram, right? We see all the beautiful parties and the over decorated. We see it. I watch the Hallmark Channel all the time. I know how you are feeling right now because I want to do it bigger and better too. Well, we don't have to the decorations and the extravagant gifts. That's not what Christmas is all about. So let's choose this year, how we're going to spend our money because holiday season expenses can creep up. There's a lot of pressure when we're the ones hosting the party. And sometimes the only reason we're hosting the party is because nobody else offered. And we just are really in the Christmas spirit. And this can be a problem. The Christmas spirit is beautiful. It's wonderful. It's magical, but it can sometimes get away from us. I know I'm at least speaking for myself here. I can get a little crazy at Christmas time, and that is why we upped our Christmas budget this year. We're trying to reduce the number of presents we're getting for each child. We are trying to be in alignment. Christmas can get crazy. These 11 tips that I have for you today are going to help you create that festive environment, keep your guests really happy, avoid breaking the bank, and keep you in the holiday spirit. So we're going to start with The planning and preparation and you can guess where I'm going to start. If you've listened to this podcast at all, you know what I'm going to say. Set a realistic budget for your holiday party. Now look, holiday spending limits are hard to stick with, but you have to write down how much you are willing to spend on this party and then you have to stick with it. There's no reason for you to break the bank on a holiday party. You're going to need different categories for the budget. You need your food category, your decoration category, and your entertainment category. And yes, throughout these next 10 tips, I have plenty of ideas on how you can keep those costs down. But one of the best things you can do when making this budget is set your priorities. What I mean by this is go ahead and write down what the most important things are at the very top of the list and then go down from there. The things at the bottom of the list are the least important. Things at the top of the list are the most important. You spend your money on the big things, on the important things, on the things at the top of the list. And if you run out of money, the things at the bottom you've already said are the least important things. And we, if we have to cut them, we just cut them and it's okay. okay. But if you try to fill up all the things that you need to do, and the thing at the very top of the list is the last thing you go to purchase and you don't have the money for it, you're more likely to overspend. You're more likely to break the budget. You're more likely to use a credit card. If you have that big thing as the last thing that you purchase. So make sure that's at the top of the budget. That's the first thing you buy. It's the first thing you budget for. You set the money aside for whatever that big thing is for you. So set a realistic budget. That's thing number one. And with that budget, set your priorities so you can cut from the bottom. Okay, thing number two in planning and preparation. Guys, just make it a potluck. Potlucks are an easy way to reduce the cost while giving guests a role in making the event a success. If you have a friend that's a vegetarian, Let them make something and bring it and then there's no pressure on them for being the outsider or the quote unquote weirdo Right, they get to be a part of the party and they will guarantee They will have something they enjoy eating at this party I am that weirdo, my friends. I'm the weird one that has, I don't eat cheese and that's weird, especially at a holiday party. I have a friend that makes the most beautiful charcuterie. She made it for Friendsgiving and she made this delicious salad. And she looked at me when she brought the salad in and she looked at me and goes, I put the cheese in it. It was so funny. She's the sweetest thing in the entire world. And you know what? I'm the weirdo, so it's my problem, not hers. And I have to eat around it. I have to figure it out. And it's fine, because that's a me thing, not a you thing. I think more people need to understand that. If everybody can coordinate on dishes so that we don't bring duplicates, it is wonderful to have a potluck. The way that we coordinate on this usually is by doing something like signupgenius is a great free resource where everybody that's signs up to bring something different. You can have a text chain going, whatever it is you need to do. Get the potluck running. If you're the person that is known for bringing the most delicious brisket to the party, guess what we're all going to expect you to bring? The most delicious brisket. But if you are saying, hey, that's not in my budget this year, go ahead and tell us that or sign up for something different. Go ahead and just call it out. Be like, hey, I'm gonna bring the salad and the rolls this year. Great, then we're not expecting you to bring something that you're not willing to or wanting to do. That's a hundred percent fine. Potlucks are fabulous. And for whatever reason, they've gone out of style. And I say, let's bring them back. The last item on my list for planning and preparation is a pretty simple one. And it's really great for where we're at in society these days. So number three on the list, use digital invitations. I recommend any kind of digital invitation. Evite, which is a free online invitation tool. You know, what else is great? Text messages, people open those, people see those. These are not only budget friendly, they're eco friendly. It's not so great for the U S post office because they're not getting your 75 cents per letter that you're sending out, but it is really great for the environment. I love. I'm just going to be honest. I love a good paper invitation. I don't get very many of them anymore. I sent them out for my son's birthday party because I don't have the phone number for all the little boys in his class. So we got the very cheap ones from Target. And we hand wrote where to meet at what time. They weren't super custom, but they were personalized and they were good enough. But when it comes to doing potlucks and things like that, a sign up genius, an evite, a text message, that is enough for your holiday party. And guys, it's fine. It's totally okay. You can do any way you want to do this. It's totally fine. But remember If paper invitations are high up on your list, they can be high up on your list. That's one of the things you want to budget for, but if You're cutting things from your list. This is a really great place to cut and to put at the very bottom because a text message works really, really well. Okay, friends, we're going to move from planning and preparation to budget friendly decorations. I got so many ideas on this and I got really excited about this and I'm excited to go through the next couple of points with you on ways to make your holiday party budget friendly. So the first one is DIY holiday decor. Y'all, you can get creative with homemade decorations. Pine cones, ornaments, paper snowflakes. Y'all, paper snowflakes are super fun if you don't remember how to do them. Maybe I'll do a video one day because my mother has the most beautiful paper snowflakes ever. And it's because of how you fold them. If you don't fold them right, I mean I grew up in Texas and we folded them wrong a lot. But once you learn how to do them and do them right, you can get some pretty awesome snowflakes going. But here's the other thing. If you have kids, let your kids make some of your decorations because your friends aren't gonna come in and be like, Oh my goodness, your decorations look like your children made them. If your friends do that, you need new friends, but if your kids are making your decorations and they're like, Oh my goodness, your kids made these decorations. They're so awesome. It adds a personal touch. Get your kids involved. Your kids don't have to come to your holiday party for the record. If they are coming, let them be a part of it. Say, you know, we're excited. Kids are welcome. Kids bring an ornament or kids bring something that you can add to the festive wall decor. If your kids are not coming, you know a great way to get them to not be bummed out about not coming. Hey kids, you get to help make the decorations and then they're gonna be so excited. They get to be a part of it, even though they don't get to be there. Here's another fun decoration story that I have. One year we had a Gingerbread decorating contest. Now gingerbread houses fall down a lot. They can be very difficult to stay up, especially if your materials aren't great or if your icing isn't Staying cold enough. Warm icing spreads, cold icing sticks. But if you're in a room with a whole bunch of people that are breathing on top of this gingerbread house because they're trying to make theirs be the standout, they fall down a lot. So we had a mom bring a giant dinosaur, giant T Rex and it looks like it's stomping through the house. So it's supposed to have fallen down. It was great. That's one of my favorite Christmas memories this gingerbread house with a dinosaur eating a Sour Patch kid. It's the only thing I want a dinosaur to eat. Dinosaurs can eat Sour Patch kids and no other kids. So make it fun. Make it festive. It doesn't have to be perfect. If you have to have the perfect Christmas, I hate to tell you friends, it's, it's going to be very stressful for you. And I don't want these to be stressful. They're supposed to be fun. They're supposed to be magical. So tip number five, go ahead and repurpose what you have. Any existing holiday decor that you have is great. Rearrange it. Repurpose lights from ornaments or from an old decorative piece. Borrow from a friend. This is another really great thing. our mom's group would do themed tables. Because we had about eight different tables in the room. So each table had a different theme and everybody at the table brought something that went along with that theme. Everybody brings something to go with a theme. Now, if you're having a party at your house and it's a potluck, you pick the theme and then everybody can bring a decor piece that goes with that theme. Yes, they're also bringing a dish. So it is a bring it kind of party. Guess what? You are not required to do 100 percent of everything all by yourself. It is more fun and interactive if I get to be a piece of your party. I want to be a piece of your party. I want to be helpful. And sometimes people don't know how to ask how to be helpful, and they need you to tell them. So if you say, Hey, I need you to bring a dish, bring a decor item that goes with the theme, and then bring the last thing that we're going to talk about in a few minutes. And then you've brought three things that made this party absolutely magical, and it would not have been the same had you not been here. Tip number six, keep it minimal, keep it simple. And this has to do with all decorations. A few well chosen decorations can have a really big impact. So keep it simple. Keep it classy. When it comes to centerpieces, candles and greenery are elegant and a very low cost. You want them to be low to the table anyway. You can't have high centerpieces. When you have high centerpieces, you can't see across the table to talk to the people across from you. People make this mistake all the time. all the time. So I can only talk to the people to my left or to my right. I can't talk across the table. That's missing out on key pieces of connection. Candles are really nice as long as they're unscented. If you're eating at the table, unscented candles are the way to go. And the cool thing about candles is they can be totally different sizes. They can be different widths, they can be different heights and it's kind of cool. They don't need to be uniform because fire doesn't burn uniformly. Okay, let's move on to food and drinks on a budget. Tip number seven, focus on appetizers or desserts. Instead of a full meal, try a budget friendly appetizer and dessert option. So, one of the things we like to do, we have a leaders only Christmas party at our mom's group. Yes, a lot of these have to do with our mom's group, but before I was part of a mom's group, a lot of my Christmas parties just involved drinking. Just to be completely honest, I worked in Hollywood and if you were having a Christmas party, it was either going home and being with my family. So there weren't really Christmas parties. It was just Christmas with the family, which is totally great. And I absolutely love that. But I never had a real Christmas party. That wasn't just a drink fest in college or with my Hollywood buddies. This is my first entree into adulthood, right? When I became a mom, adulting looked different and my priorities were a lot different. And my focus is a lot different now that I'm a mom. So my mom's group and I have these leaders only parties where we get together and half the group brings. appetizers and half of the group brings dessert. Sometimes we split it up, A through H does one thing and L through Z does the other. Sometimes we split it up based on what your preferences are. Cheese boards can get crazy expensive if you are not paying attention. So pay attention to what you're spending on that. But charcuterie boards are great. You can go on Pinterest or Instagram and find all kinds of festive holiday boards. There are candy boards. There are all kinds of things that you can do. I really love, and I'm just gonna throw out my favorite holiday appetizer. And I expect that if we go to a party together, I'm probably going to make this. But I love bacon wrapped stuffing, which was a recipe I found on Pinterest. And I've been obsessed with it ever since. It is exactly what it sounds. You get stovetop stuffing and you cook it up and then you wrap it in bacon and you stick it in the oven until the bacon gets crispy. And then you. Have a dipping sauce of cranberry sauce and cream cheese. I don't eat cream cheese, but everybody said that this was the most amazing dip for this particular appetizer. I didn't take any of them home. They all got eaten. And I will make them again and again and again because they are so stinking delicious. And if you have leftovers from Thanksgiving, although by the time this comes out, I hope you've eaten all of your leftovers. But stovetop's really cheap if you want to go pick them up. Tip number eight, use affordable drink options. This could mean a couple of things. It could mean opting for hot chocolate instead of alcohol. It could mean having a BYOD, bring your own drink. Or it could be something like having one or two signature cocktails instead of a full bar. Like punch bowls, mulled ciders, those are all festive and they're cost effective. But for those that want to have alcohol at the party, budget friendly wine and champagne is totally fine. My favorite wine is 5 at Target. My favorite champagne is 7 at Target. I don't need it to be crazy expensive. And if people want that, they can bring their own. And that's okay. But having hot chocolate or having one or two signature drinks or having people bring their own is an absolutely fabulous way to keep your cost as the host down. Okay, we're going to move on to entertainment and activities. Tip number nine, plan low cost engaging activities. I have had some of the funnest times at parties with the weirdest games. So last year my mom had us play bingo and everybody that won got to pick a chocolate bar and there was money on the back of the chocolate bar. I really love red solo cups. You throw a ping pong ball into them and whatever it lands in, you get that prize. That's pretty fun. There've been really great games going around Instagram that are hysterical where you put red solo cups at the end of your hands and you try to pick up marshmallows or those little pom poms. It's so funny, blindfolded, spatula in one hand, paper plate in the other, and there's a counter full of Christmas bows, and you're trying to spatula up the bows, and whoever has the most on their plate wins at the end of the game. That's pretty fun. I also, saw the mom's version of Hungry, Hungry Hippo, where the women lay on the floor, they get shoved out and they're trying to get the bows off the floor and whoever has the most bows at the end wins. That's hysterical. Make the games fun if you want to have games. You don't have to have games, but I always enjoy them and I think they're really fun. Reindeer games, someone said, and I was like, yes, a hundred percent. Tip number 10, use music and lighting for atmosphere. Music can set the mood for. Any occasion and it costs nothing if you have an old NSYNC Christmas CD, that's the one to put on if I am there, but if not, Spotify plays music for free. You have to listen to a commercial every 30 seconds, but it's worth it. You can find Christmas CDs. Channels on the radio. Ours is KOST 103. 5 and I listen to it starting today. Let's go all the Christmas music I'm excited. Lighting like string lights like candles all of that creates ambiance and it's incredibly affordable and cost effective. You probably already have them out at your house If you have a Christmas tree up and now we come to that last thing that I told you you were going to have to Bring to the party and that is a gift for a game With a twist. So there are plenty of fun and frugal gift exchange ideas, like white elephants or secret Santas. These gift exchanges can be really fun as long as you put a small spending limit or make it a re gift only exchange. That can make things really funny. And what are we trying to do at these parties? Are we trying to one up each other with gifts? Or are we trying to have a good time? We're trying to have a good time. Now, thinking back to our mom's group leadership party, we have a favorite things exchange. We do it as a white elephant type go around, right? Everybody gets a number and the first person gets the first pick and then they're stealing involved and it's super fun, but we only bring things that are in our favorites list. Now I got really excited by a day planner one time and that was nobody else's favorite thing, but it's one of my favorite things. So I brought it and everybody else was like, that's weird. Okay. I have brought mini waffle makers. I have brought my friction pins that people know that I'm obsessed with. One year. I brought. Some earrings by Nickle and Suede, which is one of my absolute favorite places to get earrings from. And every time I've left with something that I'm really excited about. I've never left one of these parties with something. I'm like, yeah, whatever. I think I still have a gift card from the last time I went. Oh my goodness, guys, if you haven't used your gift cards from last year, now's the time. Use them for next year's gifts. So just check it out. To recap, the 11 tips for hosting a budget friendly Christmas. Set a realistic budget, which may be the most important tip, guys. Set a realistic budget. Make the party a potluck. Use digital invitations. Use DIY holiday decor. Repurpose what you already have or borrow from a friend. Keep centerpieces and decorations minimal and simple. Focus on appetizers and desserts. Use affordable drink options. Plan low cost engaging activities or reindeer games. Use music and lighting for atmosphere. And have a gift exchange with a twist. The spirit of the holiday is the magic of family and friendship. We are blessed to have Christmas because Christ came to earth as a little baby, made himself completely vulnerable, so that he could have every human experience that you had as well. The simplicity of growing up, being a baby in a manger, And the simplicity of your Christmas party can go hand in hand. You don't have to make grand gestures for everyone out there to like you. You can grow up a carpenter. People will still like you. Thoughtful touches to your party will make it memorable and you don't have to overspend. So listeners, I invite you to try one more. All of these tips You can either email me, Laura at accelerate your legacy, or you can go over to Instagram and chat with me there at accelerate your legacy. I love getting to talk with each and every one of you. All right, that's it for this week accelerators. I hope that you have absolutely magical Christmas parties next week. I think next week we're going to talk about how to not overspend on Christmas gifts this year. I've had a couple of people ask me about that, and I wasn't planning on having it as 1 of our podcast episodes. But it has come up so much and I've had so many people reach out and ask more about that. So I'm going to have some of those tips for you here in case you haven't already spent all of your Christmas money, if you haven't, I have some great gift giving budget ideas for you. So I will talk to you about the thin accelerators. Go out this week and make a difference. Thank you for investing your time with us today on the Accelerate Your Legacy podcast. Remember, your legacy isn't just measured in dollars and cents, but in the tools, habits, mindset, and reputation you leave behind. Don't just listen to the show, but take action on what you've learned. Share this wisdom with a friend who can benefit and help us spread the word by rating and reviewing the podcast. For questions or encouragement, reach out to me on Instagram at Accelerate Your Legacy or explore the resources listed in the show notes. I will be back with you next week. Until then, build your legacy with intention.