Feel free to also check out my guest post at Car Negotiation Coach, The Internet – Negotiating Made Simple!
I know I’ve blogged about potlucks before, but Mr. BFS and I just hosted our annual Halloween Potluck Board Gaming Party. I just worked the numbers – it was pretty cheap and got my house clean too!
We used to have dinner parties but the hit every month for whoever hosting was easily $100-$200 depending on the dishes they chose to cook. It also took hours to prepare. Then we started all contributing a dish or two and the costs plummeted – so did the prep time.
This last potluck was by far the best one we’ve ever hosted in my opinion. We all agreed on the theme being “Finger Food”, lol. I was able to decorate and provide a few dishes for a total of $50. Here was our breakdown:
- Sweet Potatoes: $2.00
- Peanut Butter “Monster Fingers” Cookies: $Negligible
- Mini Egg Rolls: $4.00
- Pizza Rolls: $4.00
- Tea: $Negligible
- 2 Plug-In Jack-O’-Lanterns – $12
- 2 Halloween Table Covers – $3
- 4 Halloween Tea-Light Candle Holders – $8
- Halloween Serving Bowls – $6
- Halloween Soap for Bathroom – $2
- Black and Orange Hand-Drying Towels for Bathroom – $4
- Disposable Dinner Ware – $5
- Grand Total – $50
Whoo-Hoo!!! Everybody seemed to have a great time, my husband helped me clean and organize our whole bottom floor, and I stayed within the $50 simple budget to boot! I call that a complete success for 9 hours of entertainment (6pm-3am)! Best of all, none of our guests seemed to have needed a budget helper either to attend although a few made pretty long drives to be there. We were happy to see them!
I know that Nicole and Maggie wrote about hosting parties today, so have you ever hosted a potluck? What suggestions could make a potluck even better?
Oh hey, this matches with our post today. I should have linked this one…
We’re going to be hosting a potluck this weekend. I’m glad I’m not the only one who views a clean house as a benefit of having people over
@Nicole, I see you actually have linked – thanks! I can’t get to your site from work, but I’ll be sure to reciprocate when I get home.
@Jackie, it is at least 25% of the benefit in my opinion, lol. It’s one of the few times hubby helps without complaint too.
I wish I lived close enough to attend your potlucks!
I love potlucks, I am cohosting one this Sunday. However, it is for the 9th grade, so it won’t be as fun as playing games with pals!
No I haven’t but it sounds like a great idea! Maybe for Christmas, I’ll beg my wife to do one (lol).
Refried beans, chips, salsa–if you make the beans yourself (easy), it’s cheap and healthy.
@Everyday Tips, I wish you could come to my potlucks too.
Good luck with all the 9th graders!
@Money Reasons, you won’t have to beg too hard if you volunteer to help clean and cook.
@frugalscholar, good idea!
You guy are crazy playing board games until 3am! I couldn’t do that at all. What games do you all play?
@Jeff, hahaha. We play games like Power Grid, Vikings, Finca, Brass, Carcasonne, Ingenious, Ticket to Ride, Tribune, Dominion, Thurns and Taxis, etc. Euro board games – strategy games. They’re fun and you can easily get lost in them for hours!
Hey Crystal, Thanks for the guest post!
Having a theme and coordinating dishes is key. I once went to a potluck where 5 people brought pasta salad. (Mine was the best of the 5 of course).
I love potlucks.
@Car Negotiation Coach, thanks for letting me post!
@First Gen, lol, I bet your pasta salad was indeed the best.
Thanks for that. We’re having a little potluck party next week, kind of for Christmas I guess and I’ve been trying to find something unique.. found some awesome ideas at this potluck recipes site. You know, someone should invent a website where you can write what you’ll be taking, and it would make sure no one brings the same thing!
@Derrick, my friends and I use the Evite system and everybody writes in their dish either when they RSVP or when they make up their minds…it really saves us from having doubled dishes. We’ve also assigned dishes before to save on the hassle factor, but that only works with groups that know each other well enough not to get ticked off at the audacity of it, lol.
Potlucks truly are my FAVORITE way to have fun with friends and save money! HurrAY!
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