Friendsgiving Ideas on Any Budget

You’re not alone if you won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving with your own family.

Maybe you can’t afford to travel to be with your parents. Or, perhaps you have to work over the holiday. If you are flying solo without local family around, you may even decide to host the holiday at your house and create your own Friendsgiving tradition.

Being the host allows you to set the menu and invite who you want. You can spend as much as you’d like on your Friendsgiving dinner. At the same time, you may be limited by budgetary constraints. Fortunately for you, there are tons of Friendsgiving ideas for every budget that can make your event a memorable one. Take a look.

Low Budget ($20-40)

Unfortunately, it’s tough to have a free Friendsgiving dinner – unless, of course, you provide no food yourself. As the host with the most, this probably won’t go over well with your friends. But, you can host Friendsgiving for as little as $20 to $40. Here are some Friendgivings ideas for a low-cost event:

Food

Why not make it a budget meal and ask your friends to pitch in? For example, ask one person to bring the stuffing, another to make the potatoes, and so on. In fact, if you supply only the turkey, gravy, and beverages, you can probably keep your costs to around $30 to $40, depending on how many people you invite.

Invitations

Invite your friends by word of mouth, social media, or free e-invitations found on the Internet.

Decorations

You can make your own Friendsgiving decorations using supplies you have at home or ask to borrow stuff from your friends. For example, use paper sacks to create placemats. Twigs and bits of greenery can also spruce things up, and a single pumpkin in the center of the table makes for a great centerpiece.

Entertainment

Play music you already have, or put a friend in charge of this. You can also forego music and simply enjoy each other’s company.

Moderate Budget ($40-100)

For those who have a little more to spend on Friendsgiving, you may be able to pay for everything yourself – if you budget wisely. Check out our suggestions:

Food

With a little planning, you can buy a turkey on sale at your local grocery store. Do the same with the stuffing, potatoes, and other foods you plan to serve.

If any of your menu items are canned or boxed, you can also stock up ahead of time by purchasing these on sale or using coupons. You may also want to consider serving only flavored waters and other low-cost beverages instead of wine and beer, as alcohol can get expensive.

Invitations

You can still use social media and free e-invites if you wish. However, you can also print them up from your home computer and mail them. Assuming you aren’t having a gathering of the masses, postage shouldn’t cost more than a few dollars and your guests will enjoy receiving mail that isn’t junk.

Decorations

To create a festive Friendsgiving table while keeping costs down, try picking up a couple of yards of burlap to make placemats and a table runner. For a centerpiece, buy a pumpkin and some small gourds, and add some votives or other candles you have on hand. You can also collect and use pinecones from your yard or a nearby park. Artistically arrange everything and you will have a beautiful table your friends will admire.

Entertainment

You can sign up for the commercial-free version of Pandora for $5 to have some background music for your Friendsgiving. Or, you can place a friend in charge for free.

Go All Out ($100 and up)

Of course, when you have plenty of money, you can host Friendsgiving without having to worry about the cost. Here are some options:

Food

You can relax and let someone else do the work if you choose. Have your meal catered or order all the fixings ahead of time from your local supermarket. All you’ll have to do is pick the meal up and set everything up before your guests arrive. Of course, if money is absolutely no issue, you can always take all your friends out for dinner and foot the bill for everyone. Just make sure you check ahead of time to ensure the eating establishment of your choice will be open and available. Many restaurants offer set price menus and seating times for Thanksgiving, so you may be better off making a reservation ahead of time.

Invitations

Have fancy invitations printed from a local print shop, or design them yourself and have them shipped to you ahead of time. You can then mail them out and await the responses from your appreciative friends.

Decorations

To decorate your home and dining room, you can buy decorations at a local craft store or even order a fancy centerpiece. Or, if you’re planning to eat out, talk to the restaurant ahead of time to plan for your ideal Friendsgiving table decorations.

Entertainment

If you want to go all out, you can hire a DJ. For a more low-key option, you can purchase special music that you can play on your laptop or home entertainment system.

If you’re dining out with your group of friends, ask the restaurant manager if the staff can arrange to play music while you all eat, drink, and share the holiday meal.

Give Thanks

As you can see, hosting a Friendsgiving celebration is a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving. Whether you have a lot of money or just a little, you can refer to our Friendsgiving ideas for plenty of options to fit every budget.