We’ve all sung those words, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! But New Year can often feel like a bit of an afterthought to Christmas. There’s so much to do in the run up to Christmas, then hopefully a few quieter days in the middle then, all of a sudden, it’s New Year’s Eve and the expectation of some kind of party.
Which means more money being spent.
Unfortunately, New Year can be very expensive. If you have left things until the last minute, then try to book any kind of social gathering, you are likely to be horrified by the prices. It’s not surprising that many people just decide not to bother doing anything at New Year. Evidence suggests that an increasing majority of people are happy to stay at home and have a quiet night in at New Year.
But if you do want to do something to celebrate New Year, it’s not too late. It’s perfectly possible to have a lovely New Year’s celebration without a huge price tag. In this article we share a few tips on how to do just that:
Traditionally, Christmas decorations stay up till “Twelfth Night” – 6th January. This marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas which start on Christmas Day. However, many people tend to take them down soon after Christmas as it just seems that Christmas is over and it’s time to get the home back to normal again.
But one free and easy way to help celebrate New Year is to keep the Christmas decorations up. Even if there are some that you want to put away, at least keep the tree and the lights so that there is a bit of colour and sparkle in your home. Then everything will still feel festive for New Year’s Eve, whatever you decide to do.
One of the main expenses of any New Year celebration is food. Eating out can be horribly expensive and this can put you off going out . . . . only to find that hosting food in your home also quickly leads to a hefty sum of money.
But a New Year celebration doesn’t have to revolve around food. There are various other food options which we will explore further in this article. But if you make the focus of the evening on fun rather than food, it starts to look much more do-able.
And the kind of fun you have is completely up to you! For example, if you love to dance, push the furniture in your largest room to the side so that you make room for a dancefloor. You and your friends can put together a playlist between you and dance the night away, without having to pay fancy prices for a club or worry about how you are going to get home.
If dancing is not your thing, then how about a games night? Either party games, board games, quizzes, challenges, role play games such as murder mysteries: whatever you like to do, just make it happen in the comfort of your own home.
Coming back to food options, one way round this is to host a party where you invite guests to arrive after dinner. By its very nature, your party will continue until midnight to see in the New Year. So why not start a bit later in the evening, perhaps around 8:30/9:00 pm, which gives your guests plenty of time to eat before they turn up.
If everyone brings drinks and a few snacks for later in the evening this drastically reduces the amount of food and drink you will need to host a fantastic party.
But if you do want to eat together with your friends, another way to do this is either to plan a sit-down meal and get everyone to bring a course, or to just host a potluck buffet-style meal where everyone brings their favourite dish and you can all dive into whatever combination you feel like.
Another option could be to order a takeaway but if you are going to do this it might be a good idea to organise menu choices and order well in advance, given the likely demand for takeaway food on New Year’s Eve.
Champagne is a New Year’s Eve tradition for many but try and ration it out so that it lasts the evening. It’s usually best to hold back on the champagne until midnight so that you can toast the New Year. It’s tempting to open it earlier, and if various people have brought some you might think it will last – but this is often not the case.
So rather than having to spend a small fortune in advance on extra champagne to make sure there’s enough, it’s probably better to stick to other drinks earlier in the evening and save the champagne until midnight.
If you want to celebrate New Year but don’t want to go out or stay up late on New Year’s Eve, another great option is to do something on New Year’s Day instead. If you’re an early riser you might want to host a New Year’s Day brunch, which gives you a leisurely morning and any guests who have been partying the night before a welcome energy booster.
Or you could host a New Year’s Day lunch, either preparing a simple meal yourself or asking others to bring food as in the shared meal section above.
Many people prefer a daytime get-together rather than an evening one, particularly during the holiday season, so would welcome an invitation for New Year’s Day.
We hope that this article has given you some inspiration about how to celebrate New Year without the price tag. And we wish you a Happy New Year from everyone at Munzee Loans.
And if at any stage you do need more funds, either for New Year or perhaps for your plans for 2024, remember that Munzee offers 24 month loans that may be able to help.
Check back here soon for more lifestyle and financial tips from Munzee Loans.
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