Spending time with friends is important, but it can be hard to find the time. Everyone’s busy with work and family stuff, and before you know it weeks have gone by and you haven’t seen each other. But social time doesn’t have to be a big commitment—you can put together a simple, affordable party without spending a lot of money or time.
Here are some of our favorite creative, affordable gathering ideas to have a fun and memorable evening with your friends.
1. Trivia night
Who doesn’t love trivia? This is a gathering you can do several different ways—either pull out the cards from a Trivial Pursuit game (if you have one sitting around in a closet somewhere), read questions from an app or website, or turn on an episode of Jeopardy. You can make teams and keep score, or just keep it casual and friendly.
2. Meal prepping party
This one is fun and practical… it’s like a potluck, except it helps you and your friends knock out meals for a whole week, while having fun in the kitchen together.
Start out by making a list of protein and vegetable dishes that will work well for meal prepping and that everyone likes. Then, assign each invited friend to bring the ingredients for one item, as well as containers to put their meals in when they leave.
When everyone comes over, put on some music, serve some drinks, and have fun hanging out while you prepare your food. When you’re done, fill up your containers with each other’s creations. Boom—you’ve just spent a fun evening with friends and now you’re going home with meals for the week!
3. Just desserts party
A dinner party can be a big commitment—it’s a lot of work and often pretty expensive. But don’t let that prevent you from having friends over, keep it simple with just desserts!
A dessert party is easy to do without much prep or planning at all. Bake (or buy) a cake or pie or cookies, put on a pot of coffee or tea, and enjoy some quality time with your friends.
4. Casino night
This party can be as simple or elaborate as you choose—have a couple of game options (maybe a poker table and a blackjack table), and some simple drinks and snacks. Bowls of chips, nuts, and pretzels work well for food. For drinks, having a mocktail or two and then maybe vodka and soda or something else simple can keep costs down and effort minimal.
Your guests can play for real money (maybe keep it low stakes so it stays an affordable evening for everyone), or simple prizes.
5. Karaoke night
Great singing talent or none at all, it doesn’t matter—karaoke is a super fun activity for all. If you or one of your friends has a karaoke machine, this is a perfect affordable party. (If you don’t have one, you can usually find a used karaoke machine for $20-$30 on Craigslist, or if you think it’s something you’ll use often, you can get a new one from $50-$100 on Amazon.)
With an app like Karafun you can find just about any song anyone wants to sing. (The app costs $9.99 a month, but if you can cancel it anytime you’re not using it.) You can connect your phone or a tablet to the karaoke machine via bluetooth, and use the screen to read the words while the music plays through the machine’s speaker. It’s amazing how professional the setup can be for a relatively low cost. It’s sure to be a memorable and entertaining evening!
