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Friendsgiving gatherings can be the most fun time of the year. I look forward to hosting my Mason Family Friendsgiving every year, and I think my friends enjoy it just as much! There’s only one problem: the associated cost. Getting a party together for 20+ people doesn’t come without the hefty reach in the pockets, but I have some helpful tips for you to host a holiday gathering without breaking the bank! I also have a budget-friendly recipe that will feed a lot of people and be a delicious, different take on an old favorite.

Read on below to see my budgeting tips and that delicious Colcannon with Bacon recipe!

Save Year-Round

If you’ve been reading my page for a few months, you will know how obsessed I am with budgeting. I feel like it’s rightfully so, because I’ve been able to set my home up to save hundreds of dollars per month and set up funds for things like insurance, presents, medical, and more. One of the more specific sinking funds we have set up is for our annual Friendsgiving party!

Instead of scrambling around in November to make sure we have the money for the gathering, we save $15 every month to our Friendsgiving fund, so at the end of the year, we have $180 saved to help make the party special, get the turkey, prizes, etc. While we do make sure to have this amount saved, we also make sure we are doing all we can to make this budget stretch to get more bang for our buck!

Stick to a Budget

Again, I think it’s important to save year-round to make it easier on your wallet when it comes to holiday time, but I think it is also really important to stick to a budget. If you are getting a late start and don’t have money saved from the year for this occasion, that’s okay! Sticking to a budget will help keep you on track and help to cut down on necessary things.

You can learn to prioritize based on what your party needs. For me, I like to spend on the prizes from our games and making sure we have great serving ware. Some may want to put in some more money for food or décor, it really depends on your needs vs. your wants. Just set a budget and stick to it so you don’t have to suffer in other departments of your life just to have a good party. 

Use Fuel Perks to Save Money

I like this tip the best. You can save money just by shopping in your normal routine and earn awesome rewards with Fuel Perks from Giant Eagle!  Not only can you get discounts on GetGo’s gas and prescription copays, Curbside Express orders and giftcards, but now you can redeem your points on up to 20% off your grocery bill or earn up to a free tank of gas!

You can get so much stuff at Giant Eagle, not just groceries either! I went the other day to pick up my cabbage, potatoes, and bacon to make the Colcannon recipe you’ll see below, but I also grabbed a Starbucks gift card, some makeup bits I needed, and a few little snacks for my desk at work. (The nuts and seeds section at Market District is ridiculous! You have to check it out!!)

I save money by buying all these things in one place and earning rewards with the Fuel Perks program to save money on groceries, or even save some money on gas! Just from this trip, I was able to save 10 cents per gallon of gas, and since the price was higher than I wanted to pay for my end of month budget, I decided to cash it in!

Make It a Pitch-In

Who says you have to make everything yourself? People LOVE letting others try their favorite recipes, whether they are family traditions passed down, or one they just recreated from Pinterest. A pitch-in allows some diversity in dining and also alleviates having to fork out the change for ALL the dishes. If you’re having a big party, this will be a life saver!

Contribute with Budget Friendly Recipes

When you are throwing a party, or even if you’re going to one and bringing a dish, you can end up spending a lot on things you would assume would be easy to make and not too bad on the pockets. Even making a veggie tray ends up being time-consuming, expensive, or both!

I love the idea of doing an elevated basic, so my mind immediately goes to mashed potatoes! Is there another better hearty, homemade wonder? I thought it would be fun to elevate this basic and make them the Irish traditional fare with a twist: Colcannon with Bacon!

Colcannon is traditionally cabbage or kale, boiled and then added into mashed potatoes. I decided to add bacon (and cooking with bacon grease,) because who doesn’t just LOVE bacon?! It’s such a crowd pleaser and instantly takes bland and turns it into a trendy, show-stopper.

I cooked the cabbage in the bacon grease after cooking the bacon, so it gave a nice bacon taste throughout the dish instead of just as crumbles on the top. ALL the heart eye emojis should be going off in your head right now! It’s a delicious recipe! Check out the details before, and try it out for your next gathering!

To make a huge pot, serving 10-15, it can cost as little as $1 for the bag of potatoes, $1 for the head of cabbage, and as much as you want to spend on bacon. We picked up the bacon we used at Giant Eagle in the meat counter. It’s thick cut, so delicious, and pretty reasonably priced. I like it better than packaged, but do what fits your budget!