If you are receiving unsolicited phone calls from an entity pretending to be ACCC (a trusted non-profit credit counseling agency), please be assured that ACCC’s policy is NEVER to contact you unless you’ve explicitly requested us to call you. Also be cautious of emails from an unusual or unfamiliar domain. ACCC’s domain extension is @consumercredit.com, and any emails using a different extension should be treated with suspicion.

×

ACCC’s Client Login allows current clients to access their program information, including the due date, program benefits, and other documents.

Select a Client Login below based on the service that you are currently enrolled in:

Debt Management Program

Client Login

Bankruptcy

Pre-Bankruptcy Client

Post-Bankruptcy Client

Not yet a client, but looking to get started?

ACCC offers debt relief options to individuals and families that are suffering from stress related to credit card debt by providing effective credit counseling, helping to consolidate debt, and advising on debt management.

Get Started

Wait!

You are now leaving the Consumer Credit website and are going to a website that is not operated by ACCC. We are not responsible for the content or availability of linked sites.

Are you sure you want to leave?

No, return me to the previous page.

Yes

Budget-Friendly Christmas Party Ideas

The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year… but maybe not for your budget. Between gifts, travel, and other expenses that inevitably pop up is it feasible to also host a Christmas party without accumulating consumer debt? The short answer is yes. Here are some tips on throwing a budget-friendly Christmas party:

Try ACCC's tips for a budget-friendly Christmas party!

Try ACCC’s tips for a budget-friendly Christmas party!

Budget-Friendly Party Food

Food and drinks can quickly become the most expensive part of any party. If you’re feeding a crowd of people a full meal, plus alcoholic beverages, that’s going to cost a pretty penny! Luckily, there are ways to cut down on these costs. You can assume responsibility for the main dish and side dish, but for the rest of the sides, desserts, and little snacks ask your friends to bring something too.

For the main dish, check what’s on sale. This time of year, you may be able to find a lot of sales on different meats, such as ham and pork shoulder. If you can’t find a good sale, try to at least find a coupon to help cut down on the cost. As for the side dish, a cheap and easy seasonal side could be honey glazed carrots or mashed potatoes.

Budget-Friendly Christmas Party Decor

The great thing about hosting a Christmas party at your house is you probably already have enough decor! If you have a Christmas tree, some wreaths, and garlands strung up around your house, that’s probably sufficient. If you find you want to add extra decor for your party, check out your local dollar store to see what you can buy cheaply. This will help you avoid credit card debt. Additionally, you can jump on Pinterest for some ideas.

Drinks

Instead of buying both beer and wine, just pick one and make it a special holiday drink! You could choose to make gluhwein, a popular warm wine beverage served at German Christmas markets. With gluhwein, you can get away with buying some cheap red wine and then adding orange slices, cinnamon, and cloves to it as it heats up on the stove. It tastes like Christmas in a cup!

It’s a good idea to pick up some non-alcoholic options too. Keep a couple two-liter bottles of soda on hand so your friends who don’t drink alcohol have something too.

Activities

For a fun party game, find some Christmas movie trivia questions online. See which of your guests knows the most about holiday movies! This won’t cost you anything. Another fun and frugal idea is to find some photo props, such as Santa or elf hats, which can be found at any dollar store. Finally, to set a perfect holiday mood, hook your phone up to some speakers and find a holiday music playlist on Spotify or YouTube to get your guests in a jolly mood!

If you struggle to pay off debt, ACCC can help. Schedule a free credit counseling session with us today. 

ABOUT AUTHOR / Madison

Madison is a Marketing Communications & Programs Associate at ACCC. She is excited to share her tips on saving money and being financially responsible here on the Talking Cents blog!

View all author posts →

creditU

Your Ultimate Money Management App

Meet CreditU, the ultimate one-stop debt and financial management app! See your full financial overview, including debts, income, expenses, and savings.

CreditU Apple App Store
Dev Tool:

Request: blog/budget-friendly-christmas-party-ideas
Matched Rewrite Rule: blog/([^/]+)/?$
Matched Rewrite Query: post_type=post&name=budget-friendly-christmas-party-ideas
Loaded Template: single.php