Ah, Thanksgiving Break, the second-most wonderful time of the year. For some, it's a well-deserved reprieve from preparing for the dreaded finals week. For others, a chance to visit people they haven't seen since August. And for those staying in the dorms because costly travel expenses are preventing them from going home, an opportunity to host a Friendsgiving potluck.
What's Friendsgiving, you ask? It's an informal commemoration of the national holiday taking place around Turkey Day that encourages people of all ages and situations to start new traditions. Be it having a classic movie theme or serving Peking duck with shiitake mushroom gravy instead of roast turkey, you and your pals get the freedom to do whatever you want.
Planning a Friendsgiving celebration, however, means covering a lot of details. There are decorations to buy, guests to invite, meals to designate; the list goes on. Not to mention the fact that all the money you spend can add up and deplete your bank account faster than the proverbial guest of honor running away from the dinner table.
Want to learn how you can have a healthy, happy, and frugal Friendsgiving? Here are some simple ways to make the most of this informal holiday.
WHO BRINGS WHAT?
Coordinate with your guests with the dishes you want to serve. Make sure, however, that two people don't bring the same thing. Have people who arrive early bring appetizers and make sure to ask a few guests to bring wine (or give a pumpkin cider or cranberry cocktails a try).
WHAT DO YOU BRING?
As a rule, the host makes the turkey and gravy. If you're planning on serving turkey, buy one now because preparing it is a long, long, long process. If not, plan on cooking one main dish and nothing else. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go out and buy some bonus light bites for when guests first arrive.
Decorations? You can go big and buy traditional decorations at stores such as Party City and Target, or you can go small and make your own. Take a leftover pumpkin from the patch, paint and hollow it out, fill it with flowers, and you have an amazing centerpiece. Create place cards out of pinecones from the street. Do what you think will brighten up the room and the table.
Entertainment? Simple. Dust off some old games (UNO, Cards Against Humanity, etc.) and you're good to go.
WHAT DO GUESTS DO?
Make (or pickup) the food you have been assigned to bring, bring it to the party, and enjoy it. Buzzfeed's 17 Rules of Friendsgiving states there has to be one of the following: a potato dish, a vegetable dish that doesn't fall into the casserole category, a stuffing dish, and a cranberry sauce (sauce from a can is totally fine if you don't want to cook from scratch). As far as desserts go, there's no limit, just as long as there's pie.
WHAT SHOULDN'T YOU DO?
Not put effort into it. No one wants to attend a party where no one's having a good time. Put this night on to relax and celebrate the holiday season with your best friends and great food.
Be inclusive, be gracious, be considerate, be mindful of your friends. But most of all, be ready to make this Friendsgiving one to remember.
Friendsgiving doesn’t have to be any stress on your bank account either! Get up to $2000 on the Boro app now and pay back between one and twelve months. Learn more and apply now on the Boro app.