DIY Thursday: Throw a New Year’s Eve Party on a Budget

Step: 1

This week you should starts hitting up your local liquor stores and grabbing carts full of Prosecco. Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine that is much more budget-friendly than champagne.

Step: 2

Take trip to your local dollar store and pick up some mason jars, tea light candles, toothpicks, colorful paper, plastic champagne flutes, sparklers, white tablecloths (if you already don’t own them) and balloons (white, gold, and silver).

If you can afford it, see if you are able to rent or borrow a projector for the party as well.

Step: 3

The day before the party, make a big batch of cupcakes. There are hundreds of great cupcake recipes that you can create from doing a little research on google. Use toothpicks and the colorful paper to create little flags with 2014 written on them. Also go to the grocery store and pick up some chips, crackers, a couple of trays worth of meat, pickles, and cheese. Create several platters of food with the items listed.

Step: 4

On the day of, make sure that you pick up ice that morning. If you were able to get a projector, make sure that you practice hooking it up and turning it on before the start of the party. Use the projector to to show off the countdown clock. Light the tea lights and place them in the mason jars. Scatter the ars throughout the house to for a great and relaxing ambiance.

Blow up the balloons, put out the party snacks, turn on some music from your mp3 player, fill up a few bowls with ice and a mixed fruity drink, and let the fun begin.

Step: 5

Before midnight, hand out the sparklers and Prosecco in the champagne flutes. Once the clock strikes 12, bring out the platter of 2014 cupcakes and distribute.

You can add more food ideas, games, and keepsakes to make this party over the top. These are just a couple of simple, inexpensive tips that you can use towards having a great New Years celebration on a budget.

April Lewis-Parks has more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector, she is a certified financial counselor, and a consumer affairs advocate. As the director of education and public relations for Consolidated Credit she is dedicated to generating awareness about personal finance issues and acts as their consumer affairs advocate. As host the of MissMoneyBee.com, she promotes financial education and offers timely and informative personal finance articles to educate the public. April’s promotional efforts can be seen in past issues of the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, Consumer Reports, the Business Journals, Money Magazine, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, among others. Connect with April on Google+.