New Year’s Eve is hyped as a night of excess: big parties, lots of eating and drinking, and much spending in order to ring in the New Year in style. While in the past you may have spent lavishly on New Year’s Eve plans, preparations and travel, this year you might be trying to scale back on the spending. In saving some dough (and yourself, some stress), you don’t need to skimp on celebrating. Rather, keep in mind one of the most important aspects of this evening: celebrating with friends and family the opportunity to begin anew and look forward to another year.
This year, if you’d prefer to skip the chaos, commotion and traffic associated with big New Year’s Eve bashes, consider celebrating within the comfort of your own home. Instead of heading out for an expensive dinner, prepare a festive meal at home. If you’d prefer to not go to the trouble of cooking an entire dinner, keep your celebration simpler by serving a variety of appetizers or desserts. Or include your guests in the preparation by hosting a potluck dinner, in which each of your guests arrives with food or drink of their choice to add to the menu, which greatly helps to cut down on food preparation and cleanup.
In preparing for New Year’s Eve celebrations - especially following the stress of the holidays - set priorities and focus on remaining healthy and relaxed by eating and sleeping well. Realistically manage your expectations of the holiday, which will help to ensure that you don’t set yourself up for disappointment in the event you are unable to reach idealized expectations you, or someone else, may have. This year, be realistic of your budget, time and ambition, and plan accordingly. Consider how you want to (and can afford to) spend this New Year’s Eve as you wait for the clock to strike midnight, and stick to this resolution: begin 2010 in fun style, and good health and relaxation.
