Happy Frugal New Year!
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on December 31, 2008
Tonight, our family (minus daughter, who is embracing college life and all the socialization that goes with it) will have our annual At-Home New Year’s Eve Dinner Party. I started this “New Year’s dinner” ages ago when they were little and it’s been a tradition for a dozen years. This is the one meal of the year that I make that is NOT balanced or veggie-filled or all that health conscious (most of it is quite fattening, tee hee). When dinner is served, our groaning table holds an amazing array of appetizers and tantalizing hor’dourves: piquant shrimp cocktail, hot cheese dips and garlic hummus with various chips and bread chunks, smoked oysters and mussels, quesadillas, egg rolls, pizza bites, walnut fudge, and more. LOTS MORE.
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider, my favorite thrifty alternative (and honest preference) to champagne on New Year's Eve - just 99 cents, and no hangover!
After dinner, all leftover appetizers are brought into the living room where we’ll set up shop to continue noshing and will either play a few board games or charades, to be followed by watching one of the new movie DVDs hubby received for Christmas. At the drop of the Times Square ball at midnight, we’ll pop open our chilled bottle of Martinelli’s Sparkling Cider (just 99 cents!) to toast the incoming new year – woo hoo! We always have a blast on New Year’s Eve at our humble but frolicking family party and I’m looking forward to it tonight. Fun and cheap… the best of both worlds.
Most food items for our festive, decadent meal, including the sparkling cider, was either found at the dollar stores (not the shrimp cocktail or blocks of cheese, but they were on sale a few weeks ago) or I made it in advance.
So we’ll be dumping that scary 2008 year in a few hours and entering a new year, one that we hope will be filled with more promise, more stability, and less drama, while we continue to be as frugal as possible. All things in moderation, you betcha, while we keep our eye on the REAL prize. Our family’s health and well-being, our financial security for the future, and our love and respect for each other.
The wild ‘n wooly 2008 roller-coaster is ending and the 2009 train is about to leave the station. My one sincere resolution for the upcoming year is to keep my sense of humor while I tenaciously keep our family’s heads above the murky financial waters. Those waters are gonna get real choppy this next year, but we’re ready for it. I’m gearing up for those rapids… 
Stay safe, stay sane, have some fun tonight, don’t drive if intoxicated, and see ya next year!
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