Twitter comment via Littleofwhatyou: Vegetable curry or butternut soup can be very impressive but also quite cheap to make.

1. I look at what's on sale that week and try to plan a menu accordingly.

2. Veggies & dip/fresh fruit to pick at (keeping rule #1 in mind).

3. Costco. Costco. Costco. (Small bag of spinach at the grocery store: $3.00. Giant bag of spinach at Costco: $3.50. One brick of tofu at the grocery store: $1.49. Three bricks of tofu at Costco (same brand): $1.79. One container of hummus at the grocery store: $5.25. Two containers of hummus at Costco (same brand): $7.00. One tiny wheel of brie at the grocery store: $5.00. One giant wheel of brie at Costco: $9.00-- see where I'm going with this?)

4. I cooked. They bring the wine.

Choose the menu based on inexpensive ingredients, such as beans and eggs.

Start with what's hiding in your cupboard and build from there. Don't find a slew of recipes to try using ingredients you don't already have! Also, keep it simple and if your friends want to bring something, then let them pick up some baguettes to nosh on with your quick homemade bruschetta topping or other dip or have them bring dessert or drinks. I've been trying to use what I have as much as possible. It's hard, I'll admit and often not as fun as trying that new recipe, but it gets the job done and saves money!

Plan the menu carefully around items that are on sale or in season--usually those two states coincide. Stretch the expensive items with generous amounts of base ingredient--such as asparagus risotto, or perhaps a nicoise salad made with grilled salmon--but aided and abetted with lots of greens, olives, hard-cooked eggs and tomatoes in season. Or make salmon cakes, or have a potato pancake party.

Maybe make one thing that is elegant and tasty--DIY smoked salmon, for example, and serve with bagels, creamed cheese, tomatoes and onion. I make olives every year and they qualify as elegant and tasty--pasta puttanesca, anyone?

Sometimes you can use more quotidien ingredients and lavish them with time to make them special--crustless tea sandwiches with tuna or egg or chicken salad. If you go so far as to make the bread yourself, that would be even better. Tartines made of radishes or cucumber on top of a creamy spread are creative and fresh-tasting for spring.

If serving alcohol, keep it simple: a signature cocktail you mix up by the pitcher, or a red and a white wine and one type of beer.

- Keep it vegetarian.
- Pay attention to presentation: a simple dish can be quite impressive if you arrange it nicely on an attractive platter.
- House cocktail: pick one beverage to mix/serve and let your guests know they are welcome to bring anything else that suits their tastes.

My social circle has somehow drifted into partial potlucks because everyone always asks, "What can I bring?" So the host covers the main dish and perhaps some permutation of drinks/sides/dessert, guests bring the smaller things that are left or anything else they fancy.

Previous comments are spot on.
- Potlucks are a great way to go. It creates a nicer atmosphere when people start tasting (and hopefully complimenting) one another's dishes. Potlucks are especially handy for larger gatherings... you really shouldn't stress about cooking for 14 people.
- Don't feel like you HAVE to do a meat/poultry/seafood main dish. A lovely vegetable soup/salad/crusty baguette combo is a great communal meal. Put out some charcuterie as an appetizer if need be...
- Keep the meal simple and spend a little extra time on the ambience. Make a fun playlist (for free); bust out the weird little votive and pillar candles you have stashed around your house (also, for free); get a bunch of cheap flowers and make small arrangements to accent the table, kitchen, etc... dinner can be as simple as pasta with olive oil and cracked black pepper and your guests still will have fun knowing you've spent time to make the evening nice for them.

Soup with bread or tacos. Soup is great for chilly nights and you can easily make two (or even three!) kinds to satisfy everyone. And it's cheap and easy to stretch to feed extra folks. If you make a lot of homemade bread to go with, even cheaper, otherwise buy nice crusty french bread and sliced it up.

Tacos, whether made with pulled pork or ground beef or beans or fish or roasted vegetables or some combination are almost always popular and are cheap and easy. They're fun because if you have lots of condiments/toppings people can make them however they want.

Stuff with dip is also nice. Like fresh and roasted vegetables, chips, crackers, bread, etc. All goes wonderfully with bean dips, ricotta or cottage cheese based dips, sour cream dips, pureed vegetable dips, etc. Plus it's fairly light (if it's mostly vegetables anyway) and just about everyone I know loves at least one kind of dip.

Composed vegetable or grain salads are also nice. They don't get wilty and are more filling than leaf salads.

Really, the big ones are skip the meat as the main center of the meal (or stretch it with vegetables in soup, tacos, casserole dishes, etc.), keep it simple (i.e. skip the expensive ingredients and too many different kinds of dishes), and take the time to make things from scratch. Oh, and ask the guests to bring the booze.

With a nice classic jazz playlist, some flowers or flowering branches or pretty weeds clipped from the yard or ditch, some candles (a fire indoors or out if you can swing it adds great ambiance), and real dishes and silverware, your guests will think they are being spoiled. Even if what they're eating cost less than $1 per serving.

Like buttons_whims, I happily accept the "what can I bring" offers and focus my budget on the main dish. I also only serve wine from what I have in my home. I'm always stocking up on cheap-yet-delish wines over the year so I never have to spend money in the wine department as party time approaches. An inexpensive and fun main dish is a variety of grilled pizzas. I buy a few Trader Joe's pizza doughs and get creative with the toppings. My friends are still blown away at the concept of grilling pizza dough straight on the grill.

Potlucks are great. My friends and I also like "bring a topping" dinner parties for pizza or tacos. And of course, BYOB!

My tips, as the most frequent hostess of gatherings in my social circle:

1. 90% B.Y.O.B. Though I do always have a stocked booze cabinet, it would probably disappear in one night if I let a large group have carte blanche. Usually I make one nice punch with only a little alcohol (to keep things happy-tipsy as opposed to passed out) and ask everyone to bring the rest to their own taste.

2. Plan ahead to impress: Instead of impressing people with my ingredients, I aim to impress with my presentation. Simple veggies and dip are that much more flashy when its grilled zucchini (with nice grill marks) wrapped around red and orange pepper with a lemon-garlic aioli. Instead of an expensive cheese platter with tastes of the world, make one mid-quality wheel of brie topped and baked with caramelized onions & cranberries. Most of these things can be prepared up to three days in advance, keeping parties "high-class" without the empty bank account.

If I'm feeding a crowd, I often use cheaper cuts such as pork belly, lamb shoulder, lamb neck fillets or stewing steak. These often require a longer marinating and cooking time, but the results are delicious. You can pick up cheaper veg and huge bunches of herbs at ethnic grocery stores for interesting side dishes.

If it's friends, I ask them to byob and i provide good mixers. For family, definitely go potluck and don't get too specific. They know their strengths and weaknesses in the kitchen. Don't overestimate your protein needs. My average guest doesn't treat a party like a trip to Golden Corral. Pasta dishes are a great way to stretch the budget. You can buy the store-brand and dress it up with very small amounts of more expensive ingredients. It's also great for summer because you don't need the oven, and for parties with a wide age-range since kids love pasta.

And a warning on warehouse stores- In my experience, Sam's Club meats are excellent and a good value as are their cheeses and pantry items, even pizza dough, but their produce is ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. I've had potatoes from their go rotten in a week and broccoli turn black after 2days in the fridge.

My favorite parties-on-a-budget have been built around one main dish, something I could easily make for a crowd (I've made some of these for up to 750 people as a fundraiser), and they tend to be vegetarian whenever possible:

* chipotle black bean chili, a lavish chili toppings bar (10-20 toppings), cole slaw, corn bread muffins or mini-muffins, guacamole & chips, dark beer
* cioppino drizzled with an orange olive oil, green salad, crusty bread for dipping, wine
* lentils and brown rice with garlic, caramelized onions, fresh chunky salsa and pale ale (I'm always surprised but this one is well loved and it's so cheap to do)
* minestrone soup, green salad, garlic bread, red wine (also very cheap)

I usually ask someone else to bring dessert or bring the fixings for custom ice cream. Start with high quality vanilla ice cream and have on hand a variety of jams, fruit preserves, spices, nuts, and you can make some amazing custom ice cream (or milkshakes). Berry ice cream = vanilla ice cream plus a spoon each of raspberry preserves and boysenberry or blackberry preserves. Apple pie milkshake = vanilla ice cream + Trader Joe's Gravenstein apple juice + cinnamon. It's so simple but people have fun outdoing each other on flavors.

Joanna Goddard posted an idea not so long ago--a baked potato bar. Genius AND filling! You can dress it up (caviar) or dress it down (bacon). I can't wait to try it.

I'll often make homemade gnocchi which is inexpensive and always impressive. It's nice because it's not usually something guests, or I will make just for myself. It's very adaptable with seasonal vegetables and prosciutto, a stew, or nothing but brown butter and herbs. Also much success with bring your own topping pizza and taco bars.

using what i have preserved from the season previous as compliment to what is abundant in my garden now

baking my own bread and dessert (flour, water, sugar, and love are inexpensive if they come from your kitchen/hands)

(if there is to be meat/fish at all--to sub, i love braised, preserved heirloom beans for protein) using off cuts of meat such as shoulders or tougher than tender steaks, or bottom of the chain--but irreplacebly and indescribably flavourful--fish such as fresh sardines and anchovies, calamari/octopus, or clams and halibut cheeks (half the price of fillets) for a brilliant boullabaise.

it goes without saying to use what is in season, and closest to home.

Awesome post, and thanks to everyone who has shared their great ideas! I love entertaining at home, but I'm not very good at doing it on a budget. This will really help out.

Potlucks are the BEST....you get a great variety of food and most people like to contribute to the menu....

I love the comments posted so far, and I'd echo all these ideas! I think letting or even asking people to bring something is key as it takes the pressure off of you. If I'm doing something really simple and don't need any sides, or if I know a friend is of the "cooking makes me nervous" variety, I'll just ask them to bring a bottle or two of wine. They feel good that they can contribute something to the meal, and it saves me money. At most of my parties, I put out a fairly inexpensive bottle to get things started, and then friends end up covering the rest. I think presentation is also key. Just because something didn't cost a lot of money doesn't mean it has to look sloppy.

I tend to buy the meat for parties when it goes on ridiculous sale and freeze it Until my next party.

Pasta tends to be realllly damn cheap and stretches out the main portion of a meal with zero effort.

And when you're on a very tight budget, stews and chilis are a great way to stretch out ingredients.

Not a huge thing, but if I'm doing a cheese platter, I always make sure to get the cheese from Trader Joes - significantly cheeper there than at our Harris Teeter. Also, I beef up the more expensive cheeses by including a block of cheddar. Of course, the impulse purchases while at Trader Joes probably outweigh the savings, but...

Also, pasta salad - I usually have a lot of homemade pesto in the freezer (which is basically free, since I grow too much basil in the summer), and so I do a big bowl of pasta with pesto - I add some halved cheery tomatoes and cubed mozzarella to make it more interesting, and it can be made ahead and served cold, which is always a party-planning bonus.

Another cheap + entertaining option I did once [to refer to the baked potato bar] is a POUTINE bar (I'm from Quebec, Canada and our signature local greasy food is fries + cheese curds + gravy). This was to celebrate a friend moving back from the States.

To "fancify" it, I had three types of fries (regular, sweet and beet - all baked), three types of cheese (traditional curds, spicy monterey jack, vegan cheddar), three "sauces" (traditional gravy, roasted-red pepper soup, butternut squash soup) and a whole bunch of meat and veggies (jalapenos, sausage, smoked meat, hot dogs, veggie dogs, black olives etc.).

Everyone grabbed a round cake tin lined with aluminum foil, loaded it up, stuck it in the oven for a few minutes and then feasted. It was amazing! There were terribly fatty concoctions and healthy version. All were stuffed and satisfied, regardless of personal tastes :).

This menu accommodates carnivores to vegans to gluten-free eaters, so it's great for diverse crowds and it's simple to cook.

Main:Grilled Skewers with meat and veggies..
Side:Curry potato salad

BBQ Sauce $3
Veganaise $3
A few pounds Hanger Steak, or a few boneless skinless chicken breasts $7-8
Summer Squash; red peppers; yellow, red or white onion; several Yukon potatoes - $5-6
Wooden Skewers $1-$2 or metal if you have them.

Freebies: coarse sea salt, black pepper, and yellow curry powder if you keep it around.

Leave the skin on the washed potatoes. Cut all washed veggies and meat into 1" pieces. Reserve a few pieces of the onion and mince.

Boil a few cups of water and add cubed potatoes and a pinch of salt. Boil 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Let the potatoes drain, and completely dry.
Then mix with several tbsps of Veganaise, the minced onion, and a few pinches of salt and lots of cracked black pepper. If you have yellow curry powder, it gives potato salad an extra kick and a nice yellow color. Mix well, cover, and set in fridge to chill. (This is even better if it sits overnight!)

If you'll be feeding vegans or vegetarians, leave some portions of the remaining veggies separate. Skewer the meat and the remaining veggies and douse in BBQ sauce, salt and pepper. If the skewers are too long to lie flat in a dish, set them on trays made of foil or baking sheets. Let skewers marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour while the potato salad chills.

Grill the skewers for about 10 minutes per side, serve with potato salad.

For cheap bar, go to Costco or other warehouse supply, or hit the 5 cent wine sale at Bevmo. This is how we did our wedding and served 50 guests with bar all afternoon and evening for the fraction of the cost of a caterer.

Hope this helps!

Beretta Fleur www.berettafleur.com