How to Prepare for Guests this Holiday Season

With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, I have been going through my house and getting everything ready for guests. I try to prepare the food I need ahead of time and think of a few cheaper snacks. This really helps cut the costs on groceries with lots of family staying. My kids are so helpful and they often help by getting the guest room and guest bathroom cleaned and stocked with necessities. It’s so nice to have little helpers get our house cleaned and guest rooms ready for when our guests arrive!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from these sites we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Preparing Food for Guests

Pick meals that are less expensive (I’ve listed a few suggestions). If you need to stretch a costly main dish, try adding more (inexpensive) sides to help people get full faster.

• add rice as part of the main dish
• pasta is another inexpensive option
• Use beans as a protein source instead of meat.
• add extra sides like fruits and vegetables to stretch the meat

Cheap Meal Ideas for Large Gatherings

• Chili & Cornbread -choose a vegetarian chili to cut meat costs
• Baked potato bar
• Hawaiian Haystacks
• spaghetti
• Soup and Salad

Inexpensive Snacks

• popcorn
• chips and salsa
• homemade treats: a batch of cookies, or banana bread
• fruits apples and bananas
• pretzels

Getting Your Guest Rooms Ready

Preparing the guest rooms is a must. You don’t want your guests to be missing necessities like enough blankets, pillows, and sleeping spaces. Here is our Amazon Page where we have compiled lots of necessities.

Guest Room Necessities

• extra bedding: blankets, sheets, pillows
• sound machine
• pack-in-play for the little kids
• futons or trundle beds
• wastebasket
• clock

Guest Bathroom Necessities

• towels/washcloths
• toilet paper
• razors
• makeup wipes
• shampoo, conditioner, soap
• hairdryer
• extras: cotton balls, etc

Pro Tip: If the guest bathroom doesn’t get used often you won’t notice when the soap or toilet paper is gone. Make a habit of doing a walk-through to make sure everything is stocked.

Comment what you do to prepare your house for guests? Our house gets a little crazy/fun with so many people, and we love it! Happy Holidays

Rach