By the Numbers: Your Game Day Party Budget

Description:

Throw a bash without blowing your stash: Recipes made easy, inexpensive prepared foods, budget drinks, and team-inspired décor can be fun and festive even with a salary cap. This party budget breakdown will show you how.

Invitations

Print your own for just the cost of paper and toner (varies by printer) or use an online service like evite.com to send invites for free.  

1. Starting lineup A Super Bowl party is super casual, so don't get too fancy on invitations. Print some football-themed invites from your computer and pass them out, or use a free online service like evite.com to keep track of who's up for cheering with you and who isn't. Cost: $0.

Food

Score big with inexpensive pre-made convenience appetizers that you can turn into mouthwatering finger foods with just a few extra ingredients. Bonus points: you won't have to spend the entire game trapped in the kitchen. Use the generous resources Houseparty has provided then; supplement these hot semi-homemade nibbles with chips, dip, and brownies or cookies for dessert for an affordable but fabulous buffet table.

2. Offense  Keep guests happy by passing pelenty of finger food. A football party is all-American, so feature traditional snack foods like barbeque pizza, chips and dip, meatballs and quesadillas. See Houseparty's Resources page for easy ways to jazz up prepared snack foods like Game Day Meatballs and Chicken Quesadilla Wedges with Queso Dip.  Cost: $4 per person

You don't need high-end wine or top-shelf liquor for the Super Bowl. It's all about the soda and beer! Figure an average of three drinks per person and save by buying a 24-pack at your local warehouse club store, or ask guests to each bring a six-pack of their choice. Supplement with Gatorade or punch and water. If you serve adult beverages, don't forget to appoint designated drivers to make sure your guests arrive home safely after the party.

3. Kickoff Before the game begins and the food is out, you'll want to supply guests with drinks. Many people prefer the sudsy kind featured in numerous Super Bowl commercials—i.e., beer— but it's always nice to have variety. Bloody marys or margaritas are easy to mix by the pitcher, or you could create a signature martini from your team's colors using team-colored liqueurs, juices, and garnishes. Make sure your guests all go home safely by appointing designated drivers for each vehicle. For non-drinkers and kids, serve a variety of sodas and Gatorade. Cost: $1-2 per person.

Dêcor

Pick up two rolls of streamers in your team's colors and a bag of balloons to decorate the game room. Ask guests to dress in their team's jersey or colors and make them part of the dêcor, too.  Cost: $8

4. Home field advantage When it comes to dêcor, you're in charge, so you can choose to deck the house in your team's colors even if fans from the opposing team are planning to attend. Streamers and ballons make the TV room festive (put a few outside on the mailbox or front door to get people in the mood as they arrive). Ask guests to dress in their team's colors and bring any team cheering paraphernalia—flags, pom-poms, etc.— for props you can also put out giant foam fingers, noisemakers, and party poppers to celebrate touchdowns.
If the company is split, have a little fun by dividing the room in half and decorating each with opposing team colors. As guests come in, have them choose a side.
Make sure there is plenty of comfortable seating in the room, and consider bringing in extra TVs for maximum viewing. Above all, make sure your reception is crystal-clear: guests won't care about your cute streamers if they can't see the game.

5. Zone defense Your party will inevitably include a mix of people who are really serious about football and want to catch every moment of the game, and those who would rather chat during plays and watch the commercials. Make peace with both parties by having a seperate area for the non-football people, either in their own section of the room or even in the kitchen.

Prizes

Got great game suggestions to keep your party hopping, even if the football game is slow. Choose simple game prizes that everyone will like, such as full-size candy bars or soda can coolers— you'll want to stage some victories at your place, too. Here are a few game ideas:

Best commercial: Give out score cards and have guests rate each commercial from 1 to 5. Vote on the winning commercial at the end of the game.

Game stats: Have a guest predict the game's most valuable player, the player with the most points scored, most yards, most interceptions, and other stats at the beginning of the game, and give prizes to the winners.

Best dressed: The guest decked out in the most team paraphernalia wins a prize.

Traditional football pool: Put a buck or two into a pot and give the winner plenty of reasons to cheer. Cost: $1 per prize

one more thing........GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!