Party for free

Picnic in the park

Get your friends to bring their own picnic to the local park. If you are lucky there will be free concerts in the park – some towns have bands in the park bandstand every week. You can enjoy the music even more if you are in good company. And if the bandmaster knows you are celebrating a special event such as your birthday, he or she might even dedicate a piece to you.

Walk on the hills

Again, if your friends bring their own picnics, you could enjoy a walk in the country.  You can’t guarantee the weather, but at the right time of year, the weather could be gorgeous.  If you divide into two groups, one group could start at each end of a longer walk (boys going one way, girls another?), with the picnic when you rendezvous in the middle. At the end of the walk, you can get back home in the cars left by the other group.

If you have enough wit and charm, in return for lunch and a couple of drinks, you may be able to persuade someone who is knowledgeable about the area to accompany you and give you a commentary on the scenery and other things you see.

Educating Rita

Some universities host public lectures at the end of which they provide light refreshments.  If you go as a group, you can enjoy the lecture, talk about it afterwards, and have a free drink.  This was one of the tricks that Kath Kelly, an English teacher from Bristol used, after making a bet with friends that she could pass a whole year spending no more than £1 per day.  She also went to book launches and other events where food was provided.

Working party

This isn’t exactly free, but it could save you money.  Get your mates to help you with a DIY project in return for some hearty food and a few beers.  See our Working party ideas page.

You might even be able to make money.  Have you thought of spending a day or two with your mates picking fruit or vegetables for a local fruitgrower, and using the proceeds at the end of the day for a pub meal?  My cousins used regularly to act as beaters on a local country estate, and a good meal at the end of the day was part of the package.

Grow your own

It takes a bit more preparation, but if you keep a few hens and grow vegetables, you can prepare a whole meal from your own garden.  And for drinks, how about home-brewed wine or beer or elderflower champagne?

If you live in the country, there’s a sporting chance you know someone who helps control the local pigeon or rabbit population, and if you are prepared to pluck, gut and prepare your own bird or beast, will happily drop one off on your doorstep.

Again, it’s not for the squeamish, but Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has shown on TV how it is possible to produce a meal from roadkill.  However, a word of warning.  Don’t try running down a rabbit or pheasant yourself.   You could end up on the wrong side of the road, and if you end up with a strike, the repair bill for your car could exceed any saving you make from the kill.  You might also only injure the bird or animal, which would be inhumane.

Your ideas

If you have managed to put on a low-cost party, let us know, so we can share your good idea.