I have some of the best friends from college, but unfortunately all of us are scattered about the eastern shore. We don’t see each other as often as we’d like, but that just means we get to plan Girl’s Weekends! This weekend I am hosting Girl’s Weekend. I am sooo excited. I have three beautiful girls staying with me for three days!
One challenge for Girl’s Weekend is the cost. Whether you are the one traveling or the one hosting, there are always expenses.
Here’s a little snapshot of what hosting expenses include:
- Gasoline for airport pickups and any driving around town
- Groceries for breakfasts, snacks. desserts and meals
- Dining or going out costs
- Movies or entertainment
- Shopping
- Apartment decorations — Having out of town guests gives me an excuse to buy apartment “wants,” including flowers, cute decorations or kitchen items. This past weekend I bought an adorable chalkboard, cream/sugar set, and little dish towels to help pretty-up my place.
The four of us all live in separates cities with separate salaries and budgets. In order to tailor to everyone’s lifestyle, I like to plan activities to make sure there are a lot of options so that each person can spend as much or as little as they want. For example, I have a list of shopping places we could all go, restaurants with a variety of prices, and activities that could be versatile. This may sound silly, but one of the things my friends and I love to do is get dressed up and take pictures together somewhere. That’s as cheap as it comes!
Mentally I have prepared myself that January would be expensive so I don’t have to pinch the pennies the entire time people are in town. I want to have the flexibility to go see a show or ice skate if that’s what everyone wants to do. There’s nothing worse than a hostess who complains about the expenses of having people in town. If you can’t afford to host your friends, you probably shouldn’t, unless you’re all upfront on what you’re doing and the costs associated.
Anyone else host Girl’s Weekends a lot? Any tips you have for having out-of-town guests?
I just went on a girls’ weekend, and one thing that I found that saves money is to do breakfast or lunch as meals out, and do dinners in if possible. (Since breakfast and lunch are cheaper at restaurants than dinners.) If you do go out to dinner, it’s fun to go to a tapas place or a place that has good happy hour appetizers and split a bunch of $3 to $5 dishes that everyone can share rather than each buying a big, expensive entree (especially since out of town guests have no real use for leftovers).
Since we bought our home with a legit guest room, we found that there are guest with us one to two weekends a month. That adds up if the guests are not your parents (who cover $$). We try doing one day downtown where we know money will be spent (museum, parking, dinner). Then the next day we try going to a beach or reserve and just walk. It seems people like just talking and a walk on the beach or forest adds to it. That is free quality time.
Have fun with the girls!
I’m actually doing a girl’s weekend, this weekend, too! I’m the one traveling this time though. Usually, I put back a little bit each month before I go on the trip, so I have some extra spending money when I get there. I actually do the opposite of, Life is A Purse, my friend’s and I try eat breakfast and lunch in, and then go out for dinner. Also, we do the splitting appetizers or entree thing, too, in order to save some money. Also, if we do order drinks, we often try to order a pitcher of beer or a bottle of wine, and split it. That way everyone gets more, and you spend less. Additionally, we usually try to make dinner together one or two nights. TEveryone contributes to the cost of groceries and the food prep. We all end up saving money, and it gives us some real quality time together. Have a blast!
Sounds like fun! I second Life as a Purse – breakfasts and brunches out are SO fun and much cheaper than dinners.
There are so many fabulously free things to do in your city. Take advantage of as many as you can. The museums are wonderfully entertaining. Shopping, although not necessarily cheap is always good. Breakfast out would be a chore for me as I like to sleep in. I really like doing an easy oven baked breakfast/brunch dish for guests. I can prep the night before and just pop it in the oven to bake the next morning.
Wow, what a great idea!
I’ve never had that close of a group of girl friends so I didn’t even realize that people did this! I bet it is going to be SO much fun! =D
I had 2 girlfriends (from the East Coast) visit me last weekend to go on the cruise with me! Hosting IS very expensive, but I know they will/have done the same for me :) My biggest expense was gas since we did a LOT of driving (airport trips, going around our city, etc)… but we also did some “free” things like sneak into one of the downtown hotels to use the pool/hot tub! Hehe :)
Oh, and we played WAYYYY too many card games!
We all make difference salaries, and we each took turns paying for meals – in the end, it worked out, especially since they had to pay for flights out here! And really…I would have easily spent more since friendships are SO WORTH IT!! Hope you had a blast!!