With my husband and I just buying our first home and a new car, money has been a little tighter than usual. As it turns out one of my best friends is in the middle of buying her first house so instead of the regular expensive endeavors we go out for we are having a girls night sleepover this weekend!

We used to have oodles of these sleepovers in college because, well, we wanted to spend time together but didn't really have the money to go bar hopping and were never really the "bar hopping" kind. From all the years of grown-up sleepovers here are my top tips on having an awesome girls night while spending as little as possible!

1. Have it at Home
Its hard when you feel cooped up in your house to want to have a girls night at home, but it is the number one way to save money hanging out with your friends! The big thing is to make it more special that your normal "glass of wine after work" dates. Make some fun appetizers, have cocktails, and banish the boys if you can. My husband plans to spend all night in the office playing video games and enjoying some "me time" with his dog while we girl-out downstairs.

2. Use what you have at home, especially drinks
I'm not gonna lie, my cupboards are pretty empty right now and I have one lone bottle of wine which may be a $3 bottle of Trader Joe's. My worst habit with planning "cheap" girls nights is that I LOVE to buy food and drinks. I will easily go to the store and drop $100 bucks on food alone if I'm having people over and that is not what we're going for here.

So make a list of what you have and plan your food (and cocktails) around that. I don't particularly want to drink my wine but instead I'm going to use it to make some frozen wine soaked grapes! Be on the lookout for that post coming up! You are likely going to have to buy a couple things to round out a menu but the more of the stuff you have, the easier it will be on the wallet.

3. Relive your High School Days
No, not the awkward parts of High School, more like the music you liked to listen to and the movies you liked to watch. My friends and I can happily gab for hours at girls nights, but its always nice to have something playing. Its even better when it is Mean Girls, Clueless, or even one of the old Disney Channel Movies that we all haven't seen in years. We have had so many good time just reminiscing during those movies and that always makes our get togethers better!

4. Make it a sleepover
Whens the last time you had a legitimate sleepover with your best friend? For me its been at least a year and there's nothing so fun as being able to drink wine or snack on goodies, not care how late it is, and wake up and cook breakfast together. This also helps erase the worries of someone having to drive home late, especially if you are drinking. And seeing as my girl friend lives about 45 minutes away from me, a sleepover at least helps you feel like spending gas money to drive out is worth it.

5. Have a unique activity to do
Since we are both new homeowners, we will spend our girls night making Pinterest boards for home renovations, commenting on houses on HGTV and probably going through a myriad of paint samples. Before that we looked at wedding magazines and before that we were decorating apartments. You are friends with you girl friends for a reason. Get some poster board, print some pictures and make collages of your dreams, interests, and fun stuff you both love. Do whatever inspires both of you, whether it be party planning, travel, or home decorating like us. :)