>expensive outings >events where booze is the main attraction I have a formula that's working pretty well for us. My wife and I host a movie night every othe

>expensive outings >events where booze is the main attraction I have a formula that's working pretty well for us. My wife and I host a movie night every other week at our place, with a small WhatsApp group of friends who are free to both drop by unannounced and bring friends of their own unannounced. It's made clear from the outset that this is a zero-tolerance household: No alcohol, no drugs. We prep enough dinner for however many people might show up, which is around 7 people these days. We do not reveal the movie until the showing of, both to add a layer of mystery to the whole thing and just because people who are that picky about their movies are probably not a good fit for the rest of the visitors. A little selectivity goes a long way :) I'm quite liking the crowd we are beginning to gather for this low-key event. Monetary costs to the guests range somewhere between "free" and "the bag of chips you decided to bring"; costs to us are usually under $40 total. Everyone who has come by has enjoyed it, even if they decide once is enough and they have better things to do with their time (no offense!). The routineliness of the event has been a great way to quickly build a new friend group in a city neither of us have much history in. Among our regulars, we seem to disproportionately attract friends who are either full time employed or taking their studies quite seriously, both of which are indicators of quite good things. It's likely we'll have to change the event once kids enter the picture, but I'm sure by that point we'll have a whole different world of socialization options open up to us.