’Tis the season to be jolly, and to me the most important thing about the holidays is hanging around friends and loved ones, enjoying special memories and the wondrous spirit of the holiday season. The world during the Christmas season is simply more enchanted, with houses decorated with red and green lights, plastic Santas ready to jump down chimneys and the chill in the air.

But then you scratch your head and wonder about that upcoming Christmas party that you’re hosting. You look at your invitation list and realize that it seems you have invited almost every person you’ve met in your lifetime, and that you’re going to need a truckload of food and drink. You really don’t want to get a second mortgage on your house to pay for this party, and you made the strategic mistake of telling your friends “no” when they asked if you wanted them to bring anything. But there are ways to cut corners as far as costs are concerned and not look like Mister Cheap.

Eggnog, either homemade or store-bought, is always welcome, particularly when mixed with rum, brandy or other spirits. The rule of thumb for mixing eggnog and liquor is one quart of prepared eggnog per 12 ounces of mixed liquor. The liquor can be two or three of the following: rum, whiskey, brandy, apricot brandy or crème de cacao.

Champagne punch is another cheerful way to cut costs. Here is my recipe: Place in a punch bowl a block of ice, add a 1/4 cup of lemon juice, two bottles of Spanish Cava (750 ml.), half a pint of maraschino liquor, half a pint of curacao, one pint of brandy and one liter of sparkling water. Stir well, add powdered sugar to sweeten to taste and then add oranges, lemons and fresh berries. Serve in 4-ounce punch glasses.

When it comes to wine, it is best to keep it simple: a white, a red and a pink. The norm would be chardonnay, cabernet and a white zinfandel. To mix it up, try an Italian pinot grigio, a red Bordeaux and a dry French rosé. For liquor, keep it easy: rum, whiskey and vodka with standard mixers. For beer, there are the standard domestic beers and various winter brews from some of the craft beer makers.

Now, how much wine and liquor should you have? At a standard adult party, you must figure that’s one drink per person per hour. For example, if you have 25 people at your party and the party lasts for four hours, 100 drinks will be consumed. If you are just serving wine, there is a little more than four servings per bottle, so you would need about two cases, or 24 bottles of wine.

Where this gets tricky is when you have beer, wine and liquor, but the same rule applies: one drink per hour per person. But how much wine, beer and liquor will be consumed? You have to know your friends. If you know that your friend Igor drinks only red wine, your buddy Sue likes beer and your cousin Irving likes vodka, you can tilt your inventory one way or another. And if you are serving eggnog and/or champagne punch, your need for beer, wine and liquor diminishes. And serving punch and eggnog will cut your need for other booze in half. Also, when planning a holiday party, it is always good to have a friend who will volunteer to be the drink runner in case you get low on supplies.

For last-minute gift-giving, don’t forget wines and spirits. There is always an assortment of liquor gift sets that usually include candy or free drink glasses. And for the cabernet drinker in the family, there are wide assortments of cabs available at wine shops, most upscale liquor stores and grocery stores. Most have gift bags available for a few bucks.

Champagne is another great gift. A lot of champagne comes in gift sets that include lovely champagne flutes. They range in price from $30 to $100 or more. Charles Heidsieck, Laurent-Perrier and the Perrier-Jouet flower bottle are my favorites.

A historical note: Eggnog is an American beverage dating back to 1775. Most scholars think that eggnog is a combination of two words: egg and grog. Grog is the colonial word for rum. Most eggnog is mixed with rum and brandy, but historically sherry, whiskey, cider and ale have been used. It is the drink most associated with Christmas.