Over the last year or two, our economy has been going through a little slump. I know, I know, many of you are thinking, “Whatever do you mean, Lindsey? I had not heard.”

Well for those of you that haven’t been living with a remote tribe deep in the Amazon forest, you have probably been affected by this and have had to make changes in your life as a result.

One of the biggest changes for Americans out there is a decrease in, or loss of, disposable income, which is where many of us get our funds to get out and enjoy local nightlife.

I myself have exchanged my regular Friday VIP bottle service table at Venom Nightclub for the Friday VIP Netflix section on my couch.

I have written about late night Happy Hours, which can be a great way to not spend a lot of money and still get off the couch. But, there are lots of other inexpensive, and still both fun and sophisticated, things you can do at night, and one of them I attended recently – a Battle of the Bargain Wine Party.

A good friend of mine and her husband put together the party, where everyone was told to bring their favorite bargain (under $20) bottle of wine.

The bottles were all then put into bags so nobody could tell which was which, and we had the highly pleasurable task of tasting and rating them all. The overall score for each wine took into consideration the average rating as well as the price.

Inexpensive for those of us attending, since all we brought was a bottle of wine, and for the hosts they didn’t have to worry about supplying drinks!

Everyone was able to try a variety of wine and feel sophisticated when we dropped phrases like, “Look at that meniscus!” and, “What a complex bouquet.”

The food was also delicious, and when the hostess brought out the Costco brownie bites, I knew this was a party I would not forget soon.

Unlike at a bar or restaurant, there is no elbowing or waiting to get a drink, you don’t run out of chairs or places to sit, you do not need to spend 20 minutes looking for parking, and there is no hurry to leave or order before last call.

You can end your evening sitting outside on the deck if it is summer, decide to stay and watch a movie, or in our case, have an awesome techno dance party downstairs to end the evening. (A bit of a tradition for parties at their house.)

Being the wine connoisseur I am, I of course won Best White Wine with my J.Lohr Chardonnay. Although, since I was the only person to bring a white, I was also told I won Worst White Wine.

At this party, the overall top wine was a 2007 J.Lohr Seven Oaks Paso Nobles Cabernet Sauvignon. I would highly recommend J.Lohr wine, by the way. Typically under $15 and very tasty stuff.

There are several other versions of this party you can put together – it doesn’t have to be wine. You could change up the beverage and do a beer version: “Battle of Local Microbrew.” Or even change it to food – who can create the tastiest dip for chips?

I even saw on "Jerseylicious" the other week they did a red sauce contest. Wait, did I just admit I watched a show called "Jerseylicious?" Shoot.

So off you go, get together some friends, plan a similar party, and bring on the competition. You won’t regret it, and your wallet will approve.