by Bettie, the penny-pinching socialite

You want to have a social life, but you either don’t have money to spend or don’t want to spend what you do have. What can you do? Luckily, being broke is not a sentence to social Siberia. If you can scrounge up $35, you can throw an awesome dinner party for you and five friends.

"Thirty-five measly dollars?" you ask. "Why, I spend that on lattes alone each week!" I can hear you saying it in disbelief right now. Yes, you can happily entertain six people for $35. The secret to pulling it all together is simple: theme parties. Themed ethnic food is cheap, yummy and fun.

Also, the largest budget-buster for any get together is booze. Ask you friends to bring along the beverages and that will really stretch your entertaining budget. Of course, we don’t want to bankrupt your friends, so we’ve included suggestions for inexpesnive, theme-appropriate beverages your buddies can bring to the party.

You may even ask your guests to dress it up along with the theme — nothing fancy, but a pencil-moustache drawn on with eyeliner paired with a black-and-white striped mime shirt might make a "Night in Paris party," an affair to remember now wouldn’t it?

We’ve come up with three dinner parties ideas, with recipes, so you can entertain your friends in style without breaking the budget.

The recipes and shopping lists can be downloaded in either Microsoft Word or text format.

Fiesta Mexicana, build your own fajita buffet
Menu: vegeterian and chicken fajitas with black beans, garbanzo beans and yellow rice. Topped with green peppers, tomatoes, onions, salsa and sour cream. Add a little adventure with some sauteed yucca and plantains. Recipes: word / text
Suggested beverage: Cruz Garcia Real Sangria with fresh orange slices, $6 a bottle

The Godfather, Classic Italian
Menu:Spaghetti and meatballs with warm Italian bread and garlic butter. Recipes: word / text
Suggested beverage: Canaletto Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2000, $8. Red Knot Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, McLaren Vale, Australia, $12.

Zorba the Greek tapas party
Menu: Felafel on pita bread, topped with cucumber-dill yogurt sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. Gourmet olives antipasto platter with Greek village salad. Recipes: word / text
Suggested beverages: Alexandros Megapanos Savatiano 2002, Sparta, $9. Haggipavlu Moshofilero 2002, Mantinia,$13.