We've all heard that many Americans are driving less this summer due to high gas prices. They are choosing "staycations" at home or in the surrounding area. They are watching their budgets as prices soar and wages stagnate.

When I was growing up, my family often hosted friends for an evening of talk. The adults drank coffee and talked about community events in the living room. No one seemed to be at a loss for something to say, and the time went by quickly. Meanwhile, the kids played cards or board games in another room.

Nowadays, such "evening talks" have become relatively rare. Instead, friends come over to watch TV programs or a movie together, or they may take turns hosting their friends in a dining out experience. Unfortunately, those events often squelch conversation because the focus is on the television or the cuisine. Also, dining out can be expensive.
Here are three ideas how you can save money in a single evening by hosting a "$100 conversation" in your home. How? By inviting a few friends to share in a lively, enjoyable evening of conversation instead of dining out and picking up the tab for the others. These days, dinner with drinks and dessert plus tip would easily
add up to $100 in a mid-range restaurant.

An alternative would be to invite about 3-4 friends to your home for coffee and a pleasant group conversation. Here's how:

Select a topic or theme for the evening, such as "How can we find enough time in a hurry-up world?" or "Personal solutions to save energy" or "Alternative Vacations We Can Do Within 50 miles from Home." Guests are told the theme in advance so they
have time to think about it.

Or

You can use a short "trigger film" as a stimulus to a group conversation. Many public libraries have DVDs such as documentaries that can be used as a preface to a lively discussion. The host facilitates the talk about the movie for about an hour. Suggestion: Avoid movies on touchy subjects like sectarian religion that could easily become argumentative.

Now, to be enjoyable and flow smoothly, such group conversations need basic agreements so they don't get off track. Here are five helpful "rules of the road" that people can agree to follow:

Participants agree to:

listen carefully without interrupting.
talk briefly during my turn, 1-3 minutes.
stick to the topic and not wander.
ask questions to clarify but not to argue.
let one person talk at a time.

A Different Kind of Option:

You could play "Fictionary," a fun word-game. It's perfect for 6 to10 people.

You need only this equipment

--an unabridged dictionary
--3x5 cards
--pens or pencils

(You can find detailed rules for Fictionary on the internet with a Google search.)

Participants try to deceive others by writing a plausible-sounding definition for a word selected from the dictionary that no one knows. Everyone votes on the definition they think is correct from the options read aloud, such as the one in this example:

melicrate

to smooth the way
a wooden container for ballast
a beverage of honey and water
to rule with kindness
to besmirch a reputation
a drip meter

Person A finds a word that other players admit they don't know. Everyone then makes up a "good sounding" definition that person A reads aloud along with the "true" definition. Participants vote on their choice and get a point for each person who selects their made-up definition.

This game is especially good for people who enjoy word-play. Time required for each turn is about 10 minutes, and the number of rounds equal to the number of players.