Holiday Party Blues

"It's a fun party," Kane said. "But I would tell you I can buy a cold beer someplace with four or five friends and feel a lot better than I can knowing that I would have been able to do something different with that money."

Moves like that can win over employees and make the letdown a little easier.

And there are still ways to celebrate for less. Some companies are having pot-luck get-togethers or employees are spending the day volunteering together.

Johnson said bosses need to explain why the party is off -- and, in most cases, the staff will understand.

"It's also important to, in some ways, replace the sentiment of that holiday party," said Johnson. "So if one of the main reasons of the party was to thank your people and really boost morale and show people that, as an organization, that you care about them, you care about their efforts, you're appreciative of their work, then find a way to show that."