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Summer has finally arrived! Are you excited to enjoy all the things that come with summer? Gathering for a cookout with friends and family is one of our favorite things to do during the summer. We have a decent size group of friends and all of us have multiple children. You can only imagine that a small gathering easily becomes twenty people for our group. How do we host cookouts for twenty something individuals without going into more debt or jeopardizing your guests’ experience? Over the last few summers, we have learned different ways to have multiple summer gatherings while still managing to stay low-cost and within budget.
Budget-Friendly Cookout Tips
Co-host
One of the biggest tips that we have learned over the years is to find someone to co-host a cookout with us. This eases the budget and the stress of planning the cookout. Typically in our group of friends and family, one individual offers to provide the space for hosting including set up and take down. The other co-host does the planning of the guest list, menu, entertainment, and decoration. We have learned to never be afraid to ask for help. In our experience, no one has turned down the opportunity to get together and host a gathering filled with food and those we love!
Meat Selection
The budget for your cookout can easily be broken by the number of your guest list. However, if your not careful your meat selection can be just as big of a budget killer as your guest list. Whether your guest list is 5 individuals or a 100, there are ways to help reduce the cost of feeding your guest without killing your budget!
The choice of meat that will be served at your cookout can have a tremendous impact on your budget. By choosing to serve lower-cost meats like hamburgers and hot dogs, you will already be saving money in your budget. For additional savings, consider buying your meat in bulk or shopping early to take advantage of sales. You may also want to consider using coupons or a rebate app like Ibotta. Ibotta is a great app that allows you to earn cash back on purchases you already planned for. If you are new to Ibotta, you can earn $10 just by signing up through my link here!
What if you choose to serve higher-cost meats like steak or ribs? The techniques mentioned above can still greatly reduce your overall cost. We have also witnessed at previous cookouts, attendees bringing their own meat selection to cook. This may also be an option to offer your guest if they prefer something different than what you are cooking as the host.
Side Dishes
Along with the cost of your meat selection, your selection of other food options can easily blow your budget if you’re not careful. The best advice I have ever received was to keep the side dishes simple. We all want to make Pinterest worthy dishes and by all means, try it out, but keep it simple. Keeping it simple will be good for your budget and your peace of mind!
Another option to keep your cookout budget-friendly is to make it a potluck style cookout. This means as the host you will only need to worry about the main course, while the rest of your guest bring a dish to pass. This has been very successful with our friend and family gatherings. I have also witnessed potluck style celebrations as an acceptable and budget-friendly option for work parties, after hour work gatherings in addition to family and friend gatherings. Obviously, hosting a potluck style cookout would greatly depend on your guest list. However, you may be surprised by who is willing to contribute if you just ask. Even if a small portion of your guest bring a dish, this still saves you time and money while offering more to the cookout.
Beverages
Providing drinks for your guest is a very must especially during the hot days of summer. However, similar to our suggestions on side dishes, keeping it simple is key to staying within your budget. Providing water, juice, and pop can be a very low-cost way to keep your guest hydrated. Again, do not forget to buy in bulk, take advantage of sales ahead of time and utilize coupons and cash back apps.
If you have guests who prefer a different beverage of choice, do not be afraid to let guests know that it is BYOB. Especially when it comes to alcohol, everyone has different preferences! When guests bring their own beverages, you can save your budget and give yourself peace of mind. Almost every cookout that I have attended has been one in which you bring your own beverages. I have never seen anyone have an issue with this type of request, however, it can greatly depend on your group of peers!
Decorations & Tableware
When considering decorations and tableware for your summer cookout, the mantra keeping it simple still remains. Even if you would like to be a bit more elaborate, there are still frugal options you can make. Reusing Christmas Lights to decorate your patio, or any other structure being used during your cookout is a frugal option. Also utilize your local Dollar Store, to buy decorations and tableware. These stores offer great and simple decoration options or the supplies needed to make your own. Just remember, the more simple you keep it with decorating, the more time and money you save at the end of the cookout.
When considering tableware, look into buying in bulk especially if you host multiple cookouts throughout the season. Dollar stores also have great and durable serving trays and bowls that can be reused multiple times throughout the year! The more use you can get out of purchasing tableware, the lower your cost will be in the long run.
Entertainment
The type of entertainment that takes place at your cookout will depend greatly on your specific group of peers. The entertainment budget can also be determined by what you already own. Perhaps you own a pool, waterslide, trampoline and so forth. You can choose to make these items available which can cut down on your need to spend money on entertainment. In our experience, the best cookouts have been filled with a friendly cornhole tournament and streaming music. Chances are someone who will be attending your cookout may own a cornhole set and will have no problem bringing it. If not, you can purchase a set at a pretty decent price and it will pay for itself over time. Entertainment options can be endless and can be the one component of your cookout that will cost your budget the least amount of money.
We hope these tips will inspire you to continue hosting cookouts while you are cultivating your money tree. During this journey, you may have to sacrifice many things while paying down debt or saving for a big expense. However, with intentional planning, budgeting, and frugal techniques we can all still enjoy life with friends and family!
Share your experience of hosting a budget-friendly summer cookout with us!
these are all wonderful tips for hosting a cookout. It can get very expensive. Everyone from around where we live always volunteer to bring a dish to pass to help out. We get to try new dishes which is great.
Having the option to try new dishes is one of my favorite things about potluck style cookouts!
Great tips! I always spend way too much money on food lol But I like cooking and preparing so its usually okay 🙂 we usually have some beer and tell people they can bring something else if they’d rather have that!
I definitely believe that depends on your level of love for hosting and cooking! I have many acquaintances that also provide beer, but I am not a beer drinker, so I always end up bringing my own drink of choice.
These are amazing tips to save on cook outs!
Very nice tips. I’m really looking for saving money and not wasting it all on summer haha and this pretty good tips.
Gather ’round and have good time with friends.. So things will be much priceless, even though they’re intended on a budget..