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Whether you have barbeques, fish fries or crawfish boils, summer get togethers can dip into the family budget. When you are hosting a get together, you are already in charge of getting your house and yard ready for company, not to mention the shopping beforehand. You are opening your home, but you don’t have to break the bank just to enjoy time
with family and friends. There are ways to cut the expenses and still enjoy the day.

Stock up on the paper products at bulk stores. Keep a stock of paper plates, utinsils, napkins, and cups on hand. Whenever you see any of these products on sale, buy anything you may be getting low on.
Also keep your eyes open a yard or garage sales for unopened paper products.

Save money on the main dish. If you have freezer space, stock up on pork or beef whenever you see it on sale. Roasts are perfect for pulled pork or beef sandwiches, so purchase them when they are cheap and use them for the next shindig.

Cookies are a great summertime dessert and can be made up in advance and frozen until the event. Cookies made from scratch are inexpensive and easy to serve.

Divide up the expense – have everyone bring a dish to share. If you are providing the main dish, the paper products and the location, let the guests provide the rest. Tell everyone what to bring so you don’t end up with too much of one dish. Some suggestions are chips and dip, salads such as potatoe salad, pasta salad and garden salad, condiments such as olives, pickles and peppers, fruit, and desserts such as cakes, cookies or ice cream.

If you are serving alcohol, have everyone BYOB. Alcohol is one of the most expensive parts of a get together, so spread the expense. You provide one bottle or 12 pack and have your guests bring what they like. You could even provide the mix such as margarita mix, and have the guests bring the alcohol to mix in.

Serve water, ice tea or lemonade instead of soda. Another big expense is the soda or pop, but it isn’t a necessity for a successful get together. Just plain water is better for you and if everyone is playing and running around in the hot sun, it will keep them hydrated. So forego the pop for less expensive options.

If your family and friends like to play games at your get togethers, don’t feel like you have to buy a new game for every event. For outdoor events, play flag football or volleyball or even tag. For indoor events, play a card game or a game or charades. You can purchase a deck of cards for $1.00 and charades cost nothing.

Most importantly, have fun. Enjoy the day and don’t break the bank trying to make it memorable. The memories are made by the company, not the food.

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