Budgeting for Large Gathering

noffgurl · May 2015

My BIL and his wife are bringing 4 neice/nephews down to us for a week (they are going on a couples cruise and we haven't seen the kids in a couple years). Anyways, I know how to budget for activities, but I'm not sure how to budget for food, toiletries, the little things.. . .

blondie42107 · May 2015

What ages are the kids? I have two and frequently have my niece and nephew.

noffgurl · May 2015

There will be 5 kids total, 13, 12, 9, 7, and 6. There will be consistently 4 adults and 2 other adults occasionally.

AprilZ81 · May 2015

Toiletries won't be a big expense except for an increase in toilet paper.

The food budget is going to be what gets you since most of the kids will eat a full adult portion, or close too it.

Xstatic3333 · May 2015

noffgurl said:
There will be 5 kids total, 13, 12, 9, 7, and 6. There will be consistently 4 adults and 2 other adults occasionally.

Wow, full house! The other expense I can think of is gas if you'll be driving them around a lot. Otherwise, I definitely second PP about food. How sweet of you to take them all for a week!

blondie42107 · May 2015

For food, I would look at what's on sale that you could stock up on. Making pizza, grilling hotdogs, spaghetti, tacos, grilled cheese, grilled or baked chicken drumsticks, pulled pork sandwiches, etc. For snacks I would suggest string cheese, in-season fruit and veggies (apples, bananas, grapes), popcorn is easy,etc.

Try to keep it simple. If you can start getting some stuff early, each time you shop, it'll help spread the cost out.

noffgurl · May 2015

I can't wait, we are figuring out everything Texas that we can do that they can't do in Utah. My bro's daughter will be meeting her cousins for the first time. It's going to be over Fourth of July. I seriously cannot wait. Lol.

blondie42107 · May 2015

I'm sure it will be a wonderful time! Good luck!

formerlyGDaisy09 · May 2015

agreed with @blondie42107 keep food simple and cheap. hod dogs, hamburgers, pasta, potatoes, shop for whatever meat is on sale...recently pork loin has been really cheap here, pulled pork sandwiches are a great idea.

make simple salads (lettuce, carrots, tomatoes) and pick a couple kid-friendly dressings (ranch and italian). if you have an option to buy in bulk, go for it. Lots of grocery stores sell big tubs of ice cream for not too much.

Plan to do things like eggs, toast, etc for breakfast...cereal gets expensive and teenagers can eat lots of it.

For lunch getting a bunch of deli meat and some pretzels/chips so lunch is sandwiches will keep that easy. Watermelon is also in season, and generally pretty cheap.

for drinks get a tub of lemonade drink mix and use that and water rather than buying soda or other bottled juices. (or just let them drink water...way healthier).

short+sassy · May 2015

How fun! My niece and nephew live halfway across the country. I'd be thrilled to have them visit for a week.

abrewer5 · May 2015

I agree with others buy a little bit as you go leading up to them coming to help spread the costs out a little more. You could also make a whole chicken/turkey (depending on price) and make fresh chicken/turkey sandwiches or chicken/turkey salad for lunches. Lunch meat might not be a bad a way to go for sandwiches also.

I made 2 trays of lasagna pretty cheap when I had a big family gathering and there were plenty of left overs, and I paired with fresh bread and salad. It ended up being a great meal. I made them the day before and put them in the fridge. Then about 60-90 minutes before people came over and were ready to eat I popped them in the oven.

I would keep meals as simple as possible to reduce your stress, reduce costs, and to help you spend as much time with them as possible! Enjoy your time with them!

Erikan73 · May 2015

See if anyone has a large crockpot that you can borrow (or two if you don't already own one). Then if you have the freezer space, find some great & easy crockpot reciepes that can go into the freezer. Then you can buy the stuff when it comes on sale, make up a double portion of the receipe & throw it in the freezer. Then in the morning, start up both crock pots and dump in the ready made meals, and hit the road for the day and come back to a great home cooked affordable meal. And like PP, it frees up your time while they are visiting. And if you use crock pot liner bags, you'll have very little to deal with on dishes too

Also, I think it's great of you to take their kids for them for a whole week so that they can have some private couple time to relax and re-energize.

Budgeting for Large Gathering

Re: Budgeting for Large Gathering

Choose Another Board

Search Boards