The Economics of a Backyard BBQ

The smell of the grill, the sounds of kids playing and birds chirping. Who doesn’t love a good backyard BBQ? If you stop and take a moment to think about the financial aspect of a BBQ you just might love them even more. In fact, a BBQ can help you and your friends save a boatload of money!

Spring is in the air, and we are just off of hosting our first BBQ of the season. Within our circle of friends, we typically have a BBQ each month during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Usually, we rotate hosting the event at each others house. The group ranges in size from 16 to 30 people. In this instance, we hosted a group of 27 (14 adults and 13 kids).

On the menu this time was pulled pork sandwiches with the pork smoked in my trusty Weber Smoky Mountain, coleslaw, salad, macaroni and cheese, and grapes. Chips and salsa served as an appetizer and M&M chocolate chip cookies rounded out the meal as dessert.

I could go on about the benefits of a BBQ get-together (more activities for the kids, less cramped, more laid back, etc.), but this is a personal finacne blog so I will focus on the money and time involved. Here is a summary of costs for the meal. The vast majority of these items came from Sam’s Club.

Item	Cost
Pork Butt (10 lbs)	$17.00
Buns (Pack of 24)	$3.70
Slaw	$2.00
Salad (2 salad kits)	$6.00
Salsa (Big ol’ jug of cilantro salsa)	$6.00
3 Bags of Chips (1 bag each tortilla chip, Doritos, and Ruffles)	$9.00
Grapes	$6.00
Cookies (M&M Chocolate Chip)	$6.00
Charcoal (1-19.5 lb bag $5 off sale)	$7.00
Macaroni & cheese recipe	$6.14
BBQ sauce	$1.88
Plates (45)	$4.97
Plastic Utensils	$3.97
Tax (8%)	$6.37
Total	$86.03
$/Person (27 people)	$3.19

For a family of four, the total comes up to $12.75 without beverages.

Now let’s add some beverages… say 8 bottles of Bud Light. This would add around $6 (a 20 pack is $14.48 before tax , or $0.73 per beer). Fruit punch juice boxes for the little ones adds $3.32 for 10 juice boxes ($3.50 after tax). This breaks down to about $1 for 2 kids. Adding this all together and a family of four can feast for $19.75.

It should be noted that this number could be further reduced by using washable plates and utensils and subbing out the pulled pork for burgers and hot dogs, or even considering a meatless option if that’s your thing. This is just one example of a common setup for our group.

Last but not least, don’t forget the left overs! We had 2 full meals with the remaining pork and sides.

The Restaurant Alternative

That sure sounds good. But what would a comparable dinner out with friends cost? Obviously, the costs here are subject to a wide range depending on the specific restaurant. Here’s a stab at a typical tab for a sit down BBQ style dinner (prices pulled from a local BBQ joint we love):

Pulled Pork Sandwich (includes Mac & Cheese side)	$9.95
Coleslaw	$3.00
2 Beers ($5 each)	$10.00
Tax	$1.04
Total per Adult	$23.99
Kid’s Pulled Pork Sandwich, 1 side & drink	$5.00
Tax (8%)	$0.40
Total per Kid	$5.40
Subtotal (2 Adults & 2 Kids)	$58.77
20% Tip	$11.75
Total	$70.53

$70.53 and I didn’t include apps or dessert!

Yearly Savings

That’s impressive, but let’s extrapolate these numbers out. Say we replace 8 dinners out with backyard BBQs over the course of one year. I settled on 8 as there are usually around 8 months a year where the weather here is conducive to having a BBQ. I’d love to get together more than once a month, but the stars never seem to align with ours and other’s calendars. This would replace the dining out total of $564.21 (8 x $70.53) with $158… an annual savings of $406.21!!

The Time Factor

Let’s look at the numbers from a time perspective. Most of the people stayed for 4 hours at the BBQ. Dividing the total ($19.75) by this time yields a rate of $4.94 per hour for a family of four.

On the other hand, when we go out to eat, we find we spend around 1.5 to 2 hours at the restaurant with our friends. Dividing the dinner tab ($70.53) by 2 hours results in a rate of $35.26 per hour.

Instead of an hourly rate, let’s calculate how many hours we get to spend with our friends.

• Dining Out (8 meals x 2 hours per meal) = 16 hours
• Backyard BBQ (8 Ques x 4 hours each) = 32 hours

That’s twice the amount of time with your friends! Bringing money back into the equation it would cost $1,128.42 for the same amount of time dining out compared with $158 for 8 BBQs.

I don’t know about you, but I am a fan of spending more time with my friends and paying a heck of a lot less for it! How’s that for lifestyle optimization!