5 Genius Ideas for Saving on Cookouts

Here’s the thing about grilling: pretty much everything cooked on a grill tastes amazing so you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on the best cut of steak. Hot dogs aren’t exactly the fanciest meat product out there, but the smoky flavor and slightly charred skin is one of America’s favorite cookout staples. (The same applies to hamburger.) Save big and buy the cheaper cuts of meat like chicken, pork, hot dogs, and hamburgers.

Hosting an event can be overwhelming! Aside from the food, hosts have an almost endless list of things they’re responsible for: cutlery, plates, setup, and cleanup to name a few. Make the day a little easier and assign guests a side dish to bring. Most of the time, people like to feel like they’re contributing or helping out and may even jump at the opportunity to share their prized potato salad with your guests.

Bonus: This makes for a great conversation starter between guests that are just meeting or haven’t spoken in a while. (“This salad is amazing! Can I have the recipe for it?!”)

Depending on how frequently you expect to grill this summer, gas or charcoal grills could be more cost efficient. If you only expect to BBQ a few times over the summer, charcoal grills are the way to go, as they are a less expensive purchase and pretty low maintenance. On the other hand, if you are one of those people who loves to grill every meal of the summer, we recommend gas for the lower fuel cost in the long run. The initial investment may be heftier than the previous mentioned, but over time, you’ll save lots!

Adult beverages at cookouts can get pretty pricey for a number of reasons. While actual cost isn’t exactly cheap, one has to also factor in how much people will drink, which can range greatly from guest to guest.

It also adds stress to the host when deciding which potential scenario is the lesser evil — running out of alcohol or having an overabundance of alcohol, along with rowdy, and potentially reckless behavior? We suggest going alcohol-free. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be left with a lot less clean up. Think of those bottles and cans everywhere!

If this is unrealistic for your cookout and guests, make it a BYOB cookout to remove the headache and financial burden from your shoulders as the host. This allows those guests who do want to drink accountability for themselves.

Back on the topic of cookout-friendly foods, don’t forget that meat isn’t the only thing cookout guests enjoy fresh from the grill. While cheaper cuts of meat are half the food savings battle, the other half is grilling up other tasty and affordable sides — like vegetables!

In the era of blogging and Pinterest, you will find it quite easy to locate an abundance of delicious, creative, and budget-friendly recipes online for every veggie under the sun. Smokey, flavorful vegetables make a great side to any meat you have whipped up and can be purchased a half the cost of the meat you’ll be grilling, with twice as much in portion.