BBQ Budget

MoneySupermarket.com gave me £50, and there were two dozen of us at the BBQ. This is how I spent the money. Thanks again, MS.com. [I have allowed for cost of bbq charcoal, and skewers and napkins as well as the food costs]

from stores at home

• salad dressings [Approved foods]      0.65
• fruit juice [AF]                                   0.45
• sunflower oil                                      0.20
• marshmallows [½ bag, AF]                1.00
• coffee  & tea                                      0.90
• bbq skewers                                       0.50
• paper napkins                                    0.50
• ½ batch of Steph’s 4am cookies         2.00

[total £6.20]

from Makro cash’n’carry

• shoulder of pork                           £16.99
• 30 bread rolls [reduced]                  1.90
• bbq charcoal [part pack]                  1.50

[total £20.01]

from Sainsbury's

• basics melon                                         0.89
• basics strawberries                               1.00
• cucumber                                              0.80
• basics courgettes [½ pack]                    0.80
• basics peppers                                       1.60
• cherry tomatoes                                    1.00
• red onions [½ pack]                               0.50
• pack of mushrooms                               1.00
• hearts of romaine                                  1.00
• bbq seasoning for pork                          1.60
• baby sweetcorn                                      1.50
• punnet salad cress                                  0.24
• milk    [½ bottle]                                   0.45
• 2 x 160ml double cream                         3.40
• can condensed milk                               1.00
• 2 x basics diet lemonade                       0.34
• bag of ice                                               1.00

[total £18.12]

freebies

• blackberries [from Sandie]
• mint & rosemary from the garden
• extra drinks from our guests

TOTAL SPEND £44.33 – LESS THAN £2 A HEAD

Next time I would skip the baby sweetcorn – it was intended to go on the kebabs, but the cobs snapped too easily, so we had to grill them separately. I’d probably omit either the melon or the blackberries, as 50% of each was left over.

I did well to get the bread rolls reduced [also the condensed milk] and my recent AF order saved me a fair bit of money on juices and dressings. Although I went for ‘basics’ veg, I opted to make the biscuits and ice-cream from scratch. It cost more – but was definitely worth it. I will post recipes later

I am following ElizabethD’s brilliant idea – and have donated the £6 left over to the Trussell Trust Foodbanks.