Having a cookout for training class

[UKcats06]

Dh is in training at Comair and while he is close to home, most of the others in training are not. I thought we would have a little cookout at our house. The problem is, as all of you know training pay, let alone 1st year pay is very little, and we are a little short on funds. I basically just want to provide our house, and maybe a few other little things, but we don't have the money to have a full blown cookout for 10-12 people. I want to ask people to bring things, but most of them don't have cars and no access to a store. The other option would be to ask people to give $5 or so to offset the cost and I'll go get it all myself, but that seems kind of tacky and I'm not sure how people will take that. I don't want to ask for money and then no one show up because they don't want to give us any!

So question #1 how do I do this in the least expensive way?

On the question #2, I have never done this before! I know like hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, fruit, beer, stuff like that, but I would like it to be a little better than that. How do I make things a little more than a regular cookout, while still keeping it inexpensive?

[Brenda]

I would ask for 5 bucks. hey, why not, I'm sure they would be willing to pay so that they can be with friends out of the hotel and relax and have fun..
You could do kabobs instead of burgers or dogs. That way you can get beef and/or chicken mixed with veggies. It'll stretch it out. Try a pasta salad, mac n cheese or a reg salad and chips. Maybe get a watermelon?? Keep it simple.
Soda can be cheap. If they would like beer, then def ask for a donation.??

[katbuad]

Personally, I don't think I would ask for money, but that is just me. I would just keep the menu very basic, hotdogs, hamburger, chips, potatoe salad, watermelon, a couple pitchers of kool-aid, ect. Do you have a Costco or Sam's nearby?

I would make it BYOB. Even with no car and little money they will find a way to purchase beer!

[Brenda]

Originally Posted by katbuad

I would make it BYOB. Even with no car and little money they will find a way to purchase beer!

True!
Personally I wouldn't ask either, but, it doesn't hurt if you decide to. They might come up with that idea on their own for someone to go buy the beer!

[Chi829]

see,, me either. I dont think i could ask for money when hosting a BBQ. Its sounds like a great idea and I bet if you catch things on sale you'll be able to do burgers and/or hot dogs with chips or macaroni salad or something for fairly reasonable. Let us know what you decided. I bet all the guys in training would really appreciate it.

[Bigsweetie]

I wouldn't mind asking them to chip in for beer, but not the rest. IMO, if the bbq is your idea, then it's your dime. Although, I wouldn't be offended if anyone asked me to chip in, it's just that I wouldn't have the guts to ask others to, with the exception of the beer.

I checked your local Kroger ad... they have some good deals this week. Ground beef is $.150/lb (I haven't seen that price here in MI in over 3 years!!!!); Hotdogs are buy 1 get 1 free, Doritos are $1.77 (man! I'm moving the KY!); Kroger hamburger and hotdog buns are $1/each; Bottled water is $4 for a 24 pk.; Gatorade is .69; Watermelon is $3.88; Chip dip is $1.

I'd just do it on the cheap... hotdogs, hamburgs, chips, dip, watermelon. They'll mainly be in to the beer anyway LOL!

[skibum515]

Put out a hat/can of sorts and a sign in front of it that says "donations greatly appreciated" near the door so when people come in they can drop in a couple of bucks.

Really though, if you're hosting for like 10-12 guys, you could get one or two packs of hot dogs, and one or two packs of those pre-made hamburger patties. Grab a pack of Kraft singles for cheese burgers. Grab some potato salad from the deli (it's easier than making it yourself!)

Tada! Maybe some beer or pop.

[Comairwife]

That's soo sweet of you to do!

I think the other girls gave great suggestions.... I would also try to hit up the local Sam's Club... I think they have value packs of things that may be more expensive...

Also, I would def let it be byob... that stuff gets wayyy to expensive. You could also maybe do some sort of a potato salad... that's not too expensive to make... or a macaroni salad...

HTH
Helen

[skibum515]

duh! Skip the potato salad, buy a bag of chips or pretzles (or both) and it's easy and cheaper!

[UKcats06]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I talked to dh and the one (and only) girl in his class has been making plans for it, so I'll talk to her tomorrow (he has a family orientation tomorrow, I'm so excited!) and see what she has planned so far. I agree with all of you, asking for money feels tacky to me, but I wasn't sure what else to do. If we had a little extra money I would be more than happy to do it, no question, its just that we don't. So I'll see what the girl has planned tomorrow and see. I figured it would be nice to have everyone over and get out of the hotel. I know they go out on like weekends, but still going to a house I think would be a little more "homey" if that makes any sense. I'll let you all know what I do!