CHEAP Summer BBQ's

My typical BBQ food was Bubba Burgers ($9.49) for 6 frozen patties, BBQ Beans, Tossed Salad and Macaroni Salad. I'm expecting to host a BBQ for 6 people this weekend and needed to fit the costs of the Barbecue into my $100.00 weekly food costs.

I went to the local Wegmans and picked up a "club pack" of 80/20 ground beef. It was just over 6 pounds of ground beef for $12.23. We then bought a hamburger press for $3.29. We considered just hand forming them ourselves, but I really like uniform patties and thought that $3.29 was worth the convenience since we have burgers often.

We went home and made 24 quarter pound burgers, layered them in wax paper and put them in a freezer bag. The original plan for Bubba Burgers was buying 2 boxes for $18.98 and having only 2 hamburgers per person. By buying bulk and forming my own, I spent $15.52 and have double the burgers to use for next week!
 I added the following to my shopping cart: 16 Wegmans white hamburger buns for $1.99 (I freeze the extras in foil and a freezer bag then stick them on the grill for later use.), Combined Wegmans "food you feel good about" creamed corn ($.49) and a can of Wegman's Corn to make a large batch of "chunky" creamed corn,  two bags of Wegmans "Food you feel good about" Salad $1.29, and Wegmans Ranch dressing for $1.69. I add cheddar cheese that I bought for other weeknight meals, and bacon bits and salad topping that I keep in stock to the salad to dress it up a bit.

Total Cost for my Barbecue?  $22.76 and I have hamburgers and rolls left over to combine with a pantry item next week for a free dinner. We're serving ice cold water, kool aid (from the pantry), and hot tea or coffee (all from pantry) and we don't have any drinkers coming, but when we do we just make the party BYOB.

I made the weekly food budget of $100.00 with $8.00 to spare. If you're under and want to add to your BBQ with the extra money, head over to Aldi Foods- Tomatoes, Onions, and Iceberg Lettuce are all well under $1.00, You can easily pick up chips for less than $2.00 and a box of brownie mix for about $1.50