Party by Amy is a story that would make Amy proud! I threw my cheapest party ever and it was a complete fluke! For those who don’t know Amy, see my earlier post, Hero Worship, for a run-down on Amy Dacyczyn. And, in honor of Memorial Day, which is right around the corner, I thought I’d share this story with you…
It was Memorial Day last year. Originally, Tiffany and I were going to use this precious time to get together and work on our blog, which we had not yet launched (it launched July 28, 2012). She arrived at my house with the Princesses Ps in tow and about an hour later, we were joined by Tiff’s sister (another one of my nieces), Samantha. Sam, who was 19 at the time, was recruited to watch the Princesses (and play with them), while Tiff and I spent quality time working on the blog.
As part of our blog-working day, I had decided to make a turkey, stuffing and gravy for our blog and because I had a frozen turkey leftover from Thanksgiving. Since it was already at the 6-month mark of frozen suspension, I thought it was time to cook it before freezer burn kicked in!
So, while Tiffany was settling the girls, I go to work on the turkey. Once in the oven, Tiff and I went into my home office and started brainstorming, planning, catching up, writing, etc. About an hour into our “golden” time, Chris calls (Tiff’s husband) and says he’s decided to come over, too, so that he can go swimming with the girls.
Samantha had invited her mother, Gail (my sister, Tiffany’s mother and the Princesses grandmother), and she arrived. We were distracted greeting her and getting everyone settled, etc., but eventually go back to working in my office.
About a half hour later, Chris arrives and we’re distracted once again, getting re-settled, etc. It’s now mid-afternoon, so I make the stuffing and get that in the oven.
By then, the turkey needs to come out. The turkey is resting on the counter and I call my husband, Charlie, into the kitchen to ask him to carve the turkey. He says:
“I don’t want turkey; it’s Memorial Day!”
“Well, what do you want?”
“Something more traditional, like hamburgers and hot dogs!”
Now he tells me! I’m completely frustrated by this lack of communication and turn of events. How can he NOT have realized that we were having turkey? He was in and out of the house as the turkey was prepared and the entire house smelled of roast turkey! And, I defrosted the turkey in the refrigerator for about a week prior and we talked about it!
It was now approaching 5:00 p.m. and my houseful of last minute guests were getting hungry and, in the meantime, while this conversation was going on, Chris wanted Tiffany to join him and the girls in the pool! So, our “work day”, while well-meaning, was essentially over.
A few weeks before, I had gotten hot dog buns on sale for $1.15 per package of 8, so I bought 2 packages and froze them. The next week, hot dogs were on sale for $0.79 for a package of 10; the limit was 3, so I bought 3 and froze them.
Corn was on sale for $0.20 per ear, so I had 7 ears of fresh corn in the refrigerator, which was just enough for this crowd. Plus, the same week the hot dogs were on sale, the store had canned pork & beans on sale for $0.39 per can, so I bought the limit of 10. And, canned peaches were on sale for $0.89 a can and I bought 6.
With these previously purchased items on hand, combined with other things I had on hand, we made grilled hot dogs on buns with the usual condiments, pork & beans, grilled corn on the cob with butter, peach & blueberry cobbler. Tiffany had brought ingredients to make a salad and Gail brought ice cream. I didn’t figure the cost of these ingredients into the total below because I didn’t pay for them.
I calculated the cost of this party to be about $11.00 in its entirety! That’s $1.38 per person or if you just count the adults, it’s $1.83 per person (there were 6 adults and 2 children under 5).
Here’s the breakdown:
-
10 hot dog buns = $1.40 ($1.15 divided by 8 in the package = $0.14 each x 10 = $1.40)
-
10 hot dogs = $0.79
-
3 cans of pork & beans = $1.17
-
7 ears of corn = $1.40
-
2 cans of peaches = $1.78
-
1 stick of butter (for corn and cobbler) = $0.94 (8 pack at the big box store is $7.49 divided by 8)
-
Biscuit mix & other ingredients for cobbler = $1.00
-
1 cup of frozen blueberries, already on hand and added to cobbler ($13.99 divided by 16 cups) = $0.87
List above totals $10.35. If you add the cost of eight paper plates ($0.72 for 8 based on pack of 150 purchased for $12.99 at a big box store) and the cost of eight paper napkins ($0.11 for 8 based on a pack of 600 purchased for $8.59 at the big box store), the total is now $11.18.
Finally, we all drank water. I gave up soda years ago and don’t stock it at my house. My family knows that if they want soda, they need to bring their own and nobody brought soda. Also, we (my husband and I) don’t drink beer or wine, so we didn’t have any of that available. The drink choices were milk or water and everyone drank water (refer to my earlier post, Drink Water, for inspiration!).
So, this impromptu party was a huge success. The girls and Chris had fun swimming, Chris also manned the grill, Charlie sat by and enjoyed the show, and even I had a good time in spite of the change of plans.
Tiff and I split the turkey, stuffing and gravy in half and both families enjoyed turkey dinners for several nights and turkey sandwiches for several lunches (Tiff even had a turkey sandwich for breakfast the next morning because she couldn’t wait!!). Tiff and I exchanged texts for a week taunting each other “what’s for dinner?” and sending pictures of our fabulous early summer turkey dinners.
If I took the time to calculate the cost of the turkey, stuffing and gravy, I’m sure it, too, was a great bargain because I bought the turkey at Thanksgiving time for about $8.00.
Here’s proof that I’ve been in my pool! Me and Princess P in the pool.
Above photo: Princess P talking to Charlie.
P.S. If you add my sister’s contribution of the ice cream and my niece’s contribution of the salad, the cost doubles. But, even doubled at $22.00, this party was still a heck of a deal!
Amy would be pleased.
What’s the cheapest party you’ve ever thrown? We would love to hear your stories!
Tootles,
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