Barbecue

How much to buy and what it will cost, starting from who is coming and what goes on the grill.

The maths happens in your browser and the setup stays on this computer: you can close the page and find your barbecue exactly as you left it.

The starting quantities and prices are a reasonable guess, not a price list: put your own in and the total follows.

At a glance

Total cost —
Per person —
People —
Meat —
Drinks —

Setup

1 Who is coming Groups of people who eat and drink differently.

The percentages say how much the group consumes compared to an adult, who sits at 100%: a child eats half and drinks no alcohol, whoever is driving is at zero alcohol and drinks more soft drinks.

Group People % food % alcohol % soft drinks

These show up only in the list you copy or print.

2 What goes on the grill Only ticked items count towards the totals and the shopping list.

“Food share”, “alcohol share” and “soft-drink share” follow the group percentages. “Same for everyone” just counts heads — charcoal does not know who is teetotal. “Fixed amount” does not change with the number of guests: one roll of foil stays one roll.

3 How much one person eats and drinks One adult's share: everything else follows from it.
Product Per person Weight of one piece Net total With margin
+10%

Added to every quantity that depends on the number of people, so you do not run out. Fixed amounts are left alone.

4 What it costs The price in whichever unit is on the label.
Product Price Given per What the pack holds Unit price Cost

The bill

Product Net With margin To buy Cost Per person

Who pays what

Group People Cost of the group Share each Against the average

The share reflects what each group actually eats and drinks: people who do not drink alcohol do not pay for the beer. The last column shows the gap from the average cost per person, which is what you would get by splitting the bill equally.

Shopping list

Quantities in pieces are rounded up: you cannot buy half a sausage. Tick things off while you are at the counter.