seriously… subtract the cost of the park $80, paypal fees (I didn’t add it up nor do i want to), then the stupid shit like plates, napkins, flatware, sternos, chaffing pans, serving dishes, event budgets get ridiculous. I have a full excel spreadsheet that allocates off the cost of every individual item, and tells me what i will be spending before i do it. It allows me to hedge back here or there to add to one group. The only savior that i really have to alot of this is that i purchase things in large bulk qty. so i have lots left for the next event. IE: Forks, and pans. I also made the investment before carlisle and picked up a bunch of tongs, and serving spoons that are all NSF certified steel, so i will never need to buy those items again. The next things on my list to get in the future are actuall chaffing dishes and hotel pans to accompany them. That is like a $500 investment so i cant see it hapening any time too soon. I owe that $ elsewhere to justify throwing it at things i will only use 4 times per year.
Here is a good example of my costs from a produce vendor:
Carrots 10# Pre Cut: $20.75
Cellery 10# Pre Cut: $25.30
Brocolli 10# Pre CUt: $20.50