tryin to get the most alcohol for the buck for college party
tryin to get the most alcohol for the buck for college party
So we have a house with 5 guys in it and we're throwing a party pretty soon, probably will have somewhere between 60-100 people show up.
I figured there are some bogleheads who might have some good experience to share from their college days.
In the past, we've bought cheap liquor and a keg along with soda, and that always ends up going pretty poorly because we ran out at a party we had last semester and it cost us over 200 bucks, on top of having to go out to get more beer to keep the party going.
So basically my question is, what's the cheapest way to get enough refreshments to last the whole party without breaking the bank? One guy suggested a keystone keg which we think we can get for like 60 bucks and hunch punch made from hawaiian punch and cheap vodka. If we did that, we think we could do the party for under 100 bucks, which would be around 20 bucks a roommate, then we could afford to really enjoy our senior year in college. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated by these college guys on a budget.
I figured there are some bogleheads who might have some good experience to share from their college days.
In the past, we've bought cheap liquor and a keg along with soda, and that always ends up going pretty poorly because we ran out at a party we had last semester and it cost us over 200 bucks, on top of having to go out to get more beer to keep the party going.
So basically my question is, what's the cheapest way to get enough refreshments to last the whole party without breaking the bank? One guy suggested a keystone keg which we think we can get for like 60 bucks and hunch punch made from hawaiian punch and cheap vodka. If we did that, we think we could do the party for under 100 bucks, which would be around 20 bucks a roommate, then we could afford to really enjoy our senior year in college. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated by these college guys on a budget.
1 keg = 140-170 beers depending on pour style.
60-100 people will need more than 1 keg. The cheaper the beer, the more you will need. Few college students can afford more expensive/heavier beer than domestic light beer. Natural Light was a favorite when I was in college, nice and cheap. The only catch is most girls in college hate the cheap beer, so you need the punch too.
Depending on your jurisdiction, can you charge for entrance, entertainment, or even cups? A couple dollar charge will get you breaking even, $5 or more and you will find you actually make money throwing parties. You can also try charging only the guys, to encourage more girls and thus more guys to show up.
If the the goal of this party is the same as most college parties, with that number of people you will need at least 3 kegs.
60-100 people will need more than 1 keg. The cheaper the beer, the more you will need. Few college students can afford more expensive/heavier beer than domestic light beer. Natural Light was a favorite when I was in college, nice and cheap. The only catch is most girls in college hate the cheap beer, so you need the punch too.
Depending on your jurisdiction, can you charge for entrance, entertainment, or even cups? A couple dollar charge will get you breaking even, $5 or more and you will find you actually make money throwing parties. You can also try charging only the guys, to encourage more girls and thus more guys to show up.
If the the goal of this party is the same as most college parties, with that number of people you will need at least 3 kegs.
Last edited by tj218 on Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
You should diversify your portfolio of alcoholic beverages.
60% beer
30% wine
10% hard liquor
With the beer, I would suggest an 80/20 split between domestic/import.
Of course, you should avoid buying individual beers. If you must do this, only do it with 5% of your portfolio.
This allocation may not be appropriate for you -- you may get better responses if you post according to the suggested format, so include your age, risk tolerance, current allocations etc.
Wait, this is still Bogleheads forum, right?
60% beer
30% wine
10% hard liquor
With the beer, I would suggest an 80/20 split between domestic/import.
Of course, you should avoid buying individual beers. If you must do this, only do it with 5% of your portfolio.
This allocation may not be appropriate for you -- you may get better responses if you post according to the suggested format, so include your age, risk tolerance, current allocations etc.
Wait, this is still Bogleheads forum, right?
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- 3CT_Paddler
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This is good for liquid investments. But what if some guests introduce bubbles into the market and others frigidity?drh wrote:You should diversify your portfolio of alcoholic beverages.
60% beer
30% wine
10% hard liquor
With the beer, I would suggest an 80/20 split between domestic/import.
Of course, you should avoid buying individual beers. If you must do this, only do it with 5% of your portfolio.
This allocation may not be appropriate for you -- you may get better responses if you post according to the suggested format, so include your age, risk tolerance, current allocations etc.
Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake |
Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. |
Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
drh wrote:You should diversify your portfolio of alcoholic beverages.
60% beer
30% wine
10% hard liquor
With the beer, I would suggest an 80/20 split between domestic/import.
Of course, you should avoid buying individual beers. If you must do this, only do it with 5% of your portfolio.
This allocation may not be appropriate for you -- you may get better responses if you post according to the suggested format, so include your age, risk tolerance, current allocations etc.
Wait, this is still Bogleheads forum, right?
Emergency funds: 10-20 individual beers in the fridge, lots of international ones, don't know how we ended up with em but we're stuck now until we liquidate
50% beer (not sure on the future returns of this, especially if people decide they go for the trash punch)
0% wine LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!
45% alternatives (trash punch, but we hope we can get this in a low cost form, like powder for the punch and cheap vodka so we dont have the storage costs), this time its different, the sugar can substitute for some of the alcohol
5% liquor - volatile as crap, really not sure if i have the risk tolerance to handle taking any more of this, i might withdraw from the party completely and just lose it if i use any more of this in my portfolio
and yeah the house is pretty crappy, we made sure it would be good for partying before we leased it, checked it out with some parties that got thrown here before, we;ll just have to put expensive stuff like the tv in ppl's rooms and lock it upCordMcNally wrote:If I were you I'd get 3 kegs along with making cowboy kool-aid/trashcan punch/whatever you like to call it. Guys pay $5 at the door and girls drink free.
PS: I hope you don't have a nice house.
Basically - your budget is fixed. You need to get creative with execution. Unless you collect a door fee (probably illegal).
- Use smaller cups.
- Make the beer more difficult to get to. Don't put it in the most open, accessible area.
Be safe ... check id's ... WHAT?! I had to say something responsible!
- Use smaller cups.
- Make the beer more difficult to get to. Don't put it in the most open, accessible area.
Be safe ... check id's ... WHAT?! I had to say something responsible!
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definitely no freshmen will be at the party, only for upperclassmen this time,
but how do you charge at the door without making it awkward, most of these guys will be bros and we dont want to seem super cheap, what about a jar or hat for beer money? probably no one would contribute
i remember for my 21st i spent over 100 bucks and we had to go around and ask for money it got so expensive, really awkward,
do you think asking for $5 will make people want to come back?
but how do you charge at the door without making it awkward, most of these guys will be bros and we dont want to seem super cheap, what about a jar or hat for beer money? probably no one would contribute
i remember for my 21st i spent over 100 bucks and we had to go around and ask for money it got so expensive, really awkward,
do you think asking for $5 will make people want to come back?
If you really wanna get drank, get cheap sparkling whine and russian vodka then mix it and enjoy the flight.
Last edited by Ed 2 on Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The fund industry doesn't have a lot of heroes, but he (Bogle) is one of them," Russ Kinnel
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Best advice: make sure everyone is over 21.
Last edited by SwampDonkey on Sat Jan 01, 2022 1:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
You aren’t a math major are you?......probably will have somewhere between 60-100 people show up………… we think we could do the party for under 100 bucks, which would be around 20 bucks a roommate, then we could
Entertaining a hundred people for a hundred dollars gives you a budget of one dollar per person.
No matter house much you skimp that won’t happen.
I would make if BYOB but spend the hundred bucks on a showy food like a whole BBQ’ed pig or at if that is too complicated then good spread of food that might have a theme
For the drinks you could do something like provide the blenders and have something like a Margareta or daiquiri contest that the people would bring their own ingredients for to see who can make the best drink.
watty you dont think it's possible? i mean 60 bucks like we said for keg, have ppl bring 6 packs, 30 bucks for 3 handles of cheap vodka, and 10 bucks for dehydrated punch mix at sams club? we do have a few leftover handles left over. obviously not factoring in water cost, and we're kinda guessing itll be closer to 60 than 100, we had a rager that was way over 100 and that was a bad decision, beer was gone in less than 2 hours. we had to get strategic about more carefully limiting the number of guys, the last party one of our buddies that lives in this sketch dorm like housing told all the people there and we had 20+ random dudes we didnt even know. gotta even the odds.
SwampDonkey you're the man, im passing those suggestions on to the boys
SwampDonkey you're the man, im passing those suggestions on to the boys
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You just tell people before hand that it's going to be $5 at the door for guys. This is pretty commonplace. Why would people not want to come back if it's $5 all you can drink? That's about as good as you could hope for in college.fratdude wrote: but how do you charge at the door without making it awkward, most of these guys will be bros and we dont want to seem super cheap, what about a jar or hat for beer money? probably no one would contribute
i remember for my 21st i spent over 100 bucks and we had to go around and ask for money it got so expensive, really awkward,
do you think asking for $5 will make people want to come back?
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Pretty much - unless you go to a small school, but 100 people is a pretty good crowd so I doubt your school is small. I went to parties at UPenn/Temple/TCNJ/Rowan/Rutgers and $5 to get in was not uncommon.CordMcNally wrote:You just tell people before hand that it's going to be $5 at the door for guys. This is pretty commonplace. Why would people not want to come back if it's $5 all you can drink? That's about as good as you could hope for in college.fratdude wrote: but how do you charge at the door without making it awkward, most of these guys will be bros and we dont want to seem super cheap, what about a jar or hat for beer money? probably no one would contribute
i remember for my 21st i spent over 100 bucks and we had to go around and ask for money it got so expensive, really awkward,
do you think asking for $5 will make people want to come back?
If it's mainly a frat brother party or for rush - I would imagine everyone would chip in. I wasn't greek so I can't tell you how that typically works.
A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through
Why do you need to ask here? Isn't this what you join a fraternity to learn? Don't they teach this stuff to pledges and college student in general these day? No wonder college costs are going up and up; kids don't even know how to get cheap booze. Sigh...
Don't they sell PBR, Carling Black Label, Red White and Blue, and my personal favorite for buzz-to-buck completely generic beer (like in the Movie Repo Man) anymore?
We were so poor when I was in college we once had a Wine and Cheese party with Night Train and Velveeta!
Don't they sell PBR, Carling Black Label, Red White and Blue, and my personal favorite for buzz-to-buck completely generic beer (like in the Movie Repo Man) anymore?
We were so poor when I was in college we once had a Wine and Cheese party with Night Train and Velveeta!
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You're not drunk if you can lie down on the floor without hanging on!VictoriaF wrote:Ask your guests to come already drunk. Don't let them in if they can walk a straight line. Girls, too. :lol:
Seriously, threads like this boggle me...I have no ability whatsoever to consume alcohol in any kind of quantity and have it be enjoyable. Two thirds of a small glass of wine or a beer is my absolute limit, past that I get panic attacks and tachycardia...I cannot for the life of me figure out what people get out of it they like. It's not a being out of control thing, a lot of other substances have worked just fiiiiiine...anyway.
-janet
Here is my opinion.
To charge or not to charge? This is a cultural thing which depends on what is acceptable at your school. I would never charge anyone to come to a party that I throw, I think it's tacky. However, having co-hosted keggers and the like I can tell you that it isn't necessarily cheap nor does it ensure that you are going to impress the ladies either. You can just as easily go to another party and pull tail. I can also tell you that many times I wished I was anywhere but the party but I am sure that is just my sparkling misanthropic personality.
SPECIAL PARTY TIP: Have a secure lock on your door, and lock your door before the party. It avoids unpleasant situations that you may never have considered from happening in your room. It also gives you a private (maybe quiet place) to escape from the party. Remember, you can't just go home...
Best bang for the buck has to be either:
1. cheapest keg beer. HOWEVER, take turns being the keg meister so that tons of it aren't wasted on bad and "clearing the lines" pours.
AND
$5 a handle vodka + Punch. NEVER drink the vodka straight it is incredibly awful tasting. By generic Kool-Aid in a big plastic container. You can sweeten it as much as you want by adding sugar to it. Test out some mixtures/ratios to find something that doesn't completely taste like rubbish before the night of the party.
OR
2. You need a gimic like a cocktail contest where x amount of contestants vie to create the best cocktail. They have to fund their own ingredients and you just spend some money on keg beer,ice, advertising (depending on how fancy you want to make it) and some really cheesy trophies/medals. This is of course more risky but has the possibility of starting of as just another party.
3. Lastly, you can have an invite only party. If you don't have an invite you can't get in the door. Now obviously you may make exceptions for the ladies so your numbers are going to skew. If you have an invite only party you may want to consider letting other friends buy invites as a way to co-host.
To charge or not to charge? This is a cultural thing which depends on what is acceptable at your school. I would never charge anyone to come to a party that I throw, I think it's tacky. However, having co-hosted keggers and the like I can tell you that it isn't necessarily cheap nor does it ensure that you are going to impress the ladies either. You can just as easily go to another party and pull tail. I can also tell you that many times I wished I was anywhere but the party but I am sure that is just my sparkling misanthropic personality.
SPECIAL PARTY TIP: Have a secure lock on your door, and lock your door before the party. It avoids unpleasant situations that you may never have considered from happening in your room. It also gives you a private (maybe quiet place) to escape from the party. Remember, you can't just go home...
Best bang for the buck has to be either:
1. cheapest keg beer. HOWEVER, take turns being the keg meister so that tons of it aren't wasted on bad and "clearing the lines" pours.
AND
$5 a handle vodka + Punch. NEVER drink the vodka straight it is incredibly awful tasting. By generic Kool-Aid in a big plastic container. You can sweeten it as much as you want by adding sugar to it. Test out some mixtures/ratios to find something that doesn't completely taste like rubbish before the night of the party.
OR
2. You need a gimic like a cocktail contest where x amount of contestants vie to create the best cocktail. They have to fund their own ingredients and you just spend some money on keg beer,ice, advertising (depending on how fancy you want to make it) and some really cheesy trophies/medals. This is of course more risky but has the possibility of starting of as just another party.
3. Lastly, you can have an invite only party. If you don't have an invite you can't get in the door. Now obviously you may make exceptions for the ladies so your numbers are going to skew. If you have an invite only party you may want to consider letting other friends buy invites as a way to co-host.
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Re: tryin to get the most alcohol for the buck for college p
Maybe this is the moment to suggest you are optimizing on the wrong objective function?fratdude wrote:So we have a house with 5 guys in it and we're throwing a party pretty soon, probably will have somewhere between 60-100 people show up.
I figured there are some bogleheads who might have some good experience to share from their college days.
In the past, we've bought cheap liquor and a keg along with soda, and that always ends up going pretty poorly because we ran out at a party we had last semester and it cost us over 200 bucks, on top of having to go out to get more beer to keep the party going.
So basically my question is, what's the cheapest way to get enough refreshments to last the whole party without breaking the bank? One guy suggested a keystone keg which we think we can get for like 60 bucks and hunch punch made from hawaiian punch and cheap vodka. If we did that, we think we could do the party for under 100 bucks, which would be around 20 bucks a roommate, then we could afford to really enjoy our senior year in college. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated by these college guys on a budget.
ie the point is not about getting drunk, and overly cheap alcohol is an incentive to get drunk.
I too was 21 once and did not listen, either. But just a word from someone more than twice your age.
And do remember Shakespeare 'doth add to the desire, and take away from the performance'.
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What is interesting is the people you meet 25 years later... who are with AA.interplanetjanet wrote:You're not drunk if you can lie down on the floor without hanging on!VictoriaF wrote:Ask your guests to come already drunk. Don't let them in if they can walk a straight line. Girls, too. :lol:
Seriously, threads like this boggle me...I have no ability whatsoever to consume alcohol in any kind of quantity and have it be enjoyable. Two thirds of a small glass of wine or a beer is my absolute limit, past that I get panic attacks and tachycardia...I cannot for the life of me figure out what people get out of it they like. It's not a being out of control thing, a lot of other substances have worked just fiiiiiine...anyway.
-janet
You look back and wonder why them, and not you? Did they stand out as drinkers when we were 21?
I've never had a friend die from liver failure, yet, thank God, but it is supposed to be one of the most agonizing ways to go.
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This is perhaps a London thing, but we had to hire security. I mean the real thing.SwampDonkey wrote:FINALLY!!! A topic that I feel like I can constructively contribute to. It's about time...
By the sounds of it, you're throwing a typical college party where you have no idea who exactly will be showing up; it's one of those, spread the word to a few friends and they spread to their friends and so on and so on.Good on you. Those are the best. I highly recommend hiding any electronics (not including the stereo, of course).
Whenever we threw these we avoided the cover charge at the door and just charged for cups. We found the biggest dude we knew, gave him a 50 pack of keg cups and had him walking through the house, charging $5 a cup. We never had a problem covering our expenses.
If you're anticipating quite a few ladies, jello shots were always a hit and cheap to make if you bought the bottom shelf, half-gallons of vodka. Couldn't tell the difference in the taste.
If you're looking for some ridiculous party ideas, let me know.
The crashers can *destroy* your party.
Also we lived in a neighbourhood where too much noise and the locals solved it in a very London sort of way think The Long Good Friday or Mona Lisa.
When a quiet gentlemen with a neck as thick as your thigh and a silver Mercedes comes by and asks you to quiet down, because his mum is trying to sleep, in East London, you *pay attention*.
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You probably do remember the scene in 'Real Genius'.interplanetjanet wrote:You're not drunk if you can lie down on the floor without hanging on!VictoriaF wrote:Ask your guests to come already drunk. Don't let them in if they can walk a straight line. Girls, too. :lol:
Seriously, threads like this boggle me...I have no ability whatsoever to consume alcohol in any kind of quantity and have it be enjoyable. Two thirds of a small glass of wine or a beer is my absolute limit, past that I get panic attacks and tachycardia...I cannot for the life of me figure out what people get out of it they like. It's not a being out of control thing, a lot of other substances have worked just fiiiiiine...anyway.
-janet
Val Kilmer:
'Gentlemen you have to understand. Given your chosen major and likely careers and demographic, this could be the last time you ever have in your life to........
Have Sex'