![Americans are expected to spend over $7 billion on food over Fourth of July holiday [Image: pixabay.com]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/6/30/660x290/b_502x220x82/americans-are-expected-to-spend-over-7-billion-on-food-over-fourth-of-july-holiday-image-pixabaycom_1417913.jpg "Americans are expected to spend over $7 billion on food over Fourth of July holiday [Image: pixabay.com]")
July 4 is on Tuesday this year. That means people have lots of days to celebrate, starting from Friday, June 30 through Tuesday, July 4. People all over the United States will celebrate the birth of the nation in many different ways. No matter how they celebrate the official federal holiday, picnics, cookouts, and grilling are traditional activities. Since there are more days surrounding the holiday this year, people are expected to spend more than they spent in previous years.
Cost of food
Americans are estimated to spend $7.15 billion on food over the Fourth Of July holiday, according to the National Retail Federation.
Each household will spend about $71.34. That is the average. Some households will spend more, and some will spend less. Those who are hosting cookouts and picnics will certainly spend much more. The 65.5 percent of Americans who have been invited to attend a family member or friend's celebration will spend considerably less.
The menu
Since the upcoming holiday is one of the biggest food holidays of the year, people are going to celebrate, and they are not going to hold back when it comes to cooking and eating. Two-thirds of the 219 million Americans will attend at least one picnic or a cookout where they will eat hamburgers, hotdogs, steaks, ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad and all the other delicious foods that are served outside in the open air.
People will spend the bulk of the money on meat alone. According to WalletHub, people spent $389 million on about 700 million pounds of chicken and $388 million for 190 million pounds of hamburgers and 150 million hot dogs last year. Then when you consider steaks and barbecue ribs, the total goes sky high. About $133 million will be spent on hamburger and hot dog rolls.
When people budget, they think of the meats, bread, salads, and drinks. They often do not think about the cost of condiments. However, they are needed, and they are not free. Condiments last year accounted for $42 million spent on barbecue sauce. Coming close behind was $37 million on ketchup, and who would have thought $25 million was spent on mustard?
About $114 million is the average amount spent on salads with $318 million on chips, $83 million spent on watermelons, and $116 million spent on cherries.
July 4 is at the top of beer-drinking days with over $1.4 billion shelled out for beer and about $568 million spent on wine. More money is spent on sodas and bottled water. After all, drinks are needed to wash down all that food.
