Every other summer, my extended family plans a big trip together. Since last year's plans were cancelled, we are eager to be together again. We often rent a large house on a beautiful lake in central Maine. There are eight adults and nine young children. Needless to say, the week is full of activity, adventure, laughter, and lots of food!

Packing and planning for a big trip like this can often feel overwhelming but I've discovered a way to lessen the stress- using PerfectPotluck to plan our food. I love knowing what I'm responsible to bring before we hit the road. There are great cost saving benefits, too. Shopping at Costco and/or my local grocery store can save a lot of money vs. shopping at pricey stores near the beach or popular vacation destinations. Here's what my PerfectPotluck schedule looks like for our family vacation.

If you do this kind of trip with a large group of family or friends, you know that going out to eat can get complicated and expensive. Keep confusion and costs down by assigning families to have a night or two of dinner duty. Using a sign up is also helpful so you can see what kind of food everyone is making. Although your kids might love it, having spaghetti every night of vacation may not be the best choice! Some dinners on our sign up this year include grilled chicken and veggies, sloppy joes and tacos. We also have a policy that the family who cooks each night is NOT responsible for clean-up.

It's also good to have a rough idea of your daily schedule. For instance, we usually go out for lunch once or twice. On those days you can indicate that only a light dinner will be needed.

Here are the categories and quantities I've used for 15-18 people:

Days spent swimming, hiking, and playing out in the sun make for extra hungry kids! This year I suggested individual snack bags for portion control. I usually put 8-10 slots each for:

No one wants to do the dishes on vacation! Keep things simple by making categories for paper plates and bowls, plastic utensils, and plastic cups. My mother-in-law always writes each person's name on a plastic cup at the beginning of the week so we can keep track of everyone's cup.

How do you use PerfectPotluck to keep your life organized?