Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be amazed at the cost of my turkey?!?

143 replies

OhTheConfusion · 23/12/2011 20:37

Last year I got a simmilar size (feeds 6-10, 4.5kg) turkey from the same shop (marks and sparks). Last year I paid £28ish this year it was £43.56!!!

OP posts:
MmeReindor · 23/12/2011 20:51

I looked at turkeys in Switzerland, was over CHF 100 (about £70) and that was a smallish one. About 4kgs I think.

Went to France and bought turkey breast, was just ?11.

MaureenMLove · 23/12/2011 20:54

Bought ours at Smithfields meat market in London. It's part of our Christmas tradition now.

The turkey crown, which weighed 4kg, cost £20. Half will feed us for Christmas, the other half goes straight in the freezer for cooking at Easter.

We also bought a a 3.5kg ham for £17 and a huge beef joint for £35. We cut that into 4 joints, to see us through January!

MaureenMLove · 23/12/2011 20:55

Sorry - turkey was 6kg, not 4kg

TeWiharaMeriKirihimete · 23/12/2011 20:56

I was not very impressed when I went to get our £12 duck (I hate turkey) from the butcher to find out the price had gone up to £16. Xmas Hmm

Think I had a lucky break compared to you lot though!

stickytoffee · 23/12/2011 20:58

I'm picking mine up in the morning from m & s.....ordered a month ago....feeds 14 to 16 free range all singing dancing.....gulp....a whopping.....£60 to £80 depending on final weight.....I was shocked but since I've not "done" Xmas in a long time I decided to go with it....I do however have £35 of vouchers from my credit card so propose to part pay with those.....I'm generally pretty budget conscious so it was unusual for me to be so rash !!!!

nancy75 · 23/12/2011 21:00

I am amazed by this thread, I got ours from the local butcher (it is a very nice butcher) it cost about the same as all of the above added together!

BleurghUna · 23/12/2011 21:00

Free range bronze turkey is £9.50 a kg round here, we were going to get one but when I found out it wold cost £40 I bought free range chicken instead, £7 ish for a 1.5 kg bird, and a big joint of pork for about £5. Turkey seems so wasteful and everyone is sick of it by day 3, why waste all that money? Unless you are feeding the whole street of course!

PregolaLolaOnAlittleDonkey · 23/12/2011 21:01

oh well we will be pretty much cutting it up and freezing bits and will be taking a fair bit to my mum for new years day i was Xmas Shock when DP came in with it how many of us are there for chistmas dinner? Me DP and My Dad the baby is one.

southeastastra · 23/12/2011 21:03

they are so expensive this year, i got a turkey crown which was about the same size as a normal chicken and it was £25

LittleMissHumbuggery · 23/12/2011 21:03

We love turkey so it gets used quite easily. Especially hot turkey and stuffing sandwiches on boxing day:o

SuePurblybiltbyElves · 23/12/2011 21:03

I think artificially low meat prices have led people to believe that £3 for a chicken is reasonable and so they're shocked at turkey prices.

What would be a reasonable price to breed, rear, kill, pluck and dress a large bird then?

KittyFane · 23/12/2011 21:03

M+S Turkey crown here £32.00. Not as expensive as the Waitrose ones I saw today. I compared prices before buying as the stores are side by side in my town.
Our Christmas is a mixture of M+S, Tesco, the Coop, Waitrose and Aldi. The nicest stuff coming from the Coop and M+S. :o

PointyLittleDonkeyEars · 23/12/2011 21:05

We do get a free range bronze, they are worth it for the flavour and it's a once a year luxury - our local supplier has held prices same as last year to boost sales, but we are getting a bigger bird - feeding 8 not 4 and we want to make sure we have leftovers - we freeze them and make soup, curries and other lovely things much later so we don't get sick of turkey.

eurochick · 23/12/2011 21:07

Ours is a mail order organic one from a farm. It was EXTORTIONATE. I am not saying how much because I am embarrassed. We do lots with the leftovers though and give our guests a generous doggy bag of meat to take home for sandwiches etc.

We went for it because we have bought from the same place for the past few years and the meat is great quality and actually tastes of something, unlike the turkeys I have had from a supermarket.

Yulewithadragontattoo · 23/12/2011 21:08

We're having roast beef for Christmas dinner. It looked nicer than the turkey and was much cheaper. The kids are too young to care and DH and I love roast beef :)

RoxyRobin · 23/12/2011 21:09

Was gloomily contemplating the fact that I'd have to pay £45-£50 for an M&S bronze turkey and sent DH to get one. He phoned me an hour ago, though, and informed me that the 'Ultimate' turkeys are a third off, and he's just had to pay about £30. What's more they are oven-ready - already stuffed and covered in streaky bacon so I don't have to faff about making stuffing tomorrow!

So any last-minuters could do worse than to get down to their nearest M&S first thing.

SantaHasACold · 23/12/2011 21:09

We have bought a really lovely pork joint and it was half the cost of the turkey I would have bought. Really looking forward to it, I don't really like turkey much and finally this year have decided that no, I don't have to have turkey.

PeaceofCakeAndGoodWineToAllMN · 23/12/2011 21:11

The supermarkets slap the word 'Christmas' onto something and use it as an excuse to charge more. Hmm

themightyfandango · 23/12/2011 21:13

I bought £5 frozen turkey breast from Asda at the beginning of Dec. This is mainly for the kids. The adults are having beef I bought on offer a while ago and froze. I refuse to spend a fortune on one meal plus we are going away boxing day so no need for leftovers.

southeastastra · 23/12/2011 21:15

i'm having beef too (half price in our sainsburys) but dp and the kids don't like it Xmas Shock

BellaVita · 23/12/2011 21:16

Baubley, I bought the same as you but mine was £33!

zukiecat · 23/12/2011 21:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wasabipeanut · 23/12/2011 21:18

We get a Norfolk Bronze from our regular butcher and paid £60 for a 12lb bird. It's a fair amount but neither of us can bear the thought of consuming some tortured intrnsively reared creature. We don't spend vast amounts on other food. We love the leftovers and if we do get fed up with it after 3 days I make turkey and ham pies with the remains of both joints (a ham is non negotiable here) and chuck 'em in the freezer.

EtInTerraPax · 23/12/2011 21:19

We only buy organic free range meat, or do without (if it's a lean month, it's a veggie month)- a fair few years ago it was very difficult to get organic turkey easily (don't live near any farms/farm shops) and it was £57 for a turkey crown feeding 3! Hmm Shock (from sainsbury not from M&S or F&M or anything)

At that point, I said 'no more', and we have always had beef or lamb or chicken on Christmas day.

This year I ordered lamb and chicken, and was then sent a voucher via ocado for £20 off turkeys (inc FR and Org)- so I now have a organic FR Bronze turkey crown to feed 5-7 in the fridge, for the princely sum of £20.50. I'm pretty happy about that actually, because my children have never had turkey on Christmas Day before, and now they will.

I refuse to pay over £40 for just the meat unless someone else is cooking it too Grin and tbh DS eats like a bird (a very malnourished, snowbound bird at that!)

Malificence · 23/12/2011 21:19

There were fresh 5kg ones in Sainsbury's today for £25.
DH gets one from work and the price on it is £40, in fact he brought 3 home and we've given two away, he should have taken them into the village pub and flogged them!

Swipe left for the next trending thread