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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for your festive FOOD bill and any savings you have made?

134 replies

gertrudetrain · 23/12/2013 16:14

Ok. I'll go first (We are a bit skint this year because we have just sold our house so all our £££ is being saved for the deposit on our next home, so we've had to be careful)

We split our shop between two big supermarkets so we can use our reward points/vouchers accumulated through the year.

Total Bill: 124.98
Total vouchers:35.64

Actual cash total: £89.34

This is for all food, snacks, booze, soft drinks, crackers , table cloth etc. For 2 adults, 3dcs under 10. Should last until boxing day.

Is this average/Scrooge/OTT in comparison to yours?

OP posts:
tinyturtletim · 23/12/2013 16:47

I just did 130 in morrisons less a £40 voucher. Thats everything for 3 days (2 full xmas dinners) not including alcohol.

Whoknowswhocares · 23/12/2013 16:48

I've got 6 people all day christmas day/night and 10 for all Boxing Day.
I therefore daren't add it all up!

Earningsthread · 23/12/2013 16:48

This covers two Christmas meals one on 25th and one on 26th each for 10 people, with a light tea of salad, hams, cheese platter etc

Booze was around £200 - cut down because people will bring bottles, but basically covered 6x bottles cheapo champagne and 8 bottles of wine and a bottle of brandy for the christmas puds. Booze was all half price,

Food was around £500. It sounds a lot but when you throw in the canapes etc and the goose was £85 from a local farm. The lamb for boxing day was 40.

tinyturtletim · 23/12/2013 16:48

doin how's things?

nonmifairidere · 23/12/2013 16:48

Oh dear, I spy thrift stealth boasting on the horizon. Big yawn.
12p for tin of value beans and 20p for 4 stale rolls. Bags I win.

Original poster
gertrudetrain · 23/12/2013 16:48

Bloody hell DooinmecleaninDooinmecleanin £100 on spirits!!! I don't think it'll matter what the food tastes like if you neck all that.

OP posts:
HavantGuard · 23/12/2013 16:49

I trimmed it as much as I could but it was about £380. If SIL had let me bring what I wanted to for the family do it would have been £30 less.

Original poster
gertrudetrain · 23/12/2013 16:49

Nope really not a stealth boast, I'm genuinely worried we've been overly stingy.

OP posts:
CombineBananaFister · 23/12/2013 16:50

I am Shock at these amounts! Not in a competitve underspending type way (if you've got it, why not splash out?)

I suppose ours is less because there is only me, DH and DS who's 4.
Plus DH works xmas day and boxing day (he's a chef) and the last thing he wants to eat after cooking hundreds of them is a christmas dinner/food. We have steak and chips on xmas day (classy eh?) and a takeaway on boxing day then we go for a posh meal afterwards when the dust settles.

Sad in a way that we don't have all the typical xmas traditions but not so bad considering the food bill savings we've made by the sounds of it (spent about £50??) Grin and the saving to my sanity for not having to brave the supermarket.

Original poster
gertrudetrain · 23/12/2013 16:50

Will our dc's be forever scarred by the fact that we haven't got any crackable nuts?

OP posts:
neversleepagain · 23/12/2013 16:50

Our came to 75 (no booze, we don't drink). 2 adults, 2 (small) DC

D0oinMeCleanin · 23/12/2013 16:51

I have the plague, tinyturtle. I am all sicky and germy Sad

I am holding dd2 responsible.

At least I have it now and not on x-mas, so I can enjoy my hudred pound worth of vodka Grin

DoYouLikeMyBaubles · 23/12/2013 16:51

Gertrude it's completely up to what your family is used to. In my house we sit around all day, drinking and eating. We over indulge an awful lot and it tends to spill over to boxing day where we drink, eat repeat. So we need to spend a lot

MrsCampbellBlack · 23/12/2013 16:51

I suspect its closer to the £400 end of the scale. I've bought nice wine and cheese which is probably half that amount.

SmiteYouWithThunderbolts · 23/12/2013 16:52

£140 Asda online order (which had better bloody turn up )
£60 in the butcher's on gammon, turkey crown & my body weight in 'pigs in blankets'
Roughly another £80 on booze, although that also covered our party last week.

That's doing Christmas lunch, nibbles & buffet supper for 11 people.

Prettykitty111 · 23/12/2013 16:55

Lol Gertrude yes they will be scarred for life without crackable nuts! Don't be daft there will be far too much wrapping paper and chocolate for them to even notice the lack of noisy nuts! This year I am feeding only OH and His parents who are sparrows so my food and drink shop for that and going to my mums on Boxing Day was £120, I'm seriously worried I've forgotten something as normally that over £200 but OH keeps reminding me I'm a piggie from a family of piggies so normally it would be more.

littlepeas · 23/12/2013 16:55

£400ish. £350 in sainsburys and £56 for the turkey From m&s. This is 6 adults and 3 children in Christmas Eve, 2 adults and 3 children on Christmas Day and 11 adults and 5 children on Boxing Day. I expect the booze I've bought to last a party on 28th and New Year's Eve as well, although I'll need to buy more food! I had £90 worth of nectar points!

HavantGuard · 23/12/2013 16:56

I think a lot of it is alcohol and meat for us. I only drink maybe once a month and DH might have 3 beers a week but Christmas for us means a bottle of champagne, nice wine for lunch, vodka and a big hunk of meat that means I will be practically veggie for the fortnight after because I'll be sick of it.

GigiDarcy · 23/12/2013 16:57

Our shopping for week came to about £125 for 4 of us on Christmas Day, and then me and DH rest of time. Already had wine though and am making nibbles etc tomorrow, that covers ingredients.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 23/12/2013 16:57

Ours was £77 in Sainsbo's today but we paid for £40 of it with Nectar points, and there was a bottle of whisky included. That was for a curry night, buffet tea tomorrow and Christmas dinner - and didn't involve a Christmas pudding or brandy sauce, as I bought those separately. Oh and only one bottle of wine, as we'll drink stuff we've been given as gifts.

HavantGuard · 23/12/2013 16:58

Crackable nuts are lovely and festive until they're cracked all over the floor and you're removing bits from your knee when you're sitting on the carpet playing Monopoly on Boxing Day.

persimmon · 23/12/2013 16:59

About £75 for 3 of us but got £20 off Nectar points and another £15 with vouchers. So, bargain!

wannabedomesticgoddess · 23/12/2013 17:00

£76 in asda. £45 in the butchers. It will do us until the 29th and there's beef in there for NYD.

2 adults, 2 young DCs. No booze as we don't really drink. Might do a £10 top up in lidl for prawns and stollen.

We feel luxurious. :o

catgirl1976 · 23/12/2013 17:01

I just spent £118 in Aldi today but that included 2 bottles of fizz, 1 bottle of their Bailey and 2 bottles of wine, so I am very pleased with that

I used to shop at Booths and I dread to think how much it would have been in there.

SugarHut · 23/12/2013 17:01

There's 5 of us and one DC. I've halved my bill this year to £240, by just being sensible and not getting carried away with crap. It is solely for Christmas Day though. No sweeties apart from some After 8s, as we are all too stuffed to eat them every year, and I just end up eating my bodyweight in chocs etc for the following week. No extra champagne, there's plenty in the house, so rather than hunting down another pointless bottle, just using one of those. Same with white wine. Did buy a nice red though...which was £30...so that's actually £210 after that, which I'm seriously impressed with. Less the goose which was £75. Taking it down to £135 on the rest!!! Actually going to phone my mother now and gloat!!

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