about christmas food shop?

[Purplesky2]

I have just done an online shop and without alcohol (going to lidl) it is £300. This includes a 7kg turkey and a ham. It's seems a lot. This is for Christmas Day and Boxing Day to feed 8 people for 3 meals both days. It is my first year hosting

im prob gonna spend that much, but its gonna have to last til payday in january!

I think that sounds about right, especially including soft drinks like juices and Coke. A turkey for 8 would easily be £60.

I'm feeding 6 and it's costing about £200 for Christmas Eve and Day. That includes lots of crisps, breadsticks and cheese which will last through the school hols though. Excludes alcohol.

I don't buy any nibbles. We have my mum dad and brother coming. There's plenty of other food. Mum will bring mince pies and there's cake. You don't neednibbles. they just add to the weight gain.

Surely people coming can bring drinks and nibbles? I bet that saves £50 at least

I think that sounds about right. We have 4 adults 1 child and for Christmas eve, Christmas day and Boxing day I do; (same menu every year as PILs don;t like change)

Eve.

Home baked ham, cheeses and hot rolls (breakfst every day) with champagne

Lasagne, fruit and cheese board with white and red wine

Light soup and crusty bread.

Christmas day

As above for breakfast

smoked salmon, brown bread and salmon roe

christmas turkey

cheese board and fruit

christmas pudding

nothing dinner

Boxing day

bacon rolls and sloe gin

leftover cold meats, cauli cheese and peas

a proper cooked pudding

Dinner - usually a soup and rolls.

Plus wine at every bleeding meal.

Easily £300 and with half the adults of the OP.

Turkey - £60.00
Gammon (lots) - £60.00

Cheeses - £(from Sainbos) £40.00
Veg - £30.00
Extras - not sure
Salmon- £15.00

Alcohol- god knows.

It's exhausting and expensive. No financial contributions incidentally from PIL, but they very often give too-generous birthday presents so would more than compensate.

Actually OP, if you want to post your list, we can go through and comment, but sometimes it's worth thinking, is it worth skimping? We'll spend a lot, but the food is a big part of the day/holiday season.

(and I've got to buy a shedload of brie as my wonderful MIL is making her famous cranberry sauce and I will be eating brie and cranberry sandwiches for the whole of the week between christmas and new year if I possibly can!)

cheesynachos - have I read that right that you have gin at breakfast on boxing day? I rather love that idea!

Not me this year. (ahem- recovering over-enthusiastic drinker.... maybe that is why) but yep, that is the standard. :)

We are so lucky to live near a forest so we do a boxing day walk with sloe gin and bacon rolls. It's lovely. :)

I love Christmas. :) Only celebrate it since meeting DH as my DParents for various reasons are very anti christmas family stuff (toxic upbringing- theirs, not mine). So I absolutely adore it now.

Seems like a lot to me and our family Christmas party is HUGE.

Somebody's taking the mickey with turkey prices.
£80! £60!
What are they? Turkey Rex?
I bought a 9 kilo fresh turkey (no giblets) with breeder's credentals from my local supermarket butcher for fifteen quid last week. It's about as big as my oven will take.
It's now roosting happily in the chest freezer.

Doesn't seem that excessive. We all go to my DSis.

However I'm taking all desserts, cake, mince pies and cheese. Plus wine. :)

Thinking about it, we often add seasonal bits to our weekly shop for weeks in advance. I can see how easy it is to get up to £300 for eight.

There are 10 of us eating together most years. To cut the cost of the host we split the shopping. This year dh and I are buying trimmings for the main, mil is buying the turkey and sil is on starters, pudding and a few bottles of wine.

Has no one even offered to help out? By bringing something?

To those saying split the cost, this is the OP's first year of hosting, it could well be it's pretty much her 'turn' if she's gone to other people's and not helped out with the cost...

Sounds about right to me! Food is so important at Christmas in my opinion and I don't like serving leftovers to guests so boxing day also has to have elaborate meals. Leftovers will see DH and I through the 27th and 28th.

Also my ILs have huge appetities, will usually eat enough for two people each.

It does sound a lot...I think we spent less hosting 18 for 3 days last year! Esp without booze. What have you bought?

All we are doing for boxing day this year is a ham (as that will last us for days) and maybe a pie. Combined with leftovers and some salad and bread that'll do us.

i think people go a bit over the top might just be that im a grump. plus its only me and the kids. i think people seem to buy to much shops are open boxing/day after. my xmas food shop is not much more than normal. i would have bought meat type stuff anyway. only extra things i get will be cake/choc/sweets and few bottles of soft drinks. but as i said its just me and kids... well 3 adults and 2 kids

I think Christmas has started to go the way of weddings when it comes to pricing. Chocolate swiss roll costs £2, Christmas yule roll with holly decoration costs double.

I spend about that and never waste anything

I can't bear food waste. I've wasted less than a fivers worth in the last 5 years.

I spend about that and never waste anything

I can't bear food waste. I've wasted less than a fivers worth in the last 5 years.

Tbf I dont usually throw food away but our guests arrived at 2 and fucked off at 7 after declining pudding.

With my allergies and dh's diabetes it was never going to get eaten unless people stayed for the evening.

I was a big aghast about having an Ocado order coming later today which is nearly twice what I usually spend.

But thinking about it, there's an awful lot of (non-perishable) staples in there too so we don't run out when no-one feels like shopping: stuff like honey, marmite, oodles of coffee, loo roll, dishwasher tabs, uht milk just in case, sugar, marmalade, bin bags etc. So they shouldn't need to be bought again for a while; not extra expense but bunched expense IYSWIM.

I've spent £340 on a tesco delivery coming Tuesday excluding meat & fresh stuff. Mil has got us meat hamper as a prezzie. That's for 2 adults 2 kids & baby christmas day and an extra 3 adults & 2 kids boxing day.

There is 3 tins of chocolates, 5 boxes of chocs, loads of different nuts, crisps, biscuits, sweets, fizzy, 2 creates of beer & a bottle of southern comfort in that tho.

Food is a massive part of Xmas for us, we eat leftovers and nibbles up to new year.

It doesn't sound excessive to me. You are feasting 8 people for 3 days. That means generous meals and snacks. The shops close for a few days and you don't want to be caught out. I'd be mortified to have guests who were hungry or felt bad about eating all they wanted because the amount on the table looked meagre. That said don't go into debt over Christmas! Always choose meals that fit your budget.

I spend like this and don't have waste. If I over buy nuts, sausage rolls etc., they will keep and we will slowly finish them off over the New Year. I am a good judge of how much veg folks will eat and an extra roast meat gets eaten up in sandwiches.