AIBU to think what's the big fuss over Christmas costs??

[Kindofnewtothis]

I know I might get slated for this ladies but was just genuinely wondering how people spend so much on Christmas food??? Just did a Sainsbury's shop, not the cheapest supermarket, and still managed to keep things under £30 for the whole family- most of it pre made! I honestly don't know how people can complain and spend up to £100!

Lentils and chickpeas? Lavish.

tin of chickpeas

I've just had a pack of salt and vinegar chickpeas misses the point

You can absolutely do Christmas dinner for £30/ 4 people, heck you can probably chuck in some treats as well, though probably no/very little alcohol.

Neither does it need to be rubbish, but you're being disingenuous saying that it's only cost you £30 as that's essentially what you've paid for the sides.

I think “all the trimmings” is also misleading because it means different things. To my IL’s it’s stuffing, roasties, carrots, parsnips and sprouts.

But I include red and white cabbage, carrot and swede mash, chiopolatas, pigs in blankets, devils on horseback and cauliflower cheese! I’m sure there’s loads I’ve missed off that someone else will include and therefore pay for. “On the cheap” is relative.

Ive spent £100 on just the turkey! I think our Christmas shop comes to about £250 overall.

My actual Christmas Dinner will be quite cheap
A chicken for £5
Pigs in blankets home made so only £2
A few quid worth of veg and some stuffing, bread and cranberry sauce.
I paid £5 for 2 for my nut free pudding.
However there are only 4 of us That is only 1 meal and non of us drink alcohol.

Okay - got to say this - a chicken that costs 4 pounds or even 6 pounds as mentioned upthread - and is big enough to feed 4/6 adults - is a chicken from the lowest level of welfare farm.

No judgement if that is what people can afford but if you can afford to support a farmer who tries to avoid outright cruelty to animals you will need to spend a decent amount on your meat.

If you can't afford to buy Christmas food OP, just spread it out over the weeks leading up to Christmas. What you have bought is just one meal, not what most people probably buy. I add bits of Christmas food to my weekly shop and stash it away, so we have lots of treats and nibbles for the whole period.

I can't afford £100 for a turkey - my whole budget for christmas, including presents, is £150.

My turkey will be frozen and it will taste just fine.

ladydickisathingapparently

and the Blackadder Christmas Carol bowl of nuts

Feed my 18 guests on £100 😂

Does anyone remember that crazy thread a while back by someone who created an elaborate pretence that they had catered for 100 people for £30 or thereabouts, including going to a factory shop for broken biscuits at an odd time and other bizarre posts, where none of the timeline added up and the whole thing was cooked and eaten in under four hours or something?

Weirdest troll ever!

It entirely depends on the quality and quantity of what you se be and the period of time you are covering. One prepackaged lunch for four without meat probably would cost less than £30.
A beautiful meal with Foreman and Field Salmon, a locally reared turkey or goose, English sparkling wine and a homemade Christmas pudding will,definitely cost more.
It’s about cutting your cloth, isn’t it?

Two adults and a toddler, I reckon we'll be doing it on £25-30 this year, possibly less, including things already bought, and things that will last a bit longer than the day itself (extra veggies, biscuits, chocs, etc). Preprepared vegetarian main, a couple of treat sides, normal roast dinner sides. I've done well on "bashed packaging" reductions in Tesco in the last couple of months, picking up nice biscuits, chocolates and soft drinks for a fraction of the cost. Breakfast tends to be light but treaty (scrambled egg on nice toast, maybe with some veggie bacon as we've got it in the freezer), and only DS will have a meal later in the day (most likely cereal). DP might get a bottle or two of something alcoholic in for himself.

It feels like a lot to me, but it's a treat, and we've had a tough month. And we can afford it.

You could have saved a few quid and bought a Bernard Matthews turkey roll.

A few years ago a friend of mine was pretty skint and what money she had went mainly on a few cheap bits for her child to open.
She did a cheap Christmas diner with a a Bernard Matthews turkey roll, frozen veg, value stuffing just mixed with water and a cheap bag of spuds. Cheap Iceland £1 frozen gateau. Total cost around a fiver. Wasn’t the best meal in the world but at least she managed something a bit better than a frozen pizza.

Receipt please...

Well I popped into Sainsburys tonight. Not even a dinner:

4 beers
Bottle of plonk for me and the pot
Stollen bars
Hoummous
Water melon
Ketchup
Milk
Ham (not even naice ham)
Toothbrush

£23

I am cooking for 11 so it will be about £150-£200 but that includes meals for the rest of Christmas week.

I have blinis and smoked salmon already in the freezer. Two puddings and brandy sauce bought (sauce had date of 6th Jan). Butcher has my meat order for christmas day and the rest of the week. We at having pork and beef. I bought a bottle of gin on roll back and DH already has whiskey and bought a bottle of port today. We will get a couple of bottles of fizz/wine and some beers.

Then I need to buy cheeses and veg next Saturday.

We don't generally but mince pies/chocolates as we at not keen on them (weird people haha) but we do buy nice cheese as a love that!

It's each to their own - if you at cooking for a lot of people then of course it will cost more. Also depends on what you can afford to buy at the time.

Having said that, I have bought Kelly's Bronze turkeys for £70 and Sainsbury's basics for £9.50. To be fair they are all variable and I've had rubbish organic truffle fed ones (not really) and once an amazing butterball.

I go average now because with good gravy, pigs, stuffing, cranberry, bread sauce, etc, the turkey itself fades into the background.

Have ordered an M&S 4 bird roast, gravy, bread sauce, cranberry, boozy cream, smoked sslmon platter for the big day £131.

Usually buy crackers, napkins, table decs, wrapping paper just after Christmas for less than 20% of retail price.

We host Xmas with visitors arriving from 23rd and continue catering untils 29th. I think I worked out that from 23rd to 27th I'll serve approximately 54 main meals and plenty of breakfasts and snacks. I will spend about £500 on food although we will have stock and leftovers for about 12-16 more meals. DH deals with cellar.

YABU. Some people are hosting guests, over more than one day, or want something a bit more festive and indulgent than frozen Yorkshires.

Think OP is getting a bit of a hard time unnecessarily here. I think she was just trying to point out that you can have a nice smaller family Christmas meal without spending crazy money. If you want to and you have it, go nuts but I think she was maybe trying to say that people shouldn't feel the need to spend hundreds to 'do Christmas' and that a nice meal is perfectly achievable on a smaller budget. There's no right or wrong way....other than to spend money you don't have on one day because it 'should be done that way'

There are some deals around. Tesco has got a half price offer on some meat at the moment. Got a leg of lamb for 11 quid today. In the freezer now for one of my Christmas entertaining days.

Do people complain though? I mostly see people pleasing themselves and enjoying a bit of indulgence at Christmas. I don't even know what I've spent so far. I'd be pretty miserable if I were counting and begrudging every penny.

People aren't talking about one meal when they say xmas shop, it's to cover about 3-5 days and we like to have lots of treats and nibbles all day!

Are the moths from your purse a side or just nibbles?

My turkey alone costs £80. Drinks - over £150. Other meats, starters, puddings, mince pies, snacks etc all bring the cost up. I don’t think your being very truthful and your stealth boast about how little you’ve spent over Christmas has fallen flat.