How much have you spent on Christmas food?

[EvilNextDoor]

Apologies if a thread already exists I did a search but my phone is playing up 🤷‍♀️

After coming back from shopping earlier I seem to have spend an extortionate amount of money on food! Not as much as the person in front of me - theirs was nearly £400 (admittedly was Waitrose but I was seduced by their pudding on social media) but still I’ve done a quick check..

Butchers Christmas Pack - £90
Additional turkey £24

M&S - £35
Waitrose - £42
Tesco - £160 ish over a couple of shops (ham/leg of lamb/beef roasting joint and some other festive stuff)
Aldi £52

This is for 4 people for 4 days/meals and then an additional 2 people for one meal.

I am pretty sure I have forgotten some bits as well.

We don’t really drink so have topped up on soft drinks.

Next year I am doing a serious effort on cutting down my costs.

£65 in Aldi, £53 in Sainsbury’s, £28 in Waitrose and have ordered meat from Booths to pick up Monday for £55
That includes drinks - I think we’ve got loads my fridge is bulging!

£120 online shop arriving Monday. Just DH and I. We're going to family for a few hours Christmas Day for lunch but we've still bought ourselves a Christmas dinner as we love the leftovers too! A few treats, some nice cheese and a bottle of port. We were determined not to go mad this year. There's only so much you can eat in a week!

Same as a normal weekly shop. Don't eat any additional meals per day just because it's the last week of December. And don't buy into any of the Christmas gluttony.

About £500 but we’re done with the shopping now.

A good tip is to write down anything you really didn't need or enjoy, and create a calendar entry 1-2 months before next Christmas with these in, so you don't buy them needlessly again.

I've not done a full calculation as we've been buying bits over the last few months to spread the cost. I reckon those bits come in around £75.

The turkey is £75, Tesco shop tomorrow is £110 and DH has bought way too much wine. All in I reckon we've spent £350 but we are hosting 8 from Monday to Thursday with another 2 on Xmas Day.

Probably a bit less than usual because of all the 8p bags of vegetables this week. Sad empty nesters! (My parents are hosting DH and me for Christmas and Boxing Day so what we save on turkey we'll spend on petrol.)

Jeez! This is eye watering! I’ve shopped at Waitrose & M&S only for 2 adults & DD8 & I’ve spent less than £150 which includes alcohol!

That's only 3 people @StarDolphins - I think most of us who have replied are a larger group / hosting others.

I think we've spent about £450. That includes alcohol and regular food items to last us into January. Family of 4 + 1 extra on xmas day.

I've gone a bit OTT this year, definitely got more than we needed but I wanted to splurge as it's a bit of a special Christmas for us! Ours has come to £300 and that's for me and my partner and our one year old over Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It also included all soft and alcoholic drinks though so maybe it's not too bad!

Probably a little over £200. Feeding 4 adults, a teenager and an 11yo for the whole Christmas week. Doesn't include the turkey, which DM has bought, however we would have happily had a bog standard chicken/pork joint (not that into turkey). DM is with us for the week and wants the turkey, so she bought it.

About £450, that includes alcohol

4x adults for 3 days and then 8 adults for a further 2 days.

Apart from milk and the necessities we won't do another shop until the 2nd weekend in January so it's not too bad

None yet! There's still Monday and Tuesday.

I used up £160 of Tesco vouchers that I'd been saving so I'm not overly fussed. I do like to keep a list so I don't go wild with the food buying.

0 so far. Dparents supplying Christmas dinner, we are just providing desert so £20 maybe?

Here we are two adults / two older teens. For 21st-24th and then breakfasts on 25th & 26th as well as doing starters and pud for 12 at parents on 25th and taking leftover stuff for make shift buffet for 26th at siblings house

Previous bits of chocolate boxes etc whilst on offer probably c. £20
So today at lidl was £125 (4 day dinners - roast chicken to make risotto and then chimichangas tomorrow, then tagliatelle bolognese stretched in to lasagne, salad and garlic bread for Christmas Eve)

I will still have to get: ham joint for us that will stretch across festive period, sausages and bacon, croissants, and stuff for a tart and salad for starters. And maybe another bottle of wine. So I reckon that may be £50-60.

I've probably not gone as crazy on extra bits as usual but still got a lot of extras so definitely not skimping but went with a real plan instead of grabbing at bits without thinking.

£30 more than a normal week of shopping.

I think about £20 per person and we are hosting 12. 3 veggies, 9 meat eaters. That's with nibbles, starters, mains, sides, pudding and cheese. Not including alcoholic drinks.

I feel like I should point out that my DH insists on this ridiculous turkey which is £80, but only bc his parents pay for it.

I have a grocery delivery next week £120. I need to borrow from DD 🤦‍♀️

No more than a normal shop, we're at my parents for Christmas day and we do the pigs in blankets/roasties which didn't cost much.

Normal weekly shop (we’re not hosting extras this year) plus whatever a tub of heroes, packet of pigs in blankets and a jar of cranberry sauce costs. I do a roast dinner most weeks anyway, Christmas dinner just has pigs in blankets and cranberry sauce on it. I don’t tend to buy loads of extras just because it’s Christmas - it ends up wasted or with us still eating Pringles in February.

The noticeable extra cost for us on the grocery bill comes from more people being at home for lunch than normal (more cold meats, cheese, salad bits etc), but it’s almost certainly balanced out by fewer Tesco meal deals and school dinners being purchased!

We are hosting 5 adults and 1 child. Spent £245 in Tesco. £60 in M&S on tinned cocktails. Have bought a few nut roasts/veggie wellingtons already and put in freezer. Just need to get veg now. Hosted a pre Christmas get together last week and spent about £180 on that.

Also, for five days of meals for 4 or 2 (or maybe 6, it’s ambiguous) people you have:

a butchers pack
extra turkey
a leg of lamb
a ham
a beef roasting joint.

That’s a lot of meat and if you want to cut costs that’s where I’d start! You surely have meals stretching into the New Year from that much meat.