Whats a reasonable spend on food? Please?

[ICanDoYeah]

I've just done my Ocado food shop for the Christmas period. 5 of us, Xmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day. Its coming in at £300 and thats without some of the booze (got 2 x bottles of the cheaper end of proper champagne and small brandy for the pud in the basket, but no wine).

Thats silly, isnt it?

I know I could save by going to Aldi/Lidl, but we are in a holiday home and need delivery for the 23rd. Ocado only one near by that will do it.

I havent checked out yet by the way. and its 22nd not 23rd!

Can you take none perishables from Lidl/Aldi with you and have the rest delivered by Ocado? Or is there a supermarket near your holiday home where you can do a click and collect from? Can you choose a brand down or essentials range for some things from Ocado?

Do Tesco not deliver. I would guess they would be cheaper. You’ve spent £20 a head a day for the main days of Christmas which doesn’t seem excessive unless you’re on a tight budget ( but guessing if you’re in a holiday home you’re ok money wise).

I would spend about 25% on what I normally spend. How late my will your £300 last and what do you normally spend.

Wow! That's loads

We normally have 'a few nicer bits' but not excessive

We spend around £300 on average but to be fair, we have a house full on xmas day (around 15) and the shopping lasts us the week. I think you've probably overestimated just how much food you will eat in 3 days OP unless you are 5 body builders .

I agree you've probably over catered DH has a history of this, he'll buy loads of crisps in different flavours which we're still eating in July, or numerous packets of biscuits which never get eaten. It will probably be the treats rather than the meals

It seems like loads, I don't think we spend that much and we often have 15 on Christmas Eve and 10 Christmas Day. Although having read various threads on here we eat very little on Christmas Day compared to others.

Last week I pre-ordered my M&S Christmas food (thank you M&S for the free chocs!) for the same duration and that came to £230 before booze and perishable items. There will be 7 adults and two kids for Christmas Day itself, plus we’ll be having a soirée for neighbours on 23rd .

Absolutely no guilt here, it’s our one time of year we really indulge.

By perishable items I mean bread, vegetables, milk etc

I suspect the fact you are in a holiday home is bumping up the cost, as you'll be buying stuff you'd normally have some of in the cupboards/fridge/freezer at home.

Ocado is rather expensive though.

Fancy posting your shopping list?

So far mine is around £89 for 3 of us, that includes meat, drinks and meals for 3 days. That will probably increase but not by much.

I see think that’s reasonable - I'm hosting a few more but I’ve indulged in ‘proper’ champagne and am dithering over whether to order a Kelly Bronze turkey or not. Is it worth it? It’ll be cheaper for me to serve fillet steak!

Does that include things you would normally have in, but have bought because it's a holiday home?
Like tea, coffee, sugar, cornflour, cornflakes etc.

We’ve spent about £90 on M&S Christmas food, which includes the main bits for a Christmas Eve buffet, all of Christmas lunch, Christmas tea and Boxing Day dinner. It also includes thread desserts. That’s for three adults and two children.

We will probably also spend about £150 on Ocado, which will feed us through until the first week in january, and will include about three or four bottles of alcohol and ingredients for entertaining food for one evening. This will also include any household bits we need.

We would normally spend about £100/week. The main difference will be in the prepared food, alcohol & treats this time.

How many people is it for? Is it 'just for Christmas' or is it actually a weekly shop with food for Christmas Day, Boxing Day included in it?

I have totted up my 'Christmas shop' which is actually for the whole week from 22-NYE, including Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals for two, and hosting family on Boxing Day and the 27th.

My Morrisons shop without the main meat joint for Christmas Day (though including a gammon for Boxing Day) or alcohol comes to just over £100. I imagine there will be a further £100 spent on 'the rest'.

It's a lot but everything is in there.

OK, I am assuming that you need everything, you are doing a shop to cover 22-26th (breakfast 27th?) at least.

So when you add in all the small things like salt and pepper, herbs, butter, olive oil, tin foil, cling film, bin liners, washing up liquid, matches etc, breakfasts, snacks, lunches, dinners, treats - yes it does add up quickly.

When we travel to SC places, even at Christmas, we have a big spend. But I do tend now to bring a few things from home (we drive so it's easier, but some things could be squished into cases if travelling by plane/train etc.

A 100ml squeezy bottle of washup liquid gets through a lot - especially if its a decent liquid like fairy (not the cheap watery types).

I have a set of glass salt and pepper mills from the supermarket that I keep in my SC box - they were only cheap but they save on buying every time. I usually bring a few things like a handful of stock cubes and some gravy powder in a plastic tub or small sandwich bag (the Ziploc kind) rather than buying a whole fresh box. And I slip a few bin liners into a pair of shoes rather than buying a whole roll on arrival.

I DO make sure to get loo roll (although I always bring a roll in my case too), and a pack of kitchen towels really make sense at Christmas time - but the basics types are fine.

The other thing I bring is a few tools, as often there are key ones missing. THink carefully about what you normally use, and really would miss - corkscrew, a good sharp knife, a wooden spoon, a veg peeler, a whisk, a set of oven gloves, a teatowel or 2, a small proper chopping board (mine is plastic). I have a SC/camping box with my "travelling tools" in it, and have put a few into my case when flying if I am unsure of the facilities.

Hello all and thanks for your replies.

Yes, we are there 22nd-28th, and it includes breakfasts, lunches and quick meals for the days we are there, and things like bread, milk, matches, foil etc.

I have just been through the basket again and tried to get it down to £250 even, but its a struggle .

Oh, and I probably have slightly over catered on a few fronts - for instance, I've got loads of cheese, but I like a selection and will bring home what we don't eat.

Havent gone mad on things like chocs (one small box), crisps (one tube of pringles), or nuts (one jar), as my gannet children will just scoff them until theyre gone, so have tried to focus more on nice meals.

Post your shopping list so we can —have a good nose— give you suggestions.

Strikethrough fail

I'd swap your individual cheese selection for a boxed cheese selection, it will reduce cost and food waste.

Try to imagine your dinner plate and what you can realistically eat. People tend to go bonkers with loads of side dishes but realistically how much can you eat after grazing on crisps, chocs and snacks all day? Trim down the choices available so instead of 3 puddings just one pudding choice plus chocs and or mince pies or Christmas cake instead of a separate pudding. People tend to go overboard and think in terms of and this and that instead of along the lines of this or this. Iyswim.

Watch last year's Christmas episode of Eat well for Less, it was amazing & horrifying to see how much food one family wasted by over catering.

I guess for a week it’s not so bad! Especially as you’ll be buying stuff that you normally be able to just grab a little of out of the cupboard or freezer at home. That will bump the price up.

I think so far we’ve spent £40 for Christmas Day itself and that is turkey/ham/two alternative puddings for Christmas Day. But the ham will be cooked Christmas Eve and then there will be plenty of leftovers for a couple of days. There will be at least 7 of us but likely 9-12. I also already have Christmas cakes/puddings/some side dishes in the freezer that I’ve done throughout the year just to spread the cost a little. I guess it’s just veg and extras now! I’d anticipate spending about £100 on Christmas Eve/Day/Boxing day and then about another £100 to cover the few days before/after with about another £30-40 on a goose for NYE. I’m a Lidl shopper though so probably explains the low prices!!