If you are hosting christmas how much has your food and drink cost ?

[cultmaskid]

And how many people

No idea yet, but DH came home with a rib of beef that cost £100 yesterday.

More ethically produced meat isn't cheap and it shouldn't be

That’s true. We don’t eat much meat because I will only buy local, organic meat from the farm shop. So we pay £85 for our Christmas beef and will also buy some sausages and bacon from there, but that will be all the meat we have over the Christmas period.

8 Adults, 3 Uni goers, 3 children.

About 600 pounds total. Maybe an extra 50 on drinks. Uni goers seem to prefer Beer and cheaper the better for them (Not complaining!)

I do a glass loan from my local Waitrose.

Wow how does everyone spend so much 😱
4 people
Turkey crown £20
Veg £2
Pigs n blankets £6
Party food £40 m&s
Gammon joint £10
Pots £2
Chocolates £10
Alcohol £45
=£135 Christmas shop

Last year we did Centreparks for Christmas week, DP, me and 2 kids - we went to Waitrose on the way, bought anything we desired, and it was 350 quid - covered all breakfasts, most dinners and lunches, Christmas dinner, snacks, booze, crackers etc. we ate out 4 times I think while we were there.

We have MIL this year too, I'm expecting to spend about the same (and have plenty of leftovers

Sorry but spending hundreds of pounds is absolutely ridiculous ... some of you are spending on one meal what it takes me a month to earn! No wonder half of you are stressed out and feeling overwhelmed. I'll spend no more than £30 on everything (Aldi & Iceland)

£300 total, including all alcohol and food, for 9 people for Xmas day and Boxing Day.

So far I've only only ordered our Christmas meat box from the local butchers- which was um about £40 ish I think- will find out when I pick it up- it's a turkey crown, sausages, bacon and stuffing.

Then we will just do a slightly bigger weekly food shop, add a few more veggies than usual and a pudding or two- the children love jelly on Christmas day so not expensive.

Alcohol wise we will probably buy 2 bottles of wine for the Christmas week and a bottle of gin. Then we will gift FIL a gin and he will gift OH a whiskey and they will both be tasted on Christmas I expect.

That will be about all I think. Haven't worked out the total cost yet but not vastly more than a usual week apart from the alcohol for presents.

What are people buying which costs so much. We’ll be feeding 16 adults for a week and it doesn’t costs some of the figures mentioned in this thread.

I don't think I spend anywhere close to £1000 on Christmas, full stop, and that includes gifts, etc.

I'm intending to work it all out this year, as I'm really interested to see what we're spend and I know buying things over time can mean that it adds up.

Maybe I'll end up being shocked at just how much it actually comes to. We're buying for 24 ppl this year (at last count).

I don’t think my prices are out at all.

I’m at £402 for the festive period and that means 21st Dec to 1st Jan.

So we’ve got ‘normal’ breakfasts on ten of the days, for four people. The same four are eating normal lunch at home on four of those days. And normal dinners on the 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, so five dinners. We are visiting others and being catered for on two evenings and one daytime.

In terms of ‘servings’ there are forty breakfasts, sixteen lunches, twenty dinners of the normal variety for my nuclear family, that’s 76 servings.

For special meals and buffet I’m then adding 122 servings of special foods and drinks over the festivities for extended family and friends.

That’s 198, only counting savoury plates and not meals with more than one course, or extras like condiments and snacks.

I’ve spent over £400 but £160 was drinks so I’m at £240 which is only £1.21 per savoury plate.

And as for charity donations to 'assuage your guilt'....if Christmas dinner was costing me a grand I'd need charity myself!

Luckily I don’t though .

I think my second post must have got lost in the competitive underspending, I said that was for ten at Christmas and a NYE party for 40.

I also said the NYE was M&S food to order and we haven’t skimped on champagne.

Perhaps there should be a disclaimer on these threads that you can only post if you spend under a certain amount?

But then what would the frothers do.
Just because I spend more than you, it doesn’t make me a bad person you know.

Merry Christmas to all.

It’s not as if I have set up a GoFundMe to pay for my life choices

I don’t understand some of the quantities people are quoting Eg A Christmas cake for £10 to feed 22 people . I’m a Lidl/ Aldi shopper and like a bargain but that defeats even me .

Wine for 22 for £50. How does that work ? Thats 7 bottles of reasonable supermarket wine , so two small glasses each of a bottle each. Not much over a whole day.

And nothing like cava or proeseco. Unless that’s included as above and you get a small glass of cava with lunch and a small glass of wine with dinner.

And nothing but tap water for the kids and non drinkers / drivers, not even a soft drink, alcohol free beer or fruit juice? That’s a bit sad.

I’d particularly like to know where you can get a “ box of tunnocks “ for a fiver that feeds 22.

@RunningAwaywiththeCircus well you are not allowed to!

*typo with my numbers in case of scrutiny- it’s 30 for NYE.

About £200 I think, that’s on 9 people for the day but we haven’t bought all the food as a few dishes are being sorted by DM and MIL or any alcohol (we don’t drink so asked if everyone can bring their own).

This thread ranges from £1,000, just on food, for 6 people to a turkey crown to feed 16 for £25

It’s bonkers!

Some of these costs are bonkers in both directions!

I think we'll spend in the region of 250/300ish for 5 people from 24 - 27th December, including wine etc. Only 3 drinkers and one is very moderate.

I will do most of the shopping in Aldi as we prefer it to M&S having taste tested over the years.

We eat lunch out on Christmas Eve, cook the ham in the evening and have some with bread, pickles etc wine / beer / baileys on the go.

Christmas morning - early, opening presents coffee / mince pies / biscuits

11am - full cooked breakfast x 5 people with prosecco / bucks fizz

afternoon - drinks, nibbles, coffee / cake, snacks

Dinner 7pm, full christmas dinner with wine

26th
turkey sandwiches / coffee / trifle (traditional breakfast!)

cold meat and salad / bread for lunch

party food later in the evening with wine /beer / bubbles / baileys

We cater for 25 on NYD and shop and budget separately for that !

Think I will finish up around £1600 which is fairly evenly split between drink and food.
Having 9 for dinner on Christmas Eve, 7 people staying for 3 days, Brunch and buffet on Christmas Day and 12 for lunch on Boxing Day.
We do buy organic meat from Riverford and this is about £300 for turkey, beef ham and pigs in blankets. It’s a lot I know and I wince but my husband is a really foodie. We alternate hosting Year on/year off with SIL thank goodness!

£130 for 3 of us. Includes 2 bottles of wine for gifts.

I don’t spend much more than what I do in a normal week, just the price of a fresh turkey made it a bit more. Don’t really buy many treats as we will be gifted chocolate. The £130 covers meals for the week and cat food. We will have a take away Christmas Eve.

We also did a £20 shop for the food bank.

16 for Xmas day and then nice party food stuff for Xmas eve Boxing Day and onwards! Total including crackers, champagne, Prosecco, wine , gin, mixers, cocktails and soft drinks comes to around £900-£1000. Choice of 3 starters and probably 4 desserts. We host every year. I love not having to leave home on Xmas day. We do push the boat out and I really hope everyone enjoys their day. I reckon I could knock £200-£300 off that if it wasn't my husband and kids doing the "naice " M&S shop...but they love doing it! We've already started on the tins of Roses, tunnocks tea cakes and yummy cheese.