How much are you budgeting for your food shop this year?

[Twobigsapphires]

Are you all planning on cutting back? I’d like some tips please. Already planning on quality over quantity with the booze. One year we spent £1000 on food and booze for the week and I swore never again. I’d like to keep it to £500 max this year.

We normally spend between £200-£300. And that with everything including alcohol.

We are a family of 4 adults.

I've spent ridiculous amounts in the past and I'm just not doing it this year.
I'm really trying to just put a few extra bits on my shop each week obviously I will have to still do the fresh stuff but I'm hoping all the booze, sweet stuff and nuts/crisps and anything that will last can be done on the run up.
I'm hoping to get away with about £200 on the fresh stuff for Xmas day and Boxing Day that's for 10 on each day.

We don’t really buy any extra food and we don’t drink. We go to my parents for Christmas dinner and refuse any money towards it.

No idea. 3 of us for Xmas....we eat out on the day. Then it's a lot of cheese, soup and veggie stuff. We always have alcohol in....about 12 bottles of wine and many spirits.

We spend about £30.

I really dont see how people can spend hundreds if not thousands, its just a roast dinner, dessert and a few drinks and picky bits for breakfast... in reality on any other day £30 for food at home (not a resteraunt) is quite a lot especially when most things on a roast dinner like potato and carrot etc... arent very expensive.

We usually have loads left too as theres only 5 of us and 2 are kids (we could probably feed double) and other than xmas day we eat exactly the same as normal so no extra cost.

Dont buy loads of sweets and stuff, we get picky bits and sweets in stocking (counts in xmas budget not food budget) so no need for tins of heros/roses/quality street etc...

I defy anyone to do their Christmas shop for £30. Roast , breakfast , sweets , picky bits and a few drinks you say , no way .

I don't really budget, we buy more expensive cuts of meat for Christmas Day and a shed load of cheese and wine but the rest of the week is just normal food.

I've just looked at my usual place to order a turkey and am gobsmacked - his turkeys start at £105! No way. Just No.
Just looked at Sainsburys, I think I'll get one of their frozen bronze at £24. So you can see the direction I'm heading in this year.
For us, we're not particularly stretched at the moment thank god, but it's not only about what you've got in your wallet now, it's about what you've got in your wallet in three or six months time.
I'm taking a cautionary approach. Hoping to keep 'all in' under £200 for the festive period. I'll shop at a variety of places from the market for veg to Marks for a couple of special treats, and everywhere in between.

God knows as we celebrate advent as well as Christmas. There's 6 adults and one child.

Tesco have a five people for £25 deal but it is bare minimum and no 'fun / treat' elements. All frozen. Nothing wrong with that but you can probably buy a bag of potatoes cheaper.

Not kidding, £105 for the smallest.

Same as I do for a normal shop, it's just Christmas you don't need £1,000 worth of food that's just insane.

Wow, £30! We are a family of 5 (Dh and I plus three dc aged 15-19). We host Xmas eve (additional 8 people) and Xmas day (additional 2). My breakdown so far is £125 on spirits and £125 on wine and champagne. £60 will prob go on Xmas dinner and all the trimmings, another £60 at least for Xmas eve offer food. Then the rest on soft drinks, extra mixers, few extra bits of cheese and snacks over the week as Dh and I have 2 weeks off work. Sounds do-able I guess.

Buffet not offer!

Stop with the 'picky bits' already!
😖

She’s definitely allowed to say picky bits!!

it’s a Christmas thread - 🎄🎄🎄

Do you mean for the Christmas holidays? Or just the meal itself. Save up Sainsbury’s points, main shop costs £150-£200. We spend a lot because the ds's eat like adults. Over the Christmas period £500?

We get a meat hamper from the butcher for £75 that includes a large turkey crown, beef joint, gammon joint, pork joint, sausage meat or ready made stuffing, pigs in blankets, bacon and a large pork pie.

All entertaining is built around this. So when our parents come over in between chairman’s and new year we do the gammon as a roast ham. The buffet for this is then cobs, a cheeseboard, cold meats, crisps and some homemade sausage rolls with homemade cakes etc.

We don’t eat loads of chocolate and picky bits over the festive period so our biggest expense is probably wine. We usually order £200 or so from the wine merchant but I got 12 bottles of some really nice wines for £80 on the sainsburys offer last week!

Yes when I said we spent a ridiculous amount I meant for the festive period not just the meal itself.
We have people over for most of Christmas and usually have about 20-30 for New Year's Eve.

The last few years it's been about £500 for the food for Christmas up to NYE but I suspect it might be higher judging by how much more our food shop is. I have saved some on the wine by taking up an Virgin wine offer which I got from Curry's when I bought a new dishwasher. We are five adults, sometimes will be 6 of us.
Just reading about the super expensive turkeys, I will do what we did last year and get a small turkey and brine it. Makes it so much nicer. We do also have a ham, which is for Christmas Eve dinner as well plus sandwiches afterwards, along with a cheap joint of beef.

You think you can't do a days worth of food for £30?

It's really not hard at all.

There is some proper privilage out there just because something isn't overpriced from M&S or Dom Perignon Vintage doesnt mean its not good enough. A lot of us couldnt afford £1000 or hell even £100 on a bloody meal have you opened your eyes and seen the state of the country.

I get that those hosting a big family might spend more or those ordering expensive big cuts of meat (unnessacey but if thats what floats their boat thats their choice) but still £100+ seems dramaric never mind thousands.

I defy people who can spend £1000 on a days food, just spending for the sake of spending - even with expensive food and alcohol I bet more than half of it gets wasted (also if you spend that much on alcohol how do you not have alcohol left for the next event, maybe I dont drink enough only having a few glasses a week but I have a bloody arsnal just from gifts people have given me over the years).

Our turkey is £110

Smoked salmon blini starters plus champagne. £30 plus champagne so £55 ish

Rest of the main meal £40 (sausage, stuffing, veg,)

Pavlova, something chocolate and a fruit salad for pud. Another £50.

Plus white and red wine. Cheese and port, random house chocolates. Another £50

So we probably spend £300. However that's to feed 10 people and we live off the leftovers for the rest of the Xmas week and it we have tons of turkey for the whole of January.

Forgot to add that I usually grab one thing a week in the six or seven weeks leading up to Christmas that I wouldn’t normally buy such as goose fat.

I also have about £90 in nectar points at £20 in Asda rewards that I will use for things like crackers for cheese, mixers and everything else that I can’t get from the butcher or veg shop.

Oh gosh. Quite a lot but the 10 day period is the one time of the year that we have ready meals or takeaways so I don’t have to cook a lot. We do splurge on Christmas Day, Boxing Day at NYD. We generally have lots of visitors so I have plenty of party food and drink in. We go all out on cheese and biscuits and port.

Only 3 of us on CD but 20 plus over the festive period.

probably £5-600.

We don’t really have a budget, but I expect to spend around £500 on food. I enjoy choosing nicer foods than usual along with treats we wouldn’t eat the rest of the year.