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.

No alcohol just some buffet nibbles cheeselets slices of meat there’s only me veg I’ve got in. No universal credit till December last bit of ESA this week so broke so that’s my Christmas done.

We’ll have 2 extra adults on Christmas Day, so total 4 adults (2 non-drinkers) and a 3yo, but the rest of Christmas week will just be the 3 of us as normal. I’d anticipate we’ll spend around £300 all in for food/drinks/snacks etc.

I don't have a budget, as such, but I'm trying to be more cautious.
I've just thrown away some out of date mixers and cans from last year. Such a waste and a reminder not to go overboard this year.
I've bought a few bits and pieces already. I usually buy a few non perishable items each week and look out for special offers on the things that I usually buy.

Just checked and the Christmas shop was £249 (includes Boxing Day meal). And @mam0918 what about wine? And the turkey alone cost over £30! Christmas cake is £18.50.

£30 for 3 adults and 2 kids for a Christmas shop is just not feasible unless you really do without any kind of decent treats!

£30? We spend that just on chocolates

It depends on so many factors - how many people you are feeding, if you like food, if you like to cook, what budget you have, if you drink etc.

I think some people see Xmas food as just Xmas dinner. I see it as the whole of Xmas week. we are 5 (3 teens) plus have another 5 coming plus others before and after.

we spend a lot (not caviar and champagne lot) but it will be a few hundred for everything. We will be having left overs for a few days after eg turkey cirry or pie, cheese and crackers etc.

Realistically not much more than usual as we don't have money to waste 🤷‍♀️

About £60 for two of us.

We have chicken, and home cooked ham, cake, starters etc.

About £350 for the whole week, family of 4 with 1 guest. I have already bought what doesn't need to be fresh and have the fresh food order ready to be delivered on the 23rd) so the price shouldn't change, the main culprits are alcohol, meat and chocolate. We spend £60 on chocolate alone!

Although that doesn't include NYE, going to eat out this year.

4 of us for Christmas dinner, I plan on spending around £50, will be leaving it till Christmas Eve in hope to get some bargains, we are not fussed with Turkey so any other meat will be fine. We don’t really drink so that saves a little.

We don't spend any extra, so it'll be our usual £130 per week. What extra stuff do people buy?

@Amboseli alcohol, we drink every night over Xmas week ( but never do in normal times!!) lots of chocolate, biscuits, cheeses, lots of different soft drinks. Just a very indulgent week really we wouldn't do normally for our finances nor waist line!

We will spend about £6 on breakfast (salmon and bagels)

£20 on the meal (we have chicken, roast pots, pigs in blankets, yorkshire puds, stuffing, gravy, veg, xmas pud and custard)

£10 for other food on the day (cheeses, crackers, mince pies, crisps)

£5 after dinner mints

£9 bottle of prosecco

£3 soft drinks for kids

So about £53 for the day. There are 4 of us. 2 teens, 2 adults

We do tend to be posher food for the few intervening days too so I guess all in we will be spending about £100 more than normal (normal week is £125)

My buffet bits cheeselets. Bit of chocolate. About £20 to £30 all brought now.

DM and I don’t eat meat.
Will get a free range chicken and a gammon joint for DH, DD, MIL and FIL. Cheeses, crackers, wine, lager/beer, snowballs, whisky, coke, squash.

We don’t go crazy with the roast and trimmings as so much gets left. We do just enough for a nice dinner each- no leftovers. Will get a pudding, cake and trifle, enough for a sliver each as it’s just too much otherwise. We were either keeping it and eating it through January or throwing it away. There used to be around 14 of us, but that number has dwindled due to deaths. Probably spend £400 ish but that includes lots of booze for all over the festive period and chocolates and snacks too.

If you spend a £1k are you throwing loads away?

What, you can't possibly imagine anything different you might eat on Xmas day compared to a usual day? You don't eat or drink anything different over the festive period? Nothing special at all? Not a solitary mince pie or pig in blanket added to your weekly shop. OK then!

I can't understand those who don't have leftovers. They are absolutely the best but iIf Xmas. Reheated roast in Boxing Day. Turkey sandwiches with stuffing. Coronation turkey. Turkey curry. And my Turkey and sprout pie is just the best

Mini cake and pudding for me might leave the pudding for 12th night as it’s fruit spices no icing.

Do you not celebrate Christmas then?

This thread shows how MC mumsnet really is 🤣

I buy bits in the weeks leading up to christmas, but for christmas Eve, christmas Day, and Boxing Day, we probably spend an extra £100 max. We dont celebrate New Year really and just have whatever leftover bits we have from the christmas period. I dont have an extra £500 + to spend on food especially now food is ridiculously expensive.

We dont host hordes of family so pretty much a normal shop for us apart from the turkey crown. Christmas day breakfast is croissants/ pastries, usual Christmas dinner with wine, then cold meats and cheeses for supper. Back to normal after that.

What exactly are 'picky bits?'

We go out for a curry xmas day
We are having an Ocado on 21st, there are 4 of us and we don’t drink a lot so won’t be getting much booze. It will probably be around £250 but I won’t budget, it will just cost whatever it costs really