Christmas Food Prep - spread the cost

[ChristmasOrganiser23]

Hi all

First post, long time lurker

I am starting to think about Christmas - I have a very large family and I'm always chief cook for the big day.

Normally I'd just go and do a big food shop around the 21st (give or take), but with the cost of food having risen such a lot, I'm considering prepping quite far in advance to spread out the cost.

Obviously tins and jars can be bought now, as can nibbles, but does anyone have any tips for buying Christmas Dinner componants in advance? For example, does anyone prepare their vegetables beforehand then freeze, or make their gravy and freeze etc etc.

Just trying to work out how much I can spread out the process/cost. Any tips at all would be much appreciated 😊

I find putting some money away each month works best.

Definitely a Kitty and or dessert/ drinks contributions x

Loads of good advice on here!

I second the poster who kept a list from the previous Christmas about what went well and what didn’t. I’ve been doing that the last couple of years, and it’s been really helpful.

For example, previously I bought too many crisps and nuts (M&S nuts were expensive and hardly touched) but things that went down well unexpectedly were baklava and Turkish delight (bought on a whim). I have more “don’t buy” than “buy” items on my list!

As a family we all bring a dish to split the cost of Christmas Day lunch.

Do you use topcashback? I buy my giftcards for M&S and Morrisons on there and then I save up the cash back and get more giftcards for free. Yesterday they did a £2 bonus cashback on a £10 spend so I bought a M&S gift voucher and got £2.80 I think in cashback. I always buy giftcards when they are doing a bonus. I currently have nearly £90 that I can use for giftcards at Christmas.

Hope that makes sense.

This is a great idea @Colliewobblerr23 .
It's just the 6 of us as always but still looking for ways to save money!

I was looking at the Asda savings cars the other day actually, you add a bit on whenever you want them in November cant remember what day they add a bonus on up to £15 depending on how much you have on it. Doesn't have to just be used on Christmas stuff of course, would be good for Jan when it's a long and lean month!

We've already got pigs in blankets in the freezer as our butcher randomly had them on offer a few weeks ago, use by date is after Christmas. Also already got a sticky toffee pudding in the freezer that we bought for Easter and for some reason never ate 🤔

I do a review as to what worked and didn’t work every year. I find it really helpful and it cuts down on making similar mistakes the following year. My reviews will include such things as buy more of this, or less of that, frozen items worked well, or not (for example we preferred red cabbage which had been frozen). Which trips or experiences worked well. Do I need more decorations, wrapping paper, etc. I have a master list of things that are required for a ‘standard’ Christmas and I can chip away at any non perishable items (food or other including gifts), as and when I feel like it.

It really helps with keeping costs down and not wasting time, effort and money on things that are not really required and I don’t have much dashing around in December on top of normal life.

I like the idea of a yearly review 👏

I dont really buy anything before xmas but I have an asda and iceland saving cards and every time I shop I round the bill up or add a bit more if I can afford it, I try to get the max on the asda card it's about 275 and between 1-200 in Iceland

I hadn't really thought about the Christmas savings cards before this thread. I'm definitely starting one (or 2!) in January!

I have frozen roast potatoes. Using this method https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/freeze-ahead-roasties

Although I had beef fat from a large roast I had done. I thought they came out well.

But more so I'd be looking to save money for Christmas. I put aside €50 each month for Christmas. That's not just food but presents too (small family)

Christmas eve I prep absolutely everything. Peel spuds/ carrots/ sprouts/ cook the ham. I mostly do it myself while listening to an audio book but as DS grows I will include him. I do very little on Christmas day and want to keep it that way.

Could you ask family members to prepare something to bring? It would take some of the cost/ prep time from you. If you do meat and gravy. Then everyone else brings something. Person on sprouts can cook them at yours cause they need the ham water.

I use a similar site through my employer which gives cashback and what I 'earn' as cashback in the year i can bung onto a gift card and i normally get 5% off the gift card cost too

Apart from slowly building up the non-perishables in advance, I also buy some stamps for my local supermarket a few at a time over the summer and autumn. So that I have a couple filled for the "big" shop of meat, veg and other fresh stuff. Each card takes €98 in €2 stamps and if it's filled the full €98, supermarket adds a final stamp to make a filled card worth €100. Useful to have funds for the big shop.