Cutting the Cost of Your Christmas Feast…

Posted on by Forest in General, Recipes & Food, Saving Money & Finances

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It is completely possible, with a little careful fore thought and planning to reduce your spending on the feasting food you buy over the Christmas period, turning a lavish festival of gluttony in to a frugal feast of plenty.

Let’s look at Christmas dinner, shall we?

Firstly think about what foods get eaten and which ones land as either leftovers, or worse, thrown away! Is there only one person who likes the Brussels’ sprouts or parsnips? Buy what you need for that person loose, no more and no less, that is if they insist on keeping them on the menu.

Plan the menu meticulously. Reduce it down to a few basic, good family favourite items; forget all the fancy stuff that adds so much choice nobody has room to eat more than a bite or two of any one thing. If you are having turkey, look at the size of the bird you normally get. Does it really need to be that big? How much do you normally have left over?

Try making a little more from scratch rather than buying ready made. Most items (apart from the meat itself) can be prepared a day ahead of time, needing only re-heating for the meal itself; leaving you much more relaxed and able to enjoy more of the family time together.

Nobody likes the Christmas pudding? Then why buy it in the first place? Make a nice family favourite pudding instead, jazzed up with a squirt of cream and a holly leaf

Is the cake far too heavy for anyone to think about eating more than the thinnest slither? Ring the changes and make a nice fresh tasting pavlova or sponge cake instead, garnished with fresh fruit.

Forget the chocolates, someone is bound to get a box they can share, and if you have kids, then they will already have plenty in their stockings as fillers.

Do you need so many bottles of spirits? Think of what your family likes to drink, so you like a nice glass of wine and the hubby likes a beer, so why is that giant bottle of vodka sitting on the shelf?

Only you can know the best areas to cut corners for your family, but frugality, if done with careful thought, will not detract from the beauty of the day itself.

If you are going to host a party, plan it exactly the same way. Choose a few simple dishes, and make them from scratch. Ask guests to bring a bottle, in these financially fraught times nobody will mind, and will probably respect you for asking, if they don’t why are you asking them to your Christmas do in the first place?

Plan everything meticulously and you will find your Christmas will be almost stress free (there is always one little thing that doesn’t go to plan, so I’m not going to say completely stress free!), and one of the cheapest you have ever had!

Tags: cheap christmas meal ideas, save money christmas meal, save on christmas dinner, ways to save money at xmas