Feeding the family at Christmas can be a real stretch for your finances, especially when it comes to buying all the trimmings for Christmas dinner. If you have a family to feed, your budget will also need to cover the duration of the school holidays too.
But with simple tips, you can save money right across the festive season when it comes to buying food, not to mention other Christmas essentials.
Here are our top tips from the team at Fair For You on doing the Christmas shop for less.
Average Cost Of Christmas Dinner Per Person
- Aldi - £22.30
- Lidl - £22.44
- Asda - £23.72
- Tesco - £23.82
- Sainsbury’s - £26.07
- Morrisons - £29.52
- Waitrose - £33.25
Data from Statista shows there is almost a £10 difference per head between Aldi and Waitrose, based on how much the average Christmas dinner cost in 2022.
Based on a family of four, that’s up to a £43.80 saving just for shopping at Aldi compared with another major supermarket.
However, shopping at your local market especially for vegetables could produce further savings of up to a third. That’s according to a study by The Independent, which also found that food sold at markets is also often fresher and of higher quality.
So if you’ve never tried produce from your local market before, there’s no better time than in the run up to Christmas. Better still, you can also beat the supermarket queues!
Only Buy What You Need & What You Enjoy
Even if you opt for the very cheapest supermarket to do your Christmas shop, it’s still easy to overspend by buying too much food, or likewise purchasing goods that nobody actually likes (sprouts, we’re looking at you here!).
Instead, think smart and practical and you can soon have all the food you need for Christmas Day and beyond without overspending.
For instance, if you are planning on purchasing meat for Christmas Day, you could opt for a smaller joint of meat rather than a whole turkey. The only exception is if you’re able to use any leftovers to create meals in the days after Christmas. But even still, consider only buying what you need above all else.
Think Beyond Christmas Day
As we noted above, Christmas is also a school holiday, meaning you will also need to budget for feeding the kids until they go back to school in January.
A simple trick is to create a meal plan so you’ll know exactly what meals you’ll be eating as a family so that you can budget for the extra costs.
Asda has a free recipe guide packed full of meals which cost less than £1 per serving. There’s also no reason why you couldn’t shop around for the ingredients to save even more money, since Aldi and Lidl both offer some of the cheapest deals of any UK supermarket.
Use Price Comparison Websites For Stocking Fillers, Decorations & Everything Else
Price comparison websites exist for your everyday shopping. But where they are especially handy is when buying items you don’t normally purchase during Christmas, meaning you might not know where the best deals are.
Trolley is a price comparison tool that not only has dedicated Christmas sections, but also allows you to arrange items from the lowest prices.
While you can search for the cheapest Christmas food, you’ll also find categories for advent calendars, Christmas sweets, stocking fillers, Christmas biscuits as well as toys and other gifts.
Fair For You - Your Flexible Payment Site
Need to buy more than just the Christmas shop this festive season?
Fair For You makes it easier to afford the essentials, by offering appliances on a payment plan that you can afford. Our goods include washing machines, TVs, laptops, vacuum cleaners and much more. Discover how Fair For You works to learn how we make it easier to afford the things you need for your home.
For more free tips and advice on saving money over Christmas, visit the Fair For You blog. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.