Christmas Dinner on a Budget
There are ways that you can cut down on your Christmas dinner expenses and ensure that you do not break the bank while you try to feed your family.
It is very easy to spend an absolute small fortune on various Christmas dinner ideas for the whole family and it is not until you have sat down and taken a look at the amount of money that you have actually spent on food for the big day that you realize this really is the most expensive dinner in the world!
Make sure that you work out who is coming to your house for Christmas dinner
Before you sit down and plan your Christmas dinner ideas it might be a good idea to take a peek and get definite yes and no answers to exactly who will be coming to your home. There is no point in going out of your way to cook a gorgeous dinner with some really unique Christmas dinner ideas for 10 people if only 4 of those people turn up. Ask around, send invitations if you have do and come up with a definite plan.
Set a Christmas dinner budget and stick to it!
This is easier said than done of course but the budget that you set for yourself is vitally important to ensure that you do not spend more than you need to on festive food. Let’s say there are ten people coming to your home then you should set around ten or twenty dollars aside per person and go from there. If you manage to budget your money well you will find that you will have enough food to feed everyone and some money left over for some real luxuries such as a bottle of champagne or an extra meat for your main course.
Think about the Christmas dinner logically
It might not make sense right now to buy a turkey that is too big to feed the family but think of it this way – you will more often than not have plenty of potatoes and vegetables left over from your Christmas dinner ideas to feed the family for another day. It is a fact of life that you always make more than you need but by making sure that you buy a slightly larger turkey or other meat that you may decide to have on the festive day, you can carry the leftovers over to Boxing day and have yet another delicious meal such as a stew or a curry and if you are really stuck for ideas, even some turkey sandwiches!
Make use of the special Christmas offers
If you write a list before you leave the house of the food that you want to buy for your Christmas dinner ideas and then head to the store and realize that they are on special offer, make good use of them. If you can afford to, buy a little extra just to keep to eat with the leftovers. You might even find that you will have to change your Christmas dinner ideas slightly to match the offers such as substituting peas for green beans because the latter was on special offer but you will still be saving money.