It’s that time of year again when the only thing that’s stretched tighter than our budget is our nerves. Christmas shopping can put a huge financial strain on the average family, but it's even worse if you are the one pegged to cook the Christmas family dinner.
It’s natural to want to put on a flashy looking meal that looks and tastes delicious, but by the time the big day rolls around, most of the budget has already been blown on filling little Johnny’s stocking with awesome electronics. The good news is that Christmas dinner can be done on the cheap, and none of it involves stealing or shooting the neighborhood pigeons.
It’s human nature to want to wrap the presents in sumptuous paper with a massive bow on top, but that type of packaging doesn’t come cheap. The same can be said for food makers, all of whom put their products in packages that are designed to catch your eye and make you buy. But the packaging is no indication of the quality of the food inside. You can save yourself a fair amount of cash, simply by ditching the gold trimmed paper, and buying a less extravagant looking package of the same food.
Oftentimes the dinner party gets started with some little snacks or finger food, and while most of those are available in the frozen, pre-packaged section of the supermarket, you can save a ton by just making them yourself. Canapes are a perfect example of a food that’s expensive to buy packaged, but cheap to make at home. Your dinner guests will love that you made the effort to do a little cooking DIY. It’s also smart to keep in mind that your guests will be doing a lot of eating throughout the course of the day, so keep the dinner fairly simple and stick with a couple of sides, rather than offering all the trimmings.
Try not to go too overboard when you are buying the food you need. Avoid pre-packaged food as much as possible, and don’t go for an ostrich-sized turkey when you know that a good portion of it will end up in the trash, or as permanently uneaten leftovers. It’s understandable to want to make sure that your guests get enough to eat, but allowing a Tiny-Tim-sized amount of common sense to prevail will leave your wallet thanking you for weeks to come. The same rule applies when it comes to drinks and desserts, as in most countries it’s expected that guests will bring a bottle of wine or some sort of candy treat with them. By all means pick up a couple of items, but let your guests do their share too.
Christmas is a time of giving and sharing, but you can easily do that without having to take out a second mortgage on your home. Guests are usually always friends and family, and they will be delighted with the effort that you have made to feed them, even if it means they don’t get both mashed and roasted potatoes.
I guess I’m lucky in that my husband’s family is small so there’s only 5 of us at Christmas dinner. Not only does it help keep costs down, it helps with the cooking time, too! I set a budget for our Christmas dinner and my in-laws will typically bring something important (like the ham) which helps keep the budget in check.
We’re going with a chilli dinner and potluck this year, so it should all be nice, cheap and low-key.
I always make notes on the dinner the day or two after as to what worked well and what didn’t. One thing that stands out year after year is that the most popular side dish was frozen corn. That’s fairly cheap and you can’t get much easier. Last year I noted that I didn’t need the cranberry nut bread, so it’s one thing I’m happy to skip making this year.
Too bad there’s not a tradition for Christmas Mac n Cheese. That would be pretty frugal….:-)
Having our friends bring a dish or something was insurance for our budget. Otherwise, it leads to completely blowing all sorts of cash that you just eat away!