Top 10 Money Saving Tips for Christmas - #5 Food

 

Christmas Table - originally posted by Lee Jordan

 

 

I don’t know about anyone else but I find it impossible to resist all that scrumptious Christmas food: the mince pies, the Christmas cake, the turkey with the stuffing and the Christmas pudding with all that cream. Not only can the calories really start to build up - I’ll definitely be checking out No Calories Needed in January - but the cost can really start to mount up as well. This is especially true if you are cooking for a large family, for friends, or for your extended family. I’ve put together a list of money saving tips which should help you keep the cost of Christmas down … no guarantees it will work on your waistline though …

 

 

Get Organised

 

If you are going to be doing all the cooking for Christmas then getting organised is an absolute must, not only so you manage to get the lunch on the table, but also so that you can save some money along the way.

 

The first step is to make a list of everything you need. Then comes the hard part, sticking to it. There are so many tempting treats out there, especially at Christmas time, and a trip to the grocery store can play havoc with your budget. Writing a list and sticking should help keep your budget intact.

 

The next step is to spread the cost and start shopping early. You can obviously only apply this to non-perishable items, but it can really help to keep the cost down. Whenever you see a really good offer, stock up on that item and then tick it off your list. Not only do you have more time to find the special offers, something which is even easier if you have a price book, but it means that you don’t have to worry so much about finding all the money from December’s budget.

 

Finally, whether you are shopping two months in advance or a few days before Christmas, always remember to compare prices! Comparing the prices, even if it’s only between two different stores, can really help you to save money. A price book can also come in really handy here as well.

 

Get Cooking

 

Home made food will almost always cost you way more than cooking your own food from scratch, and that’s without mentioning all the additives, colourings and other nasties that go into ready-made, pre-packaged food. Another advantage of cooking your own is that there is much more room for using store brands. No-one is ever going to notice the difference between store brand and premium label when it is cooked. The same is not always true for store brand vs. premium ready-made food.

 

If cooking everything seems like a lot of hard work, and it can be, one good idea is to look at what can be made in advance and either frozen or chilled. There are tons of good cooking resources on the web that will help you plan your Christmas cooking schedule.

 

Enlist the help of friends and family

 

If you decide to cook from scratch another essential tip is to enlist the help of friends, family, and random strangers silly enough to step into the kitchen. Christmas really is one of those times when the saying ‘the more the merrier’ comes true, and if you can apply that to getting the cooking done life will be easier for everyone.

 

Another money saving tip, especially if you are entertaining family and friends, is to ask people to bring something with them. This could be as simple as a box of chocolates or it could be dessert or a side dish. Not only does this help cut down on the cost but it also helps with the amount of preparation and work required. This is only one I would recommend with close family and friends, and does require some co-ordination … nothing worse than ten bowls of cranberry sauce and no stuffing!

 

Special Offers, Coupons & Christmas Saving Schemes

 

The last money saving tip should help you shave even more money off what should, by now, be a fairly low food bill.

 

Take advantage of every special offer, coupon and saving scheme you can find.

 

There are always lots of special offers around Christmas time and getting organised can really help you take advantage of these. It is also worth picking up the local paper, free flyers and in-store magazines every week in the run up to Christmas as you should definitely be able to save some money using coupons. Again, having a shopping list already made will really help you here.

 

Finally, here in England a number of the large retailers and supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda offer savings stamps schemes. The idea behind these is that you squirrel a little bit of money away each month and then at Christmas time the store will add a bonus to it and you can use the stamps for your Christmas shop. This can be a great idea if you find it hard to save for Christmas and can save you some money at the same time.

 

Even if you don’t save throughout the year or prefer to use a saving account, you can still take advantage of this Christmas bonus. Provided you buy the stamps by a set date (normally the end of November or the beginning of December) you will still get the bonus. Bonuses range from 5% (Wilkinson) to 2% (Tesco), so it is well worth buying the stamps in November just to get the savings.

 

I don’t know whether any of the supermarkets in America run a similar system, but if any of you know about one please let me know by leaving a comment and I will add the details to the article - with full credit to you of course.

 

Best of the Rest;

 

One thing I am particularly keen on is highlighting posts from other bloggers that relate to my posts and that I believe are worthwhile additional reading. I plan on including these ‘Best of the Rest’ links is as many of my posts as a I can.

• Blogs @ The Telegraph - Will Your Christmas Dinner be More Expensive This Year?

• No Credit Needed - Grocery Price Book

• Get Rich Slowly - Use a Grocery Price Book To Slash Your Food Spending