Christmas has to be the most expensive time of year. I don’t think it was meant to be that way, but it has certainly evolved into a real potential financial crisis. These money saving tips for hosting a Christmas dinner on a budget should help!
Christmas dinner is where keeping the costs low and still maintaining traditions takes a little bit of effort. The good news is that with planning, it really is possible to put on a great spread for family and friends without breaking the bank.
Money Saving Tips for Hosting Christmas Dinner on a Budget
Here are couple of tips to get you on the road to a tasty meal for a price you can afford:
- Make a menu and STICK WITH IT. Making a menu allows you to stock up on specialty food items when they go on sale. The earlier you make the list, the more sales cycles you have to score deals.
- Bring the outside in with your table decor. Where we live there are plenty of pine and cedar trees, not to mention pine cones. If that doesn’t have all the makings for a traditional Christmas centerpiece, I don’t know what does.
- Shop seasonally when it comes to fruits and veggies. Providing a grapes in your fruit salad is going to be a heck of a lot more expensive than oranges.
- Have everyone bring a dish. If you can get away with providing the staples, and your guests provide the sides and appetizers, you can cut the cost SIGNIFICANTLY.
- Figure out proportions. Over-cooking leads to overspending. There is a delicate balance between having plenty and having an offensive amount of left-overs.
- Take advantage of store promotions. Most stores offer free turkey with minimum purchase. {If they offer it only at Thanksgiving time, consider buying and freezing your Christmas bird then.}
- Now is the time to transfer prescriptions. I know this sounds crazy, but lots of stores will offer gift cards for transferred prescriptions. Transfer them now, and put the gift card to good use by buying the groceries.
- Cut energy costs by dropping the thermostat if you are having a lot of guests. The sheer amount of people will raise the temperature in a room, no need to pay for additional heating costs.
- Make everything from scratch. It will taste better and cost significantly less.
- Keep it simple. No need to provide 18 appetizers and 14 desserts. All those extra ingredients add up.
Do you host Christmas dinner? How do you keep costs low?
~Mavis
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tc says
We are having 12 people, I keep costs low by serving veg that is in season and I often get the mis-shape ones for free from my co op. The goose is our main expense, a guest is bringing and cooking the prime rib; others Guests provide dessert and we provide most of the wine. We have a gift exchange where we pick out who to buy a gift for ($30 max) and each guest contributes a small fun thing for the stocking. Wine is provided by us but usually guest bring some but the best thing they bring is helping hands for clean up and fun. No one expects a lot and we limit appetizers so we have room for the dinner?
It works great, it is a squeeze around the table but all is okay
Rebecca says
We have the tradition of hosting a big family party on Christmas Eve, and our tradition has been to serve seafood. We usually have things like crab cakes, steamed shrimp, king crab legs, etc. This year we are simplifying by serving cod fish and steamed shrimp (purchased on sale!) and chicken wings along with seasonal veggie sides. I have spent considerably less this year than in the past. I got a free ham from the grocery store as part of their Thanksgiving promotion and froze that for Christmas Day.
I also simplified my baking this year and am only making two desserts and didn’t make cookies. As I get older I find that I want to simply more things in my life – – – possessions, celebrations, whatever I can!