Christmas is a joyful time when we come together to celebrate family and the things that are important to us. One way we do this is to spend time with our loved ones with a big Christmas dinner.
Sadly as the prices of food keep going higher more and more families will have to make the choice to not have a Christmas dinner simply because they can not afford it. These simple tips to save money on Christmas dinner can help.
Give a non-traditional Christmas Dinner a chance
Christmas dinner is perhaps one of the easiest holiday dinners to go nontraditional for. This is because at the end of the day dinner really is not the highlight of the holiday. As prices continue to soar at the grocery store and everywhere else you may be considering not hosting a traditional dinner.
This is by far one of the best options. Skip the overpriced turkey and ham and put together a fun and exciting meal that everyone will love. Try a truly frugal option like a family pasta night or go the direction we did the first Christmas after my father passed. We did a meatloaf night because that was one of his favorite meals. The possibilities are endless.
How to save money on Christmas dinner
Christmas dinner doesn’t have to put your family in debt. The cost of the holiday season is already getting out of hand and is difficult for most families. With a little work, you can help to make it more affordable to feed your family and guests on Christmas day.
Make it a potluck
Potlucks are a great way to save money on the cost of food when hosting a large gathering. Split up the cost of side dishes, desserts, and even main dishes if you wish to serve both a turkey and a ham for Christmas dinner this year.
Have everyone that plans to attend sign up to cook and bring a dish to help reduce the cost while allowing everyone to gather as a family still.
Make a menu and stick to it
It’s so easy to see something new at the grocery store and get carried away. This is why so many new foods come out during the holiday season.
Instead of spending extra on these things, take the time to make a menu of what you are going to serve and make a grocery list from that menu. Stock it and do not allow yourself to buy extra food just because it caught your eye.
Shop local sales
This time of year grocery stores are desperate to get you to come and spend your money at their stores. This leads them to host deep discount sales to get people in the door. These sales are often at a loss for the store but a huge savings for you.
Take advantage of these theses on things like butter, flour, eggs, and potatoes to help make it easier to save on your Christmas dinner.
Make a point to check the ads of each of your local stores to help find deals. Even if you have to visit a few stores or start shopping early to ensure that you have everything without paying more than you have to, it is well worth it to save money on your Christmas dinner. Just use those extra trips to build your stockpile for your home as well.
Buy some things in bulk
If you have a low stock of things like flour on hand for Christmas dinner you can help to save money by buying things like this in bulk. We have a Sam’s Club membership to help make things like flour and yeast for baking cheaper.
Take a look at what you need for your holiday dinner and see what items you can save money on not only on your holiday meal but in the long fun over the approaching winter.
Make dishes from scratch
Making dishes like creamy mashed potatoes rather than buying instant versions is a great way to save money. Buying the supplies such as potatoes, cream cheese, and butter on sale can make the overall cost of your meal go down while giving you a better quality result.
Some of these can even be bought around your Thanksgiving dinner and frozen to last longer. Making food yourself is a great way to fight inflation in the grocery store.
Save on your ham or turkey
Christmas is most commonly a ham or turkey. Both of these are on sale this time of year. Taking advantage of these sales can lower the cost of food for your family both for your holiday meal and for stashing the leftovers to make other meals.
A great way to do this is to swap the chicken in homemade chicken noodle soup for the leftover turkey to get more value for your money.
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