Tips for Christmas dinner on a budget

Some supermarkets offer cheaper vegetables at Christmas, including Aldi, Asda, and Sainsbury’s:

• Aldi’s Super Six vegetables are available at a low price, including white potatoes, carrots, parsnips, red and white cabbages, Brussels sprouts, and swedes. Aldi says it works with British growers to ensure they receive a fair price, regardless of promotions.
• Asda offers a 19p vegetable bundle, including carrots, sprouts, broccoli, and parsnips.
• Sainsbury’s offers a variety of vegetables, including butternut squash slices, roast potatoes, swede, carrots, onions, shallots, and more.
• Tesco is also offering its customers 15p festive vegetables – but only for Clubcard members.

Comparison sites are not just for large purchases, but can also be used to help identify where the cheapest options are for the food you’re looking to purchase.

Trolley,  is a free comparison tool that lets you benchmark the cost of items at any of the major supermarkets. You can also set alerts for when the price of your favourite items drops.

Register for a free account: Compare Supermarket Prices – Trolley.co.uk

Many supermarkets offer a variety saving schemes and cashback options for shoppers who regularly visit their stores. You can also sign-up to cashback apps where you’ll receive cash back on the purchases you make.

Here you download and sign up to special cashback apps which offer you money back on selected purchases.

The apps work with brands who pay them for generating sales, and some of that money is passed on to you. Often, you can get the full amount back – nabbing a complete freebie. Download Shopmium, GreenJinn – The cashback app for everyday groceries, or CheckoutSmart – Make your supermarket shop more rewarding.

Supermarket savings stamp schemes encourage year-long saving for Christmas, yet it’s possible to get the year’s bonus in just one day.

Most supermarkets pay out the bonus based on the total amount you’ve saved by a specific day or month, so put the cash in just before and they’ll add a small percentage on top – typically around 3 to 6%

Visit Money Saving Expert for more information.

Many supermarkets offer loyalty schemes where you can earn points to redeem money off vouchers.

Which? cross examines different loyalty schemes for savings across a year and helps with food and present savings leading up to Christmas.

Find out more which loyalty scheme is best for you here: Loyalty cards compared: Clubcard vs Nectar – Which?

Rather than paying for premium branded foods, explore cheaper alternatives. Many supermarkets offer their own foods at the same quality, but at a lower price point.

Learn more about the downshift challenge from Money Saving Expert

Look out for special offers and discounted ‘yellow sticker’ items that you can pop in the freezer for the festive period.

Many items, including grated cheese, meat, soups and even cake can be frozen to use at a later date. Just ensure the food is within its ‘use by’ date before freezing.

Learn more about how to plan ahead and stock your freezer for Christmas Day here: How to stock your freezer to save money and prevent food waste – Which?

If you have old jars of mincemeat, half eaten packets of dried fruit and a long forgotten pot of mixed peel in your cupboards then you’re halfway to making mincemeat or even your own Christmas pudding or Christmas cake.

There might be chestnuts or nuts for a stuffing, marzipan for decorating your cake or a jar of sun-dried tomatoes for some canapés. Plus, you’ll give your cupboards a good clear out in the process.

There are a variety of dedicated cookbooks and recipes to help you create, tasty, nutritious Christmas food for as little as £3 per person.

See how to make a full Christmas dinner for less than £15 from BBC Food to learn more

While purchasing food can be a large expense, how we cook it can also increase costs. Air fryers and microwaves can provide cheaper alternatives compared to traditional ovens.

You can learn more about saving money on your festive meal here.