Household Bills
How a family of four can do Christmas for just £99
There’s no need to get into masses of debt this festive season as you can buy everything you need for Christmas Day – including the tree – for just £99, according to research.
Wagestream, a service which allows workers to tap into a proportion of their wages early, combed the high street and supermarkets for the best deals and found a family of four can enjoy Christmas Day for less than £100.
The list includes one present for each family member as well as food, drink, decorations, cards and wrapping paper.
The biggest expense was the turkey, which cost £9.99 from Lidl, followed by the cake (£6 from Tesco), and the 3ft tinsel tree, which was just £5 from Wilko.
Here’s the full breakdown of costs:
| Item | Store | Description | Each | No | Cost |
| Turkey | Lidl | Braemoor Ready Basted Small British Turkey with Giblets | £9.99 | 1 | £9.99 |
| Roast potatoes | Tesco | Tesco Roast Potatoes 800G | £1.00 | 0.8kg | £1.00 |
| Gravy | Tesco | Schwartz Classic Roast Turkey Gravy Mix 25G | £0.90 | 1 | £0.90 |
| Mince pies | Tesco | Tesco Mince Pies 6 Pack | £0.87 | 1 | £0.87 |
| Bacon | Tesco | Woodside Farms Cooking Bacon 500G | £0.72 | 0.5kg | £0.72 |
| Brussels sprouts | Waitrose | essential Waitrose Brussel sprouts 500g | £0.65 | 0.5kg | £0.65 |
| Carrots | Waitrose | essential Waitrose carrots 0.6kg | £0.42 | 0.6kg | £0.42 |
| Parsnips | Tesco | Parsnips Loose Class 1 0.15kg | £0.18 | 0.15kg | £0.18 |
| Chipolatas | Sainsbury’s | Sainsbury’s Butcher’s Choice Pork Chipolata Sausages x12 340g | £1.40 | 1 | £1.40 |
| Christmas pudding | Lidl | Favorina Christmas Pudding | £3.39 | 1 | £3.39 |
| Brandy butter | Tesco | Tesco Brandy Butter 200G | £1.74 | 1 | £1.74 |
| Christmas cake | Tesco | Tesco Fully Iced Fruit Cake 907G | £6.00 | 1 | £6.00 |
| Sherry | Asda | ASDA Fino Sherry | £4.70 | 1 | £4.70 |
| Mulled wine | Tesco | Tesco Mulled Wine 75Cl | £3.50 | 1 | £3.50 |
| Bucks Fizz | Tesco | Tesco Bucks Fizz 75Cl | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| Bottle of bubbly | Aldi | Castellore Prosecco Frizzante DOC | £4.99 | 1 | £4.99 |
| Christmas crackers x4 | The Works | Kids Mini Christmas Crackers – Pack Of 6 | £1.00 | 1 | £1.00 |
| Table cloth | Wilko | Wilko Silver Wipeable Christmas Tablecloth | £1.50 | 1 | £1.50 |
| Party poppers | Tesco | 20 Party Poppers | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| Christmas cards | The Works | Festive Friends Christmas Cards – Pack Of 20 | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| Wrapping paper | The Works | Christmas Gift Wrap – 10M – Assorted | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| Dad’s pressie | Boots | Ted Baker Mini Gift | £4.50 | 1 | £4.50 |
| Mum’s pressie | Boots | Soap & Glory Original Pink Collection Tin (Gifts for Her) | £6.67 | 1 | £6.67 |
| Child No1’s pressie | The Works | Retro Wood Satchel Skateboard – Assorted | £4.00 | 1 | £4.00 |
| Child No2’s pressie | The Works | Giant Fairy Shaped Foam Jigsaw Puzzle | £7.00 | 1 | £7.00 |
| Wrapping paper | Wilko | Wilko Festive Fiesta Gift Wrap 9 Sheets | £1.00 | 1 | £1.00 |
| Advent calendars | Sainsbury’s | Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar 90g | £1.50 | 2 | £3.00 |
| Stocking | Hobby Craft | Red Felt Christmas Stocking | £1.00 | 2 | £2.00 |
| Stocking fillers | The Works | Unicorn Stampers – Pack of 10 | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| Christmas tree | Wilko | Wilko Tree Green Tinsel 3ft | £5.00 | 1 | £5.00 |
| Xmas baubles | Wilko | Wilko Mini 38 Pack Luxe Sparkle Gold Baubles | £3.00 | 1 | £3.00 |
| Xmas tree lights | Aldi | 50 Warm White LED Outdoor Lights | £3.99 | 1 | £3.99 |
| Tinsel | Wilko | Wilko Gold Christmas Tinsel 2m | £1.00 | 1 | £1.00 |
| Box of Chocs | Tesco | Quality street tub 650g | £3.50 | 1 | £3.50 |
| Board game | The Works | Christmas bingo game | £2.00 | 1 | £2.00 |
| TOTAL | £99.61 | ||||
Peter Briffett, chief executive of Wagestream, said: “Christmas can be hugely stressful for many households, as there is massive pressure to deliver the perfect day for all the family.
“Children are bombarded with adverts showing expensive must-have toys, and families end up over-spending on Christmas in an attempt to keep up with the Joneses, which can result in expensive interest payments for credit card debt and loans in January.
“We thought it would be nice to do some research to show that you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a great Christmas — and you don’t need to scrimp on the simple pleasures either.”
