Bake it yourself to make savings this Christmas

With the credit crunch, a recession on our doorstep and inflation still above target, Christmas is in danger of being abandoned this year. However, the sensible approach is to look for savings in the shops, to make savings at home, and still enjoy the best of the festival season.

A survey reports that around two-thirds of Britons are planning to make savings in the home by making their own festive food rather than pay for pre-packaged items. Turkeys on the Christmas dinner table will be smaller as one in five say they will buy a smaller bird, and another 20% say they will buy a crown – a turkey with its legs removed. Twenty-three per cent say they will look for an alternative meat.

In a sensible, pragmatic approach to Christmas, 61.5% say they will make their own food over the festive period: 63% will make their own mince pies; 41% their own stuffing; 33% their own Christmas cake; 25% their own Christmas pudding, with similar numbers making their own trifles, bread sauce and gravy.

The survey was carried out by deliciousmagazine.co.uk, with over 3,500 respondents. It found that 47% would not be changing their alcohol intake over the holiday season.

Further results show that 80% have tried to reduce their food bill and 40% believe their old habits were wasteful. Budget supermarkets are also becoming more popular.

Meanwhile, small shops are struggling to lower their prices following the reduction in VAT that came into force on Monday 1 December. Many small shops said they would not be able to re-price all their goods for several weeks, following the cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%. Some complained that four days was simply not enough time to change, while others said that they had already paid 17.5% VAT on stock and would have to go through a re-claim process for the 2.5% difference.

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