How to Budget for Food on the Holiday Season
The Holidays has always been synonymous with feasting and more often than not, we find ourselves spending more money on food than we’d want or can afford to. You don’t want yourself buried in debt just because you can’t contain your hunger, now, do you? In spite of the fact that it’s the Holiday season, we all still need to watch what we spend because once the euphoria fades, we’ll end up feeling sorry for what we’ve done. To avoid that, here are some ways to budget your food money for Christmas dinner.
1. Go for Substitutes
The old adage “You can’t always have what you want” goes into play here. If you cannot afford that expensive smoked ham, go for something more affordable. Go for substitutes even in the smaller scale like ingredients for your dishes.
2. Don’t Prepare Too Much
Don’t, in light of the season, cook too much just for the heck of it. If you know you can consume three smoked hams and four turkeys before they go bad, then don’t cook them all. Calculate how much food you’d be able to consume and prepare just a bit more than that that.
3. Make Use of Left-overs
If, even if you prepared just a bit more than what you can consume, you still have left-overs, don’t throw them away. Instead, prepare them the next day or keep them in covered plastic containers inside your refrigerator and use them for future dishes. Make sure to use them before they go bad. With a bit of creativity, you can put left-overs to good use and make a brand-spankin’ new dish out of them.
These tips, my friends, are how my family’s been able to minimize costs for Christmas dinner. How about you?
Filed under: personal finance
