Byline: Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor
IT may sound like the kind of meal Scrooge would offer up.
But a study showing it is possible to serve a full – and tasty – festive dinner at only [pounds sterling]2.63 a head will surely be an early Christmas present for any cashstrapped family.
Researchers at the Good Housekeeping Institute have trawled through leading stores to deliver a turkey meal for eight for a mere [pounds sterling]21.06.
The organisation has collected a shopping basket of 11 festive essentials from various stores to create the budget celebration.
The most expensive centrepiece item is the Maitre Special Frozen Turkey, from Lidl, which weighs in at between 3.8kg and 4.2kg for [pounds sterling]9.99.
The German discount store would also provide a 1kg bag of carrots for 49p.
Asda provides most of the chosen items. Its cranberry sauce is only 68p for 200g, while two of its 454g Christmas cake bars come in at [pounds sterling]2.08.
Asda also supplies two packs of Smart Price mince pies at [pounds sterling]1.26, two Smart Price Christmas puddings at [pounds sterling]2.08 and a 150g tub of brandy butter for [pounds sterling]1.18.
Morrisons is named as the best option for a 2kg bag of King Edward potatoes at [pounds sterling]1, and two 500g bags of parsnips at [pounds sterling]1. The Institutes figures do not take account of the time and cost of travelling between the stores to pick up the bargains. However, it has also produced figures showing how much each of the stores would charge for all 11 Christmas essentials.
Asda came out as the cheapest with a total of [pounds sterling]23.90, or [pounds sterling]2.99 a head. Next came Lidl at 29.31, with Morrisons at [pounds sterling]29.48.
Tesco routinely battles with Asda over which is the cheapest supermarket.
However, on this basket of goods, it came in much higher at [pounds sterling]30.37.
The Co-ops basket cost [pounds sterling]31.47, while the figure for Sainsburys was [pounds sterling]35.89.
Marks & Spencer was the most expensive at [pounds sterling]40.16.
Such comparisons are notoriously difficult to make because it is hard to compare like for like both on quality and quantity.
Caroline Bloor, consumer editor at Good Housekeeping, said: Its easy to get carried away at Christmas and spend a fortune on food – but you really dont have to. We blind taste-tested a huge range of Christmas food for our December issue and in many categories supermarket own brands scored higher than branded or specialist retailers equivalents.
And while offers and discounts can be a good thing, dont go overboard and buy large quantities regardless – try to calculate what you will actually need otherwise you will end up actually wasting money and food. s.poulter@dailymail.co.uk
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