How do I plan Christmas food shopping?

Christmas food shopping goes wrong in a predictable way: too much of everything, bought too late, half of it thrown away in January. A menu and a list fixes nearly all of it.

Step by step

1. Write the menu first.Every meal from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, including breakfasts and the meals nobody plans for. The list comes from the menu, not from browsing the shop.
2. Count the actual people for each meal.Different meals have different numbers. Portion guidance is easy to find — most people buy considerably more meat than needed.
3. Buy non-perishables from early December.Drinks, tins, dried goods, condiments, foil, cleaning supplies. It spreads the cost and removes most of the volume from the final shop.
4. Order or reserve the centrepiece early.Turkey, joint or vegetarian main. Order from a butcher weeks ahead, or reserve a delivery slot as soon as they open — they go quickly.
5. Buy fresh in the last few days.Vegetables, dairy, bread. Buying fresh food too early means it is past its best on the day.
6. Check what you already have.Before writing the list. Cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, foil and cling film get bought every year regardless of the three already in the cupboard.
7. Plan the leftovers deliberately.If you know Boxing Day is a curry and a pie, you buy for it rather than discovering you have four kilos of turkey and no plan.
8. Check your freezer and fridge space.The constraint people forget. There is no point buying it if there is nowhere to keep it safely.

Tips

• Shops close for one day. The panic-buying is almost entirely unnecessary and it is where the overbuying happens.
• Buy vegetables loose rather than in pre-packed bags. You get the quantity you need instead of the quantity the packet holds.
• Write the list by supermarket aisle. It halves the time in a crowded shop.

Questions people ask