Christmas Prices are rising but there are ways to save

Britons hoping to cut the cost of their festive meal are being helped by a supermarket price war this year.

- Zoe Wood reports

Figures show that the total cost of the all-important Christmas dinner is up 5% on a year ago, with the price of key elements such as pigs in blankets and stuffing up 7%.

With the cost of living still biting, however, a supermarket price war is taking some of the sting out of high food costs - with Aldi and Lidl selling the ingredients for a main Christmas meal for eight for less than £12.

According to exclusive data prepared for Guardian Money by the analysts Assosia, the price of a frozen extra-large turkey is up 10p a kilogram to £3.70 (a 3% rise on a year ago) - which for an 8kg bird works out at £29.60. A pack of supermarket own-label pigs in blankets is up 19p at £2.88. Lots of us will be paying quite a bit more for gravy this year: a 190g tub of Bisto gravy granules is up 35p - or 13% - at £2.95. In 2022 it was £2. And a 170g box of Paxo sage and onion stuffing mix is up 17p to £2.57. Compared with 2022, that's a 51% increase. Overall, says Assosia, the total cost of nine key food items is up 5% on last year.

However, there is some good news in there, with price falls for things such as potatoes and yorkshire puddings - down 2p to £1.84 for a 2kg bag of maris piper spuds, and a 14p reduction to £1.11 for a bag of frozen yorkshires.

Christmas is always an expensive time and, after several years of rising living costs, budgets are tight for many people this year. The latest official data found UK inflation was 3.6% in October. But while energy bills are rising at a slower pace than a year ago, food price inflation rose to 4.9%.

One of the UK’s largest annual studies into festive spending, saving and lifestyle trends found Britons were looking to save money where they could.