If you can figure out how to plan Christmas Dinner on a budget, you'll have more funds available for the other things you want to do for the holiday season. The penny pinching times of today make thinking about an expensive Christmas dinner an unpleasant task. This guide page will offer some suggestions on how to get past the stress of worrying over Christmas dinner and decide on a budget meal which will be memorable and tasty yet not break the bank.

Whether you plan to feed just your family or join for a meal with the extended relatives, planning a Christmas dinner on a budget requires some advance thought, and a little creative shopping. It requires coordinating with others, and scouring the pantry for what’s on hand to start with. It will require some dedicated cooking time before the big day and maybe a little sacrifice on other meals to stretch the food stamps to allow you to plan Christmas dinner within your budget.

When the budget doesn’t allow for the standard turkey and fixings, think outside the box and devise a Christmas dinner your family will always remember. There are many ways to make this meal special regardless of the main course item. Read on for more ideas on planning your Christmas dinner on a budget.

Extended family dinners are expensive. With the budget being the priority, consider having each family bring several dishes to share. Hosting the family potluck may be a lot of work, but the end result is everyone shares in the meal cost instead of each family paying the total cost for their own meal. If no one can afford an entire turkey or ham, either team up and split the cost of one or collect a few dollars from each family to buy the meat.

Maybe having the entire extended family over is more than you want to deal with or perhaps some of the family has other plans. To help have a Christmas dinner in spite of being on a budget, try to find one or more of your siblings or even close family friends to share the meal with. Dividing the cost of the meal between two families means your budget meal may be possible. You may decide to combine pantry items and decide on a menu together and possibly even grocery shop together. Another possibility is to divide up the grocery list and each family buys a few of the items progressively through the month so no one is out larger chunks of cash at one time. With a smaller dinner, consider just buying a turkey breast or the leg quarters. Another option is to buy a small turkey supplemented with chicken or a small canned ham.

A change from the traditional Christmas dinner may be welcomed by your family. If you think the group will stand for a move way from Christmas ham, or forego another year of turkey leftovers, think outside the box and come up with a main course which will be low cost but loved by all.

For the family who needs to stay close to the same theme, consider a Cornish Game Hen, or Rotisserie Chicken. Often on Christmas Eve, grocery stores will cut the costs of chickens already cooked. If you are willing to gamble and wait till the last minute you might try to grab a deli chicken on Christmas Eve. Otherwise, buy a whole one and cook it in the roaster, or on the grill yourself. You might even consider marinating it ahead of time and smoking the chicken on the grill.

For a “way outside the box” meal, consider a Make Your Own Pizza fest, Mexican Christmas dinner theme, or even a Chinese Dinner meal. You’ll most likely have to be prepared to cook them yourself since most restaurants are closed Christmas Day but tacos and nachos are inexpensive in comparison to ham or turkey and a hefty side of Spanish rice is filling. A Chinese Christmas Dinner on a budget could take advantage of marked down vegetables from the market and rice for frying could be cooked a day or so before the meal.

Choose your side dishes for your Christmas dinner on a budget starting with what you have in the cabinets. If you have canned green beans, green bean casserole is a good starting point. If you have a can of yams, think about a sweet potato casserole. Being able to supplement the items in the pantry to make a dish, rather than buying the whole ingredient list will reduce the immediate grocery costs for the meal. Check out what is on sale at the grocery store each week. Think about how those items can combine with what you already have on hand or how they could be used in a low cost side dish for the Christmas Dinner. Eggs are inexpensive in comparison to other foods so consider having a quiche as one of your side dishes.

Some of the family favorite Christmas recipes may be able to undergo a cost reduction with a few revisions. Consider these cost cutting tips:

1. Cut the cost of Baked Macaroni by using a Low Fat Baked Macaroni Recipe. These recipes use cottage cheese in addition to a small amount of a sharp cheddar. Cottage cheese is lower in cost reducing the overall casserole cost.http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/12/LowFatBakedMacaroni72748.shtml
2. Make your own cream soups are much cheaper than store bought cans of soup. Make your own Mushroom soup for the green bean casserole or hash brown casserole.http://www.cheapcooking.com/Recipes/homemade-cream-of-soup.htm
3. Stretch canned vegetables using some type of breading to make a casserole dish. Example: Find an easy corn casserole recipe.http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-and-Easy-Creamy-Corn-Casserole/Detail.aspx