Plan your Christmas Dinner Menu Now

Plan Christmas Dinner now! Why? Oh, there are so many reasons why...

You are hosting Christmas dinner, and chances are that you are going to do your shopping a couple of days before and get everything you need in one fell swoop. That approach certainly gets the job done, but it could very well blow your budget.

By taking the time to plan your Christmas dinner menu now, you will save yourself money, time and stress. You will be prepared and you may even be able to enlist some help. Then you'll have a chance to actually enjoy the dinner. What a novel idea.

• Make your menu. You probably already have a pretty good idea about what you'd like to serve. Make a list of dishes, then make an ingredient list based upon your menu. 
       
• Take inventory. Take note of what you already have on hand in your freezer, refrigerator and pantry. Mark those items off your ingredient list. 

• Create a shopping list. This is different than your ingredient list, because it only contains those items that you actually need. This is key to staying within your budget.

• Gather coupons. Pull those coupons that will give you a discount on your needed items and place them in an envelope labeled “Christmas Dinner” along with your shopping list. Keep it handy.

• Now, for the next couple of weeks, keep a close eye on the grocery sales ads and drug store ads and start buying the items that are on your list when they are at their lowest price. Be sure to check your coupon envelope!

Tip: Another way to stay within your budget is to request that your guests contribute a dish to the menu. You already know who has a specialty, right? Aunt Penelope can make a green bean casserole with her eyes closed, and Mom makes a delicious fig cake. Pick up the phone and make your requests now before it's too late.

You need to account for the fringe, too. Are you going to break out the fine china-or the plastic cups and the punch bowl? Either way, you'll probably need napkins. Those weren't on your list, were they?

Lastly, I know this sounds crazy, but it's beneficial to actually have Christmas dinner in your mind. You'll have a mental picture of what you really need, and you'll probably have a few laughs along with a few epiphanies.

See? Now that you think about it, you vow that you absolutely will not serve grape juice to the children this year. Though traditional, it is a detriment to furniture and clothing and therefore to the production of viable Christmas pictures. Remember last year? Even though you tried with all your might to convince your very formally dressed grandmother over two glasses of eggnog that sweet little Susie's dress was in fact the latest in red and purple tie-dyed Christmas fashion, she was not to be fooled.  The look on her face in the pictures proves it.

Yes. You can scratch grape juice off your list now. 
You're quite welcome.