A family of five who have a “not wildly excessive Christmas” will cost €2,700, a leading consumer expert has said. 

With the Christmas season approaching, Irish Times Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope has been crunching the numbers and concluded the average spend is much higher than most people assume. 

Speaking to Moncrieff, Mr Pope said he has not gone “completely wild” with his figures. 

“I calculated the cost of the Christmas dinner including ham, turkey, Christmas pies, plum pudding and that came to a fairly whopping €340,” he said. 

“Then you add another €140 for the festive period from the 23rd over to the 31st December. 

“So, you’re looking at nearly €500 on food for a typical family of two adults and five kids.” 

Booze is another expensive thing to buy and Mr Pope calculated that two adults could easily spend €250 on drink between 22nd December and January 1st. 

“I just priced a case of beer, that’s 20 bottles of beer, four bottles of red wine, four bottles of white wine, two bottles of cheap champagne I could find, a small bottle of brandy for lighting the plumb pudding and maybe drinking a tipple and then one bottle of whiskey for your Irish coffee,” he said. 

“So, it’s about 120 units of alcohol, which spread out over 11 days works out at just under six units per person per day. 

“I don’t think that’s wild and excessive for the Christmas period.”

Festive extras

Mr Pope also estimated the two adults would fork out €30 for their office Christmas parties, €70 for a tree and perhaps €20 for some new decorations. 

He suggested they would spend €600 on their three children’s presents and perhaps an extra €100 each on presents for each other. 

Festive activities can also be quite expensive and taking three children to meet Father Christmas, see a panto show and go ice skating adds up to €238. 

Santa Claus next to bag of toys.

Sending Christmas cards can easily cost an extra €67.50, special Christmas pjamas for the whole family a further €200 and the extra transport and energy costs a further €170. 

Finally, to help those in need, Mr Pope suggested a €100 donation to charity. 

“All of that adds up to a fairly eye watering €2,699,” he said. 

“And that’s not for a wildly excessive Christmas.”

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Main image: Family having Christmas dinner. Picture by: Alamy.com