A woman shared that her mum charges her and her sister for their Christmas dinner and her hosting every single year – and it’s partially down to the fact that they ‘binge’
Christmas is a time of great excitement and wonder, but it can also be a period of significant financial strain. And that’s why one woman charges her family £100 per head for her festive dinner and hosting, because she believes it shouldn’t be left up to her to put a spread on for her family. Especially when some family members binge eat at Christmas.
For some people, this will cause a lot of shock, and it did for 36-year-old Clarissa Bloom at first. However, now she’s an adult, she’s “more than happy” to make the contribution to help her mum out at a time when the pressure is on, and understands the fee.
According to the Bank of England, households spend on average about £713 more in December, which is 29% more than in a typical month.
When you factor in presents, socialising, all the food and drink that will be consumed over the festive period, it’s easy to see how those costs begin to build up.
Clarissa, from Brighton, explained that her mum charges her and her sister for festivities that commence on December 25.
She and her sister definitely “put up a bit of a fuss” when they were younger; now they can see her reasoning for charging such a hefty amount.
Clarissa said that her mum’s intentions are not impure, however, and she’s happy to pay for what she “binges” on over the Christmas period.
She told us: “Bless her, she doesn’t have a huge amount of money, so before the big food shop, she always asks my sister and me to pay a third each.
“When we were younger, such as in our early 20s, we probably put up a bit of a fuss.
“But now we’re earning more, we’re more than happy to do so.
“I understand she struggles to cover all the costs – we don’t generally eat much throughout the year, but we absolutely binge at Christmas, chocolate galore.”
The dinner that her mum makes for the family is piled high with meat, veggies, roast potatoes, stuffing, and gravy, and Clarissa said that the shop “tends to come to £300” around the Christmas period.
This works out to “about £100 each”, which she said she’s happy to pay to make things that little bit easier for her mum – especially because she puts on such a good spread.
She continued: “We always have way too much and take a load home afterwards. To be honest, we only go home for four to five days, so it’s definitely an overspend, but it’s the one time of year you don’t mind blowing all the cash on crazy amounts of food and drink.”
