Woman charges £40 a head for Christmas dinner: a good idea?

As anyone who’s ever hosted Christmas will know, the total cost can be considerable.

But, one woman has a solution: she charges her family £40 a head to attend her festive dinner.

Mandie Holgate, from Essex, has hosted Christmas dinner for her family every year for the past five years – a total of 12 guests at the table.

However, she’s explained she can no longer afford to fund the gathering all out of her own pocket.

The mum-of-two told LADbible: “We worked it out and it costs around £700.”

READ MORE: Asda is selling mince pie-filled cookies for Christmas

Justifying the cost, she explained: “I’m doing all the shopping and the cooking for the big day. And as a small business owner, I try and shop locally, which is great but it does mean that it can be slightly dearer.

“So that's part of it really, I'd rather do that and know that I am supporting local businesses, which is something I think we all have to get our heads around.”

She added: “One of the family members did say ‘You can get a turkey cheaper than that’, and you can but you don't know where it came from or how it was treated.”

Previously, her and her family took turns to host the annual Christmas meal – but when Mandie’s mum underwent major knee surgery it meant she could no longer do her turn, while Mandie’s sister simply doesn’t enjoy hosting – whereas Mandie does.

She says: “It used to be that my mum and dad, my husband and I, and my sister and her husband would take it in turns.

READ MORE: People are already putting their Christmas trees up - too soon?

“But as the years went on, my sister said she didn't want to do it anymore because she didn't enjoy it.

“I love it, getting the house all pretty, getting the music on, and having a drink. So that's how it started really.”

Thankfully, Mandie’s family are happy with the system: They basically said ‘great, I'll pay anything, I just don't want to cook.’”