Christmas dinner for six costs £7.90 to £13.52 a head depending on the supermarket. Secret Santa maths, what Brits spend on Christmas, and five fair ways to split a Friendsmas, every figure sourced.
A Friendsmas for six, with a budget Christmas dinner and a £20 Secret Santa, costs about £28 each before drinks(EvenRound calculation, working below). That's a fraction of the £802 the average Brit planned to spend on Christmas in 2025 (Finder/Censuswide). Below: what the dinner costs at each supermarket, Secret Santa maths, and five fair ways to split it.
Christmas 2026 surveys and baskets usually land in late November and December. Until then, these are Christmas 2025 figures; we'll update the page when the new ones are out.
| Figure | Source |
|---|---|
| £802 per person planned Christmas spend, £514 of it on gifts | Finder/Censuswide, 2,000 adults, Nov 2025 |
| Millennials £1,011, Gen Z £940, Gen X £699, Boomers £577 | Finder/Censuswide, Nov 2025 |
| 45% planned to stay home rather than travel to family or friends | Savanta for the Liberal Democrats, 2,138 adults, Dec 2025 |
| £21 average Secret Santa spend; people overspend the budget by £14 | Confused.com/OnePoll, 2,000 Secret Santa players, Nov 2025 |
| 30% of Secret Santa players do one with friends | Confused.com/OnePoll, Nov 2025 |
| Supermarket | 20-item dinner for 6–8 | Per person (6 friends) |
|---|---|---|
| Aldi | £47.41 | £7.90 |
| Asda | £47.44 | £7.91 |
| Tesco | £50.52 | £8.42 |
| Iceland | £60.50 | £10.08 |
| Ocado | £71.29 | £11.88 |
| Waitrose | £81.10 | £13.52 |
A cross-check: Worldpanel by Numerator (formerly Kantar) priced a traditional dinner for four at £32.46in 2025, 11p cheaper than 2024 thanks to cheaper turkey. That's £8.12 a head, almost the same as the Aldi basket.
| Item | Working | Per person |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner (Aldi basket) | £47.41 ÷ 6 | £7.90 |
| Secret Santa, £20 cap | One gift each | £20.00 |
| Budget total | £27.90 | |
| Waitrose total | £81.10 ÷ 6 + £20 | £33.52 |
Whichever you pick, agree it in the group chat before the shop, not after. If one person buys the food and another the drinks, start a free group on EvenRound: add the receipts as you go and it tells everyone the one or two payments that settle it. No one needs to sign up.
Figures checked 30 October 2026. Free to quote with a link to this page. More in our cost reports.
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