A savvy mum has revealed how she manages to feed her family of five a full Christmas dinner for just £10. Charlene Woracker, a student accountant, used to spend hundreds on a pre-prepared turkey and all the trimmings from M&S. However, the 34-year-old first tried out the ‘budget’ Christmas dinner in 2022 after becoming a single mum and managed to make five portions and leftovers for an astonishing £10.60.

To assemble her cost-saving dinner, the mother-of-four does her food shopping the week before Christmas to find the best deals and discounts, reports Kennedy News. Last year, by using her Morrisons More Card, she claims she was able to get most of the vegetables for 10p and secured a deal on her pork loin joint costing only £5.85. She then created her own 40p mixture to make Yorkshire puddings instead of buying store-bought frozen ones.

Ms Woracker says the festive meal takes less than two hours to prepare and she cooks the meat in the air fryer, meaning she no longer has to wake up at 5am to prep her turkey.

And with the money saved not splashing out on an expensive turkey and all the trimmings, she is able to take her children away on a UK holiday in December.

Charlene is now sharing her holiday feast hack to help other struggling families save some cash this Christmas.

Charlene, from Sheffield in South Yorkshire, said: “I used to get up at 5am just to prepare for Christmas dinner but this [hack] has taken the stress away and I can spend more time with my children.

“After my relationship breakdown I realised this wasn’t feasible and I had to find a way to make Christmas dinner more affordable. [Last year’s] Christmas dinner shop I did at Morrisons as they had a special offer around Christmas time.

“They usually reduce all the vegetables which really helps. This cuts down a lot of the cost. It was also a really good offer for such a big joint of meat and I chose pork to cut down the cost too.

“For me it works better for my family as in the past I have cooked an expensive turkey and everyone has complained about it as they don’t really like it. I found an alternative and we all find it tastier and it works better.

“I usually go to the shop a week before Christmas to wait for the reduction on the vegetables. For me it is best to do it last minute to get the best deals.

“I cooked the whole pork joint in the air fryer which took around an hour and a half and then you can do an extra 10 minutes for the crackling. By simplifying it and keeping it on a budget it saves time and is less stressful to make on Christmas morning.”

She now insists her £10 roast surpasses the taste of a pricier one, despite choosing a less ‘traditional’ meat.

Charlene added: “I would buy the pre-made M&S one and it would amount to around £200. It would be the big turkey for £50 and all the trimmings. I would say there is no difference really between our Christmas dinner and a more expensive one.

“If anything, because it is all home-cooked, it tastes even better than a pre-done M&S one that you get. I think some people have critiqued the main meat as it is tradition to have a turkey. My kids and I are really not bothered about this though.

“Instead of forking out all this money on Christmas dinner, I now do a little holiday for the kids with the access money. We usually do a UK beach holiday like Haven as they do a Christmas themed one. The little ones get to meet Santa and they have a Christmas tree up in the caravan. It’s just been lovely to have people’s support and I really hope this can help other families if they’re struggling.”

After sharing her festive budget tip online, her post garnered over 978,000 views and 50,000 likes.