Christmas now versus Christmas 1976 is a paid collaboration with Admiral in conjunction with their #CostofChristmas campaign.  I took a real trip down memory lane when Admiral asked me to get involved in this campaign to compare the cost of Christmas now with the cost of Christmas from when I was 3 years old back in 1976.

Admiral challenged me to do a virtual shop and compare Christmas 2016 items to their 1976 price tag!   So let’s talk about 1976.  I was still an only child, although my mum was expecting my evil bro who was born in June 1977.   The summer of 1976 will always go down as a hot one (in fact, the hottest for 350 years), there were hose pipe bans and food shortages.  Klackers were the in toy and we had a fizzy pop delivery man.  Cards were huge as was hair and trouser legs even bigger!  1976 was the year the first Ford Fiesta came off the production line.

1976 was also a fabulous year for Music with Mama Mai and Fernando topping the charts for Abba.  The start of Punk Rock and also comedy record “I’ve got a brand new combine harvester”!

When it comes to toys 1976 was the year of slime (oh how things come around). Bikes had big seats and bigger handlebars and the best selling toy was Magnadoodle.

Christmas now versus Christmas 1976

The budget for 1976 was (in black) and the spend for 2017 in blue (with shop))

• Turkey £7.45   £10.00 (Asda)
• Pigs in blankets £2.08        £2.29 (Aldi)
• Sprouts £.040      £1.00 (Asda)
• Broccoli £0.31     £0.50 (Asda)
• Potatoes £0.20 per kilo      £1.00 (Asda)
• Carrots £0.22 per kilo    £0.45 (Asda)
• Frozen peas £0.40     £0.95 (Aldi)
• Cabbage £0.22 per kilo      £0.69 (Asda)
• Stuffing £0.32      £0.59 (Asda)
• Mince pies £0.39     £0.89 (Asda)
• Christmas pudding £1.29      £2.00 (Asda)
• Cheese board £1.32     £5.00 (Asda)
• Bag of sweets £0.29     £1.00 (Asda)
• Washing up liquid: £0.58     £0.85 (Aldi)
• Bin liners: £0.97     £0.79 (Asda)
• Tin foil: £1.06     £0.90 (Asda)
• Pack of fizzy drinks £0.65     £3.00 (Asda)
• Bottle of white wine £1.00     £3.99 (Aldi)
• Bottle of red wine £0.88      £4.00 (Asda)
• Bottle of champagne £4.04     £10.99 (Aldi)
• Bottle of cream liqueur £2.05     £9.38 (Aldi)
• Bottle of brandy £2.47     £10.99 (Aldi)

Total Food – £28.23   £70.89

• Women’s dress £196.94      £69.99 (Zara)
• Men’s tie £40.22     £17.50 (M&S)
• Girl’s pyjamas £22.36     £14.00 (M&S)
• Boy’s pyjamas £22.16     £14.00 (M&S)
• Wrapping paper: £0.76      £3.99 (WH Smiths)
• Christmas crackers: £3.73     £10.00 (John Lewis)
• Greeting cards: £1.27      £2.99 (WH Smiths)

Total £287.44     £132.47

• Watch £83.83     £50.00 (Argos)
• Child’s bike £89.95  £89.99 (Argos)
• Artificial Christmas tree: £39.36     £29.99 (Argos)
• A trip to the cinema: £6.96    £33.60 (Cineworld)
• Family tickets to the panto: £34.78      £172.00 (Sunderland Theatre)
• Advent calendar £1.18     £2.00

Total £256.06     £377.58

Total: £572.10     £580.94