For Ioana Alupoae, a resident of Sector 2 and mother of a 9-year-old girl, the Month of Gifts is quite stressful. Communal services, rent and subscription are deducted from the card by 380 lei more than last year. Santa Claus was on December 5th, Santa is coming on the 24th, and the cost of the Christmas meal has her looking for cheaper alternatives to traditional Christmas meal recipes, she says.

I no longer cook with the same ingredients as in 2022. I switched to oil from the cheapest, I am constantly looking for offers on products that are intensively used during the holidays: butter, flour, eggs, oranges, etc. I’m trying to navigate in such a way as to get by with money, she says in a discussion with HotNews.ro

Joana made her shopping list, drew a line at the end, looked at how much it would cost, and then started cutting unnecessary items off the list. “I can handle gifts because Jeanine is not demanding and I didn’t buy her expensive things. But we are cutting budgets for gifts for parents and relatives,” she says.

As for the Christmas meal, Yoana Alupoae says that two years ago it cost her 700 lei, last year it was about 1,000 lei, and this year it will exceed 1,300. “I don’t have money because I still have to live after Christmas,” she says.

“At least this inflation made me miserable. Iserescu keeps telling us that everything will be fine, that the price hike will end, but do the math yourself and see if they’re lying!” says Ioana.

So we set out to calculate based on the 8 main Christmas dishes.

“We didn’t make caltabosi this year either,” says Ioana Alupoae. I would just pay the rent if I was doing kaltabosi too!”. Her daughter will have Christmas dinner with her father, but Joana invited her two sisters and parents to the table. That it’s normal during the Holidays, let’s be together, she says. Ioana Alupoae is a teacher by profession. They earn little, and inflation hits the poor the hardest.

How we did it: We took the recipes of 8 traditional dishes and calculated the cost of the ingredients used. We averaged the prices at Carrefour, Auchan and Mega Image, where the products were available on the websites of the respective merchants. After that, all that remained was to collect. Final costs do not include the cost of electricity, water or gas used, as well as the cost of time spent in the kitchen. They also do not include costs for subsequent washing of dishes (detergent, water, etc.).

What should not be on the Christmas table in 2023

Our recipes look like this:

1. stuffed (500 g of fatter minced pork, 1 medium chopped onion, 50 g of rice, 1 tablespoon of oil, salt, pepper, dried thyme, a little paprika, two medium sauerkraut (so that we have a choice of beautiful leaves). In addition, you need : 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 chopped onion, dried sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf (optional), 250 g of raw pork breast (with mouse), 250 g of smoked meat (ribs, kaisers, or even fresh smoked sausages), 500 ml of thick tomato juice (passata or thick), 500 ml of cabbage leaves

2. Beef salad : 700 g of veal, 500 g of chicken, 6-8 pickled cucumbers, 1 donut pickled in vinegar, 4 potatoes, 6 carrots, 1 parsnip, 1 small celery, 2 tablespoons of peas, mayonnaise from 2 yolks – 350-400 g, salt . , pepper

3. jelly : two pork legs, a larger piece of lean meat, peppercorns and a bay leaf, garlic, 2 packets of gelatin, decorations: eggs, parsnips, carrots

4. Drum. Ingredients: 1.5 kg of pork legs (4 pieces), 1.5 kg of pork tongue (about 8-10 pieces), 500 g of pork heart, 500 g of pork kidneys, 1 kg of pork (from raw ham, leg or back ), 1.5 kg. bacon with mice (from pork belly). Seasonings: 80 g of non-iodized salt (special for pickles and the food industry) – divide into 2 parts, 30 g of freshly ground black pepper – divide into 2 parts, 50 g of paprika, 120 g of chopped garlic – divide into 2 parts. Optional: a little coriander, allspice. Additional: pork stomach or caecum, thick matés, chalk, bladder (main)

5. sausages Ingredients: 1 kg of pork leg, 1 kg of thigh (pork breast, 30 g of salt, 6 g of pepper, 1 spoon of sweet paprika, 6 g of thyme, 1 head of garlic, 400 ml of white dry wine, 4 m of pig intestine

6. Roast pork in the oven: 1500-2000 g of pork leg (one piece), one spoonful of peppercorns, one spoonful of cumin, salt. Optional: sprigs of thyme, 2 medium white onions, 2 medium red onions, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 150 g lard.

7. Stuffed eggs : 1 box of pork pate, 1 bunch of dill, 6 eggs, salt, ground pepper, 1 tablespoon of cream, 10 g of butter, 2 tablespoons of mustard, 6 yolks.

8. Sweet bread: 1 kg of flour 000, 50 g of fresh yeast or 14 g of dry yeast, 350 ml (max. 400 ml) of warm milk, 250 g of sugar, 4 eggs, 150 ml of oil or 100 ml of oil and 100 pcs. g of melted butter, 3 sachets of vanilla sugar or two teaspoons of extract or core of a vanilla pod, grated zest of 2 lemons and an orange, 15 g of salt (weigh!)

In addition, you will also need wine, preferably served mulled, with cinnamon. And obviously, 3-4 strips, one water and one mineral.

Like Ioana Alupoae, I took caltabos off the menu. I didn’t even put the fruit that is usually served at the end of Christmas dinner.

I also assumed that I bought a bottle of oil, a bag of salt, 1 kg of white onion and one kilogram of red onion, a bag of rice, 1 kg of flour, a bag of paprika, a jar of mustard, a box of cream, 1 kg of sugar, a liter of milk, two lemons, an orange and 4 cloves of garlic.

The total average cost of these recipes plus wine 45 lei per bottle (700 ml) brought us to 1300 lei

According to the results of Reveal Marketing Research, the budget allocated for the Christmas holidays will be smaller for almost 40% of Romanians. Only 10% say they have money and will spend more this year than in 2022.

Compared to the 2022 winter holidays, more than half of Romanians (64%) say they will cut back on decorations and festive atmosphere, while 46% intend to budget less for gifts and 38% will cut back on food and drinks.

The average amount Romanians say they will spend this year on food and drinks (RON 546), gifts (RON 492) and jewelry (RON 149) is 1,188 RON, down 12% from 2022 (RON 1,350) .

“Holiday Spirit” drops from 17% in 2022 to 6% in 2023

According to Reveal Marketing Research, this year Romanians have a more positive attitude towards the holidays (73%), compared to last year (64%). The most frequently mentioned emotions that evoke the holidays are happiness/joy (26%), well-being (16%) and a sense of contentment (12%).

We remain in the field of positive emotions, but we see a decrease in the feeling of enthusiasm before the holidays from 17% in 2022 to only 6% this year, the fact that last year Romanians enjoyed the first Christmas without restrictions, is the main explanation.

On the other hand, 22% of Romanians still have negative thoughts this year, with indifference (7%) and sadness or stress (7%) being the most frequently mentioned.

Most Romanians will spend Christmas at home (56%) or away (39%)

The majority of Romanians will also spend their winter holidays at home this year (56%), the percentage reaching 72% in the case of people over 55 and 73% in the case of people with a low income, less than 2000 RON.

In addition, 39% of Romanians intend to visit their loved ones (family, friends) during the winter holidays, significantly more people aged 45-55 (46%). We see that young people aged 18-24 prefer visits outside their place of residence to a greater extent (18% versus 13% of the total sample).