TURKEYS, Christmas pudding, brandy butter, mince pies – it is easy for things to spiral out of control this time of year.

Hampshire County Council’s Smart Living team and volunteer community champions are sharing their top tips to help you save money over the festive period.

1) Stop accumulating food and plan your Christmas menu before the big day. Work out how many people will be eating, plan your meals and make treats from any leftovers.

2) Need to work out how many roast potatoes you will need for six adults and four children? Love Food Hate Waste’s online portion planner will help you identify the perfect portions 3)Use serving bowls where your guests can help themselves, this will minimise the amount of wasted food left on plates. Any leftovers can be stored and used again for another meal.

4) Going away for Christmas? Move fruit from the fruit bowl into the fridge! Freezing food is just like pressing ‘pause’ ensuring you can save your food for another day. Vegetables can also be parboiled or blanched and then frozen.

5) When was the last time you looked in your freezer? Champion Mark recommends eating up forgotten food in your freezer in the run-up to Christmas. You will save money on food shopping.

6) If you’re unlikely to use leftover turkey, try making Champion Pat’s Turkey Ballotine instead of cooking a whole bird. Wrap turkey breast steaks in cling film and flatten with a rolling pin. Add a spoonful of stuffing and a chipolata then roll up into parcels. Lay bacon rashers over the top and skewer the roll with cocktail sticks. Cook at 180 Celsius until cooked through (around 45 minutes). Less waste and less time in the kitchen on Christmas Day!

7) Champion Karen has a simple tip for using up the remains of your cheeseboard and those jars of cranberry sauce that are often forgotten after Christmas - Lovely brie and cranberry sandwiches!

8) Champion Lucy has a novel idea for using up surplus Christmas goodies such as cheese, dried fruit, and unsalted nuts – make a fat ball for the birds in your garden!

9) If your fridge is full of chutneys for the Christmas cheeseboard that will only get used once? Try Champion Michaela’s tip and add them to casseroles and ‘one pot’ dishes that are baked in the oven to sweeten and enhance their flavours.

10) Champion Sally suggests freezing odds and ends of stale bread in the run up to Christmas to make homemade bread sauce and stuffing.

11) Lots of leftover crackers from the cheese board? Zoe from the Smart Living team suggests whizzing them up in a food processor (or you can bash them up with a rolling pin in a bag) to make a breadcrumb topping that can be frozen and used on top of pasta bakes or as a crispy coating for meat, fish or croquettes.

12) After everyone’s indulged on Christmas day you may end up with some leftover Christmas pudding – give it a new life by making it into trifle! Add orange jelly, custard and cream, or wrap it in some readymade filo pastry sheets and bake to make a delicious strudel. Any leftover panettone can be made into a bread and butter pudding.