My rich but stingy in-laws put on a sad Christmas dinner every year

"My MIL bangs on for weeks about all the prep she's doing, then serves us discounted freezer meals," the woman shared. 

Christmas and food go hand in hand. 

By now, you're probably already gearing up for a day full of roast meats, seafood, salads and potatoes and of course, delicious desserts.

But one woman, who took to an online forum to vent, has lowered her expectations for an extravagant feast, after being served a "sad" lunch every year by her in-laws. 

Even though she’s repeatedly offered to lend a hand in the kitchen, they always assure her that everything’s under control.

But the reality is far from that: they end up dishing out budget-friendly frozen meals, leaving their guests to make do with simple cheese on toast.

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

Image: IStock

"We basically ate bran flakes, frozen meals and cheese on toast"

Taking to the Am I Being Unreasonable forum on Mumsnet, the woman described her in-laws as being in their early 70s and "pretty wealthy but so tight."

The focus at Christmas, it seems, is more on the alcohol than the food. 

Recounting her last visit, she mentioned, "My mother-in-law was banging on for weeks about all the prep she was doing and how she couldn't wait. She told us explicitly not to bring a thing (we did still bring a few bits including a tub of chocolates we never saw again)."

Upon arrival, they were quickly made aware of the food situation - or lack thereof: "There were bottles and bottles of wine and sherry but nothing to actually eat, no Christmas treats, nothing. There was a bowl of some hard-boiled lollies and that was it."

The woman continued, "We basically ate bran flakes and cheese on toast for four days. Christmas lunch was sparse (no vegetables because MIL doesn't like them) and all value freezer stuff.

"It was a bit sad, to be honest. If that's all you can afford then of course that's fine, but if you're rich and having guests over, I don't understand why you'd serve people that."

She added, "Being hungry is not my idea of a nice Christmas."

RELATED: My daughter’s friend is having her party on Xmas Eve

All her offers to bring food have been declined

On past occasions, she's offered to take matters into her own hands and bring the turkey or meat. This year, she even offered to cook the full lunch, veggies and all. 

But her MIL insisted she'll cook her "usual stuff" because that's what she's done for "40-odd years." Even her offer of a cheeseboard was declined. 

Facing another potentially bleak Christmas visit, she wrote, "I've had a sh*t year and I don't want another Christmas like this. AIBU to bring meat, veg, etc. for Christmas day and just start cooking?"

Almost all commenters were in agreeance - she shouldn't go. 

"Just don't go!" one person urged.

"Stay home!!!" insisted someone else. 

"I agree you shouldn't go," chimed in a third. "Or if you do bring the stuff you want and just say Christmas is about giving and sharing and that's what we wanted to do."

And this mum suggested asking the in-laws over to her place. "Switch up tradition and say you'll host instead!" they wrote.

"If I really had to go, I'd be taking a spare bag of snacks I wanted to eat and keeping them in my room. That sounds miserable to me," concluded someone else. 

"Your husband should be a grown-up and explain why you can't go this year. They are rude, bad hosts and Christmas should be fun, not an exercise in endurance," a different user added.

Originally published as My rich but stingy in-laws put on a sad Christmas dinner every year