With the economy still taking a tumble, we still have a lot to be thankful for this year. However, it’s not necessary to spend a large amount of money to feed your family this Thanksgiving. We have some serious tips on how to save you money AND stress this holiday season! Remember, we’ve been working towards a less stressful Christmas with our Christmas Planning Guide! However, you KNOW Black Friday IS the day after Thanksgiving, right? So, we want you to be ready now for your meal so you can have plenty of energy to get your Christmas Shopping done on Friday! (Also, make sure you read our Black Friday Shopping Tips article!!)
10 Tips on How to Save Money AND Stress on Your Thanksgiving Meal
1. Decide on how much meat- You will need to decide on how much meat you need for your family. If you’re feeding 30+, a turkey breast isn’t going to cut it. However, if you like the taste of leftovers, it may pay you to go ahead and buy a whole bird. We eat from the leftover meat for several days AND we make Turkey Chili or Turkey Chowder! We’re going to be posting some great recipes for these types of meals in the upcoming weeks! Once you have your left over recipes, make sure to add any extra needed ingredients to your T-Giving shopping list! We always start our chowder the night of Thanksgiving or the next day.
2. Getting your bird- Many families have really neat ways of getting a free turkey! In our area, Giant (of PA) allows a free turkey for each family depending on their bonus points. Many grocery stores use a point system to earn a free turkey! If this is done in your area, ask a family member to use your card the weeks before if you don’t think you’ll have enough points. This way you can rack up points faster! My family usually gets at least one free bird from building up points. Also, don’t buy your turkey too early, because the sale prices may not be in effect at that point!
In a tough economy, many companies are not handing out as many bonuses. However, there are some that still offer free turkeys! If one of your family members is willing to offer up their free work turkey, you may not need to pay for one! Finally, I have to add my 2 cents about Aldi. I bought a turkey at Aldi two years ago, and it was SO GOOD! The lady in line behind me raved about them so much, I had to get one! Generally, Aldi prices are much less than a regular grocery store. Check yours out to see if you can score a cheap bird! 🙂
Compare prices! Make sure you are getting a great price! If you keep a price book, you should already know the best price on turkey, but you will still need to check the flyers to see how low sales may dip within a few weeks of Thanksgiving!
We often host family gatherings at our house because we have a nice open kitchen area. However, this year we’re hosting over 30 people. So, we’re willing to provide the turkey, but we would like to have more than one type of meat, so my cousin and his wife are bringing a roast. In these types of situations, where you’re feeding a larger amount of people, a family should work together to provide the meat, and it is appropriate to make it pot-luck, which we will discuss next.
3. Pot Luck– Our family works together to provide a lovely meal each holiday. It is nothing to have close to 30 people for one of our gatherings, and each person always volunteers to bring something. It is appropriate for each attending family to bring at cold/hot dish. If they can’t bring one of those items, they should at least bring soda (or pop as some call it;) and chips. For example, we have a family with over 6 nurses. So, many times they have to work on the holiday. In those situations, they usually bring a store-bought pie/dessert, or chips/soda. One cousin brings baked corn, and another brings candied sweet potatoes. When the meal is at our house, we provide the meat, stuffing, and potatoes. This ensures that everyone works together, and no one feels to much pressure from the day. It’s supposed to be a day to enjoy family, not slave labor!
4. Use Your Coupons– Stores should be having some GREAT BOGO deals, and you can use these in conjunction with many coupons! Sometimes you can score a deal for close to FREE! Use these in conjunction with your price book to make sure you’re actually getting a better price. For example, it may still be cheaper to buy cream style corn at Aldi than the Green Giant cans on BOGO at Weis. However, you can STILL score some great deals with coupons and BOGO, especially if your store doubles!
5. Farmer’s Market– Sometimes you can score fresh veggies for less at a farmer’s market or produce co-op. I know our area has a produce co-op that you can pay to join, but then you can freeze/can the produce you receive. Also, if you shop at the end of the day, sometimes you can haggle for a lower price. If you do pay full price, know that you’re helping a local farmer!
6. Host your large family meal AFTER Thanksgiving. Just like the day after Christmas, you can score HUGE discounts on items after the holiday. You may be able to snag some leftover Thanksgiving supplies for less, which could result in bigger savings. However, I prefer to get this event over on the day itself, so I’m ready for Black Friday. If you are not a big Black Friday shopper, this may work for you!
7. DIY– Baking your own pies and freezing them ahead of time should save you at least $2 a pie! Most store bought pies in our area are $6-$8+ for a single pie. Baking a pie at home should cost $4 or less! Plus, these are fresh made pies and taste better than store bought, because they don’t have all the preservatives. Here are some Pie Freezing Guidelines!
8. Decorate by Bringing the Outside In– Use natural decorations for your table such as pine-cones or pine swags. You can also purchase inexpensive gourds or small pumpkins, and place the gourds in a bowl. Oftentimes, I purchase the next year’s decorations when they go on sale from the year before! You can often find these items for up to 90% off during after holiday sales! This is a GREAT tip for next year!
9. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If there are young people in your family, ask them to help clean up. They won’t learn how to help if we don’t give them the opportunity. Also, sometimes they don’t know to offer, but totally don’t mind!
10. Plan Your Menu– We will help you with that! Check out our Baked Corn Recipe or our Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe!
How do you save on your Thanksgiving Meal?
Check out our other Holiday Posts to save time and stress!
Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Cornflake Cookie Recipe (Grandma Phyl’s recipe)
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