How to Save Money on Food for Thanksgiving
Along with the very festive turkey to the yummy appetizers and side dishes as well as the eye-popping holiday decorations, the high price of hosting your own Thanksgiving Day celebration can truly empty your wallet without some very super careful thought and planning.
Thanksgiving is among the biggest family holidays of every year - and most definitely the most delicious. If you’re set on an amazing Thanksgiving, though, read on for a bunch of great tips for hosting your incredible Thanksgiving. Take advantage of this to-do list as needed - the best holiday is the one where you get to relax a bit, too, remember.
The typical American family spends well over $100 for their family Thanksgiving celebration.
Plan, Cook, And Save!
In order to help save on your regular monthly expenses, firstly: forget the stress and fully enjoy every dish of your holiday foods. “My bills”, you are wondering? No worries! Take a gander at some really great tips on saving money on food for Thanksgiving, this year and for many years to come.
Check out these easy tips for saving your cash while still having a joyous Thanksgiving Day:
Comparing prices in several food stores
You definitely want to save money on your Thanksgiving Day. In that case, it is vital to compare prices at multiple food shopping stores. What’s more, supermarkets during any holiday season compete with each other to bring in shoppers – so they offer special money-saving deals. Take your time to carefully compare prices, and you could very well end up saving a lovely chunk of dollars.
Purchase your holiday alcohol on specic days of the week
According to billry.com, “consumers pay 9% more for a beer on Saturday than on a Monday and 6% more for wine than on a Tuesday." This means that it would be so much more cost effective for your “my bills” situation to purchase your Thanksgiving beer and wine during the start of the week instead of on any weekend. Buyers who go for purchasing alcohol on the weekends – for example on the way to a get-together or to a celebration - are more aware of quickness than on money saving.
Leftovers? Know how to handle them
In even the smallest gatherings you may have leftovers. Plan ahead and know exactly what to do with the extra yummies! What delicious dishes are you going to make? Some scrumptious new meals include turkey salad, turkey soup, enchiladas stuffed with turkey, a casserole, and so much more edible goodness! Regular monthly expenses can also be limited when food bills are cut down by your leftovers.
Make a fun “bring your own special dish” celebration
Looking for a super fantastic and easy way to reduce your Thanksgiving gathering costs? It’s easy! Just ask each of your guests to bring one delicious food dish. Make sure you tell them the dish can be easy to make, and also ask which dish each of your guests is bringing (to avoid duplicates). This fund idea will also save you a bunch of money on food spending.
Keep it simple
When it comes to your Thanksgiving meal, go for cooking up the simple and classic foods that your guests will rave over. And love to eat! There’s no need to go fancy. Don’t serve any of the holiday luxury dishes. Just make sure your dishes are simple and mouthwatering.
Make sure you get a guest headcount in plenty of time
Sure, you’ve got the time consumption of plans, cooking, meal serving, and preparing the holiday decorations. So why not start planning and making your guest headcount as early as possible? It’s a big, big help during your remarkably busy life!
Protect your regular monthly expenses, and do not overbuy
The best part of the tally up your guests on an early basis? It gives you the important knowledge of how much food you will actually need to buy. This equals savings galore.
Early shopping
Thinking about keeping your fund for “my bills?” In that case, one of the smartest things that you can do is begin early shopping. Plenty of stores of all types begin their Thanksgiving sales and discounts all throughout the month of November. Don’t begin your holiday shopping until late November or you can miss out on some incredible Thanksgiving specials. During the month, go about doing your usual, needed food shopping – but make sure to be on the lookout for discounted items that are most likely on your holiday list.
What do you already have stocked in your pantry?
When is the last time you took a good look at the food items in your pantry? If saving money is key for your regular monthly expenses, now is the time to look and see what food products you already have - and don’t need to go out and buy! You’ll honestly be amazed by the holiday-friendly food items and ingredients you’ll discover for use. What’s more, check out what’s in your freezer and kitchen food cupboards. You’re highly likely to discover food items that you might well already have on your shopping list.
Go For Buying Generic Food Products
Have you ever noticed the large price difference between generic and brand name products? Truly, you will find a strong and significant difference regarding many types of food types of food products. And you’ll quickly realize that purchasing generic, non-brand name foods (of every type) will save in money on food for Thanksgiving and other celebrations. could save you thousands of dollars per year in some cases. This is a good solution if you're wondering how to reduce bills. You might want to buy generic if you're looking for ways to save money at the grocery store. Remember: generic food products give you and your family all the very same product excellence you generally pay about TWICE, or more, on any name brand food. Name brand products are almost always for marketing and branding, and the company expenses that come with them. Do not simply make assumptions that a brand name food product means a higher quality product.
Inexpensive Thanksgiving Recipe Dishes
Many of yours, and your guests’, favorite Thanksgiving dishes are actually amazingly wallet easy to cook up. Here are a bunch of delicious and budget-friendly Thanksgiving meals that happily include ingredients that won’t break your bank account. From main courses, to appetizers, and tempting desserts, these super simple recipes will make everyone happy – and full!
A Variety of Delicious Appetizer Dips
Easy Turkey Gravy
Roasted Brussel Sprouts Spiced With Cumin
Macaroni and Cheese
Cubed Roasted Red Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry and Orange Sauce
Baked Potatoes
Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Spinach and or Artichoke Dip
Fried Ravioli
Store Bought, Creamy Cheesecake
Onion Dip (Homemade or Boxed)
A Wonderful Cheese Selection with Crackers
Sautéed Green Beans With Mushrooms
Easy to Assemble Lasagna
Brussel Sprouts And Bacon
Brussels Sprout Al Gratin
Bean Casserole and Fried Shallots
Mashed Potatoes Made in Your Slow Cooker
Stuffing, Apple Walnut Style
Potato Gratin
Roasted Turkey Slathered With Sage Butter
Buttermilk Biscuits
Cheese Straw Appetizers
Creamy Carrot Souffle
Apple or Berry Crumble Pie
Canned Cranberry Sauce (SO easy!)
Honey Roasted Applesauce
Pecan or Pumpkin Pie
Oven Roasted Beets
Roasted Cauliflower
Roasted Broccoli Spears
Easy Roasted Eggplant Spiced with Herbs and Garlic
The Best Way to Save Money on Food For Thanksgiving? Cost-Cutting Coupons!
Keep on the lookout for Thanksgiving coupons and offers. You’ll find so many of them! No matter which supermarket you usually shop at, know that at this time of year they are offering cost-cutting coupons to make sure you do your Thanksgiving shopping there.
Your weekly grocery paper ads? Make sure to keep them, and use them, this time!
If you haven’t already, go grocery store digital. Download the apps from your favorite grocery stores and take advantage of the many incredible coupons and special deals you will find available.
Spotted a great sale item at your store? Wait up! Instead of grabbing the very first sale item you come upon, keep looking. You never know: the very next aisle may have the same item at an even lower price.
Keep It Very Simple And Save a Bunch Of Money
You deserve it: make your Thanksgiving get together more relaxed, more restful, and much less stressful.
Use fewer ingredients and take a peek at the food ingredients you have already. For instance, don’t prepare a money-making dish that makes you purchase extra expensive must haves.
Also:
The menu? Don’t go overboard with anything gourmet or hard to make.
The decorations? You can have a few, but don’t go crazy with it (it’s really not the most “fun” part of your party).
Go ahead and serve some ready-made food so you don’t have to cook so much. No one will know your little secret!
Less expense dishes are just as delicious as fancy ones, and will save on your holiday budget.
Why not go ahead and have a potluck celebration? Simply ask each of your guests to bring a food dish (just ensure that there are no duplicate dishes) and give yourself a bit of a cooking break.
Shopping time? Keep a close eye on the supermarket’s bottom shelves.
“Shelf space at the grocery store isn’t free; it comes at a cost to food suppliers, and those who want the most optimal positioning must cough up extra cash, leaving consumers to absorb the premium. So when you’re walking up and down the aisles picking up the items on your list, don’t forget about the lower-level shelves.”
Think About What You Really Need
Simply because you believe it’s a tradition to serve up dishes that you think guests will want to eat – but don’t really have an interest in – then you have wasted your money. Don’t delve into the holiday trap of preparing traditional food dishes because you think it’s the right thing to do. You certainly do not have to cook the “real” Thanksgiving meals.
Here’s a great idea: is there a special dish that one of your guests especially likes, but no one else does? In that case, politely ask that guest to cook up and bring over that Thanksgiving meal themselves.
No-Stress Turkey
Yes indeed, the turkey is clearly the very most important ingredient of your Thanksgiving dinner, but there is no need to overly stress about your bird.
Tons of food markets sell turkeys at very reasonable prices. When you shop around a little bit, you will discover surprisingly inexpensive turkeys to cook up. Less expensive turkeys taste just as good as expense ones. In the end, it all matters how you cook and season the bird, anyway!
Clip coupons: If you’ve never used coupons before, then now if definitely the time to start! Using coupons, you can really cut down on what you spend on Thanksgiving dinner. Check out your local newspaper for coupons, but also take a look online. There are tons of coupon websites that can save you money.
You can also peek at the many social media brand profiles. You’ll discover awesomely usable things such as coupons, discount code offers, and other special exclusive deals. If you can get your hands on anything budget friendly – grab it!
Don’t Buy When You Can Borrow
Having guests over that don’t have to host the holiday? Then go ahead and ask to borrow non-food items. Decorations, dinnerware, and cooking items are perfect if you don’t have any of the specific needed things at home. “Don’t buy, borrow” is a fantastic holiday hosting mantra!
Your friends and family will be sure to help out, so go ahead and ask to borrow such needed items as gravy boats, extra roasting pans, folding chairs and tables, appetizer platters, and the list goes on. Why buy all these pricey items when you can borrow from guests that are coming over? They will for sure be happy to help you out!
Go Generic and Save on Monthly Expenses
Come on. Face it! Salt is salt, no matter what the brand. So then why pay out more? Generally, it’s best to go for the generic products instead of the pricey, fancy brand name items. And you know what? Frozen vegetables and other frozen items are quicker to prepare and just as good as most brand name items.
Alcohol? Keep the Cost Way Down
Serving booze is another large cost that is part of hosting a Thanksgiving celebration. You most definitely want to ensure each guest’s glass remains full. But that can end up rather pricey.
So - what can you do to keep the price of serving alcohol down?
Purchase a Large Case of Wine
So many liquor stores offer patrons nearly 20% - 25% off of the purchase of wine cases. Go ahead and pick a wine that you and your guests will like, and buy the wine in bulk. Rest assured you’ll wind up cutting down considerably on your celebratory alcohol cost.Buy Early
Just like your food shopping, stocking up on your booze bar for Thanksgiving should begin early. This way, you can be on the lookout for great deals and special sales.Make a Big Hit (And Save a Lot Of Money) With Boxed Wine
You want to keep your booze budget down, so why not take into consideration boxed wine? Boxed wines do not go bad as quickly as bottled wines do, and they really taste great! You can serve the wine in any way so that your guests won’t ever know the difference. And best of all, Boxed wine is so much more inexpensive than bottled wines.
Negotiate And Manage Your Bills Quick And Easy.
Final Thanksgiving Words
Want to make sure that hosting your Thanksgiving party doesn’t leave a dent in your important and much needed bank account? Take account of all the smart tips we have offered you. Your wallet will thank you. A lot!
For starters, take a big, deep, relaxing breath before you begin your party. It’s going to be great! What’s more, do not forget about the important savings (and absolutely delicious leftovers) you will enjoy when you stretch out your Thanksgiving foods beyond your celebration day. The more creative you get - the easier it is to take great advantage of all of the yummy leftovers.