No matter if you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner for two or twenty, Thanksgiving food costs add up quickly. A delicious Thanksgiving dinner is possible on a shoestring budget if you shop around and plan ahead.
A beautifully cooked turkey is the main event in most families. The only problem is turkey can cost upwards of a dollar a pound. Before you fork over $15-20 for your Thanksgiving bird gather your local grocery store ads. Ads come out on Wednesdays, if you missed this weeks Wednesday newspaper pull the grocery store ads up online. In my area I have several great deals to choose from.
Kroger in my area had turkey for .33 a pound when you spend $20 on additional products. I was about to get a 12 pound turkey for just under $4, compared to the regular price of $12. You may need a smaller or larger turkey depending on the number of guests you are expecting. Estimate a pound of turkey per guest.
Sack N Save in my area offers a free turkey if you purchase a ham. Keep in mind that hams can be expensive. Another local store offers a free turkey if you spend $100 on groceries. Stores in your area may even have better sales on turkey than this, but you won’t know until you look at the ads and make comparisons.
Green beans are a staple at any meal in our house, especially Thanksgiving. Target has canned veggies on sale for .45 each with a limit of 12 per type. I bought 60 cans as this is a great deal. Target in my area also has cranberries and cranberry sauce on sale for around .50 a can, stuffing on sale for .79 a box, and cream of mushroom soup and chicken broth on sale for .49 a can. That right there covers the majority of our Thanksgiving dinner. I still either have to buy rolls to bake if I can find them on sale or my husband will whip up a batch.
Dessert is also a must have at our Thanksgiving. Almost every store ad I looked at had pies on sale. Some had a free pie when you bought ice cream and others had pies on sale for $1.99-2.99. If you can find pie filling and pie crust on sale feel free to bake one yourself, but for us it’s cheaper to spend $2.99 on a store bought pie. To make the sale even better I also have a pie coupon. It’s the little savings in life that get me excited.
No matter if you are cooking for just the two of you or your extended family, Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have to blow your budget. Plan ahead, buy foods that are on sale, get a deal on your turkey, and even consider asking guests to bring a side dish or dessert. As with any family get together, it’s not how much you spend, but the quality time you spend together and the memories that are made that are important.
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