Thanksgiving is the time of year to sit down with friends and family and rejoice over the blessing we’ve been given. However, for many families the holiday tends to be more stressful than thankful. The thought of having to make an entire feast can be a little intimidating. Of course, if you’re battling a tight budget it can be even worse. There are a few ways you can get around this problem though. Remember, your Thanksgiving meal doesn’t have to cost you a small fortune. With a few easy shopping and cooking techniques you’ll be getting compliments on your meal while saving a whole lot of cash. So, stop stressing out over how you’re going to fund your meal and check out these ten ways to make it cheaper than you can imagine.
1. Use What You Have
When it comes to getting what you need for your holiday meal the grocery store can be your worst nightmare. With the aisles packed with people trying to get everything they need it may be hard to price the items you need as well as weigh your options. Instead of going to the grocery store first you should do a little shopping in your own home. There’s a lot of items you can base an entire meal around that you’ll find collecting dust in your pantry. Most home’s already have a collection of canned vegetables, so spice up these items to make them suitable for the holidays. You should also do a little shopping in your freezer or deep freeze. Sometimes, we tend to forget what’s lingering in there so you may find pie filling, meats, breads or veggies that can fit into your meal plan. You should also check out your dry ingredients for flour, rice, yeast and other items that can be used. These items can start some great side dishes as well as help you make gravy or homemade bread.
2. Buy Early
A lot of people will wait for Thanksgiving sales before they begin their shopping. These sales can be very misleading and often won’t save you much at all. Instead of waiting for deals to come to you, try to seek them out. Remember, canned goods and many frozen items can be stored for quite some time, so you’re free to shop months in advance. Try to buy a lot of your canned items during case lot sales or in bulk as this will help out the household for the holidays and then some. Many stores will also have special meats on sale before the holidays, so take advantage of a deal whenever you see it. When you’re shopping you shouldn’t have to go out of your way to do this either. Just budget a little extra for these buys and when you find them it can help lower your shopping expenses immensely. Of course, some areas will still offer good sales, so you may want to get to these sales as early as possible!
3. Think Smaller
A lot of the time we tend to go way overboard on our Thanksgiving meal planning. After all, it’s a time of celebration and we want to do it right! Of course, after day 5 of eating turkey sandwiches it may not have been such a good idea to plan on feeding a small army. So, if your family complains about the amount of leftovers you’re having, if you don’t have enough room in your refrigerator to store all of the leftovers, or if you end up dumping half of the meal in the garbage then you may want to rethink how much you cook. If your family doesn’t go through a lot of meat then plan on cooking a turkey breast, ham steak or any smaller meat choice. You don’t have to buy the biggest ham or turkey in the market place either. Keep it small and you’ll save a lot of money! Another great way to cut down the meal is to limit your sides. You don’t have to have five different starches, an array of vegetable and so many pies you don’t even have enough room to display them. Instead, write down a few items the family doesn’t eat as often and go from there.
4. Make it From Scratch
Again, planning and executing the Thanksgiving meal is intimidating which is why so many turn to cans, boxes and jars to get the job done faster. However, the more premade or” just add water items” you buy, the higher your budget is going to go. Instead of buying the ready to go stuff, try your hand at making some items from scratch. It’s actually not as scary as you may think, so don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Shopping for items to make from scratch can run you a lot cheaper too. In fact, you may find that you already have many of the items in your home. Plus, the items you do have to buy will last long enough for you to make several batches of food throughout the year. If you’re still feeling a little reluctant to do this then start out with one dish this year and move on to two next year. You’ll see right away that it makes the holiday more fun, especially when you get help from family. You may also feel a bit more pride in your meal when you present it to loved ones! Not to mention, the food will be a lot healthier.
5. Clued in Shopping
Your Thanksgiving feast can be cheaper than you think if you use the power of good shopping. To begin with, you should try to avoid buying items that don’t have a coupon or aren’t on sale. Yes, this can be a real pain when you just want to get in and out of the store, but your bank account will be thankful when you finish your shopping. It may be hard to find coupons as well, but check out the local ads and surf the net to see if you can get what you need at the best possible price. You should also try to shop during sales as much as possible, but make sure to look up the original price of the item before you buy. Another way to avoid high prices is to shop around. Yes, it’s frustrating and this time of year is crazy, but shopping around can save you a whole lot. If you’re lucky you can do a lot of the shopping around online, so you’ll know what you need and where you can get it from without having to go down every single aisle.
6. Go Generic
One important thing to remember while grocery shopping this year is to stay away from the pesky name brand items. These items are actually stacked on the shelf so we seem them first and want to buy them; however, they’re also a higher price than you should pay for what you need. Rather than go straight for the name brand, you should look around for its generic counterpart. These items don’t have as flashy of a label and are usually stacked on the bottom of the shelf. Generally, these items can be dollars to cents cheaper than the name brand. Although the cents may seem like a small number at first, once you get to the checkout counter each one will begin to make your bill higher and higher. So, by shopping the generic items you can save a whole lot more than you think. The best thing is, the generic items rarely taste different. You can find generics from everything from canned goods to the meat products you plan on purchasing.
7. Potlucks
When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, nothing can make you feel better about your amount of work and budget quite like making it a potluck. If you’re hosting you’ll probably want to make the main course, but if you’re not comfortable and someone else wants to do it then let them have the glory. Potlucks allow people to bring whatever they want, which means you’ll be able to buy less without worrying about there not being enough food on the table. Try to have your guest RSVP with the items they plan on bringing. This will help you plan what you absolutely need to prepare to make the dinner table fuller. After everyone has come and gone with their dish you can rest assured that there will be less of a clean up to worry about and you won’t be stuck on leftovers for the next couple of weeks. Potlucks will also give you a large variety, so people can a taste new dishes that you may want to incorporate into next year’s planning!
8. Skip Unpopular Dishes
Every year there’s a dish that we tend to make that isn’t exactly on anyone’s list of must have food. Usually people take a small serving to be polite, but by the end of the holiday and leftover period it still sits uneaten. If you have one of these dishes on your menu then just go ahead and take it off your list. I know tradition is tradition, but if you’re on a tight budget there’s no reason to waste money on food that isn’t going to be eaten. Instead, take the money and put it towards a household favorite or use it for something else entirely!
9. RSVP Please
When you have a lot of guests over for the holiday it’s hard to know exactly how much food you’re going to need to make. A lot of people are often on the fence about their attendance, so we tend to make an abundance of food just in case everyone shows up. This can be really pricey though and if half of the people who were on the fence don’t show up you’re stuck with a lot of leftovers that could go to waste. Rather than guesstimating how many people will be at your celebration ask them all the RSVP. If they can’t tell you if they’re going to be there then don’t worry about them. Simply count on the guests you know will be there and plan your meal accordingly. This will cut down on money and stress!
10. Food Bank
If you’re still uncertain how you’re going to get a Thanksgiving meal together on your tight budget then consider going to a food bank. Many require families that need the extra help sign up so they know how many food baskets to make. Then they will issue you a date to pick up your basket, which is usually filled with a meat as well as traditional holiday sides. Sometimes you don’t have to do anything but sign up to get your basket while other times you may have to supply some information on your income. No matter what, the process is usually quick and will have your family meal under control for the big day. If you’re not sure where to start then look online, call your community center or talk to a local church. You may also try the food pantry to see if they can offer you information or food as well.
Thanksgiving isn’t supposed to be filled with excess stress. Instead of worrying about your food budget try to utilize these tips into your meal planning. They should help cut down on the amount of money you spend on your meal. When you cut down on the stress of the holiday and concentrate more on its meaning you’ll feel a lot more at peace with this special occasion. So, take a breather and give your grocery list a second look. This alone may help you feel more thankful and in tune with the holiday spirit.
