How To Cut The Cost Of Thanksgiving Dinner

Looking forward to turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie? I get hungry just thinking about it. Thanksgiving is a great opportunity enjoy a good dinner with family and friends. While Thanksgiving is a good time to connect with family, it can be expensive.

You can make the cost of thanksgiving dinner less of a burden. Our credit counselors have some ideas:

  • Encourage attendees to bring side dishes–they can show off their cooking expertise or prepare an old family recipe. This also will reduce stress for the host.
  • List the items you will need to prepare the dinner. Start buying one or two of the items you need each time you make a trip to the grocery store, allowing you to spread out the expense. This method will also allow you to take advantage of sales and get the ingredients at better prices before the price of certain seasonal items increases.
  • Determine how many people will attend the dinner to gauge how much turkey and sides dishes you’ll need. Leftovers are good but don’t make too much that they’ll go to waste. If you have a small group of family or friends consider preordering a Thanksgiving dinner from a local grocery, deli or restaurant. Often catered dinner deals end up being less expensive for smaller groups of people.
  • Take advantage of grocery store incentives for free turkey. Many grocery stores are already offering coupons for a free turkey if you use your store discount card and spend a nominal amount in the store each week. Using these programs is a great way to get the most expensive part of the meal for free.

Last year, the American Farm Bureau reported that the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 was $42.91. With a little pre-planning especially with earning a rewards card turkey your per person cost can drop to less than $3 per person.

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