ALT-1 How to Prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner on a Budget
In this year when most families across the country are feeling the impact of the economic crisis, it is crucial for people to be budget conscious as Thanksgiving approaches. A well organized person can become a very savvy shopper who saves a significant amount of money without having to spend hours figuring out how to do so, or without having to chase all over town in order to find the savings.
Here are some simple suggestions that will make it easy to make Thanksgiving dinner a budget friendly one.
- Take advantage of coupons -
Many stores will put needed Thanksgiving dinner supplies on sale, or will have store coupons for these things. As long as the items that are on sale or for which there are coupon discounts aren't perishable, you can purchase them whenever this opportunity arises.
- Don't overlook the Dollar Stores -
Dollar Stores are regularly carrying name brand products and food staples, and the prices of the non-perishable food items at Dollar Stores is often considerably cheaper than grocery stores or even places like Walmart. Check their weekly fliers or sign up to get notices on the store websites.*Get creative -Instead of buying stuffing mix, save that stale bread that you planned to throw out. Toast it and use that to make your stuffing or dressing. Buy things that you can buy in advance well in advance of Thanksgiving.If you're going to need a lot of butter, stock up. The week before Thanksgiving, it will be at least $1 more a pound than it regularly is. If you will need a lot of butter over the Christmas holidays, stock up because from just before Thanksgiving until well after the first of the year, the prices won't go down.The same goes for purchasing sugar and flour. Prices go up higher when stores know that people will be buying a lot of these items. You can outsmart the stores by purchasing them before those prices go up.*About the turkey -Tradition may say that you're supposed to serve a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. Buying meat when there is a lot of bone involved is not a very cost effective way to purchase it. If you intend to use the bone or carcass to make a soup, then you can take advantage of the bone, but otherwise, you may be better off by simply buying boneless turkey breast, or by buying the several turkey breasts. Ham will also be cheaper because you get more meat for your money.*Avoid prepared foods -If you normally buy canned cranberry jelly or sauce, skip it. For what you paid for the a few cans, you could probably have bought several packages of cranberries, cooked them down with some sugar and added hunks of orange and had a wonderful home made cranberry relish. If necessary, go the route of frozen cranberries. As long as you cook your cranberry sauce or relish, it won't matter if they are frozen.
- Be Eco-Friendly -
Be Eco-friendly by not using paper plates, napkins, paper table linen, or plastic utensils. People are not aware of how wasteful they are when disposable dishes and utensils are used, so you may need to buy a lot of plates, napkins, utensils, cups, bowls and other plastic or paper supplies. If you had used regular dishes, regular utensils and cloth table linens, you can save a good amount of money. If you have many people coming to your home, it could easily cost you between $25 and $50 to buy enough disposable "stuff" to accommodate all of your guests.
- Have family members and friends bring a dish -Ask other guests to contribute something to the meal. By having other people make part of the meal, you will eliminate the cost of having to purchase the ingredients for those items. If you turn the meal into a kind of potluck and set up a buffet, there will be plenty of food, and no one will get saddled with most of the cost themselves. Be sure to find out what each person is going to bring so you don't wind up with five dozen deviled eggs and no green bean casserole or rolls.The key to being able to prepare any type of holiday meal is by planning ahead. The more organized you are, the more easily you will be able to take advantage of sales, specials and the discounts you may be able to find at warehouse stores. Rather than buying two whole turkeys, consider purchasing a large boneless turkey breast in addition to the single turkey. This will give you much more meat and very little waste.
At a time when everyone needs to be extra mindful of finances, there is nothing wrong with spreading the responsibility for putting the meal together around among everyone. It will give everyone the feeling that they've contributed and it will help distribute some of the financial responsibility among everyone.
