1 - I don't host the holiday, and if I do, we make it potluck.
2 - Buying food little by little in the weeks leading up to the holiday, taking advantage of weekly sales and coupons (i.e., this week fresh cranberries are on sale at one store and yams at another; last week flour was on sale at one store and chocolate chips at another).
3 - Similar to #1 above, but I keep it quiet and intimate, usually just my partner and I, with only our favorite holiday foods.
4 - Leftovers!
For you runners out there if you look around for races on or near Thanksgiving Day you can sometimes find that they will give out a turkey to the winner and/or certain age groups in addition to the trophy and tshirt you get at most races. Several years ago my mother, brother, and I all won our age groups and each got a Turkey. We had more turkey than we knew what to do with and had to freeze one so we didn't get sick of turkey leftovers!
We are going to save money by not being the hosts this year. We are heading to our families house and will help with bringing stuff and making stuff but this way the entire burden for everything won't fall on us!
The benefit of this is we just volunteer for some things, and don't have to stress about arraigning everything!
I like your idea about starting from scratch. It is so easy to start feeling like you need everything you have and start getting run over by your monthly spending that you don't even need!
Thank you for this article! As a single mom, I have to pay close attention to my finances, and your blog is a great reference in doing so. Thanks again!
When we all lived in the same state, we'd do a potluck to share costs and workload. Now we live 8 hours away and some of our family drives to us that morning. I don't feel like they should have to make food with that long of a drive. So, we make everything ourselves from scratch and check out flyers for the 3 grocery stores that are 5 minutes away to get the non-perishables at the cheapest price available. The veggies and such are bought on Tues/Wed at the farmer's market. Maybe not cheaper, but so tasty and fresh.
I think Thanksgiving is one of the cheapest meals to make! We get the turkey for free by spending $300 on groceries the weeks prior. The sides are always on sale this time of year. We make everything from scratch which saves money. We also cut back on the desserts.
I save money by not hosting a party! I still have like 6 relatives fighting over who gets to host, so the only money I end up spending is on gas. (We offer to bring food, but they always say no, because we "eat weird things.")
Like lots of other folks, we go the pitch-in route. I also use pre- and post-Thanksgiving food sales to stock up on staples for my pantry, like baking supplies. This year we're also having Thanksgiving a week ahead of time, which will save travelers some money on fuel (since it tends to go up the week of the holiday). I also make a lot of my stuff from scratch. For example, it may only cost $3 for a dozen dinner rolls at the supermarket, but I can make 3 dz. from scratch and have enough for both sides of the family for half that. And our Celebration decor? All made by the kids! We've had handprint turkeys, cornicopias made of plastic food, and stand-up pilgrims.
In terms of saving I am not concerned with the monetary value of saving but rather the savings of calories. I use turkey injection and use healthy marinates, I also only make one side, and one desert. Usually save me one pound during the holidays.
My family lives close, in-laws too. It's easy to potluck with both of them and we each bring a dish or two for everyone. People love my wife's homemade crescent rolls and my caramel peanuts.
We save by stocking up on fall/winter staples early when they are on sale. This helps to avoid last minute trips to the store as well as paying a premium. Cooking from scratch is fun, rewarding, and also helps save money.
I look for coupons to combine with sales about a week or two before Thanksgiving. This saves us lots of money! Friends and family help out with paper products and drinks.
One of the best Job Crawlers out there is SimplyHired.com. It not only pulls jobs from corporate websites and allows you to do fantastic targeted searches, it also connects to LinkedIn and Facebook with the "Who Do I Know" feature so that you can network your way into a job interview.
We stock up on onions and celery when it's cheap and freeze it, stock up on butter when it's cheap, use foods from our garden/canned, and buy on sale w/coupons!
1 - I don't host the holiday, and if I do, we make it potluck.
2 - Buying food little by little in the weeks leading up to the holiday, taking advantage of weekly sales and coupons (i.e., this week fresh cranberries are on sale at one store and yams at another; last week flour was on sale at one store and chocolate chips at another).
3 - Similar to #1 above, but I keep it quiet and intimate, usually just my partner and I, with only our favorite holiday foods.
4 - Leftovers!
We all bring a dish, and all decor is recycled, upcycled or found at a garage sale!
I save money by visiting my daughter, so I don't have to cook for the whole family.
For you runners out there if you look around for races on or near Thanksgiving Day you can sometimes find that they will give out a turkey to the winner and/or certain age groups in addition to the trophy and tshirt you get at most races. Several years ago my mother, brother, and I all won our age groups and each got a Turkey. We had more turkey than we knew what to do with and had to freeze one so we didn't get sick of turkey leftovers!
We do potluck every year to save money. As one of the younger members of the family, I usually volunteer to bring some sort of alcoholic beverage :)
Thank you for saying so, that's very kind of you!
We are going to save money by not being the hosts this year. We are heading to our families house and will help with bringing stuff and making stuff but this way the entire burden for everything won't fall on us!
The benefit of this is we just volunteer for some things, and don't have to stress about arraigning everything!
I like your idea about starting from scratch. It is so easy to start feeling like you need everything you have and start getting run over by your monthly spending that you don't even need!
Andrea,
Thank you for this article! As a single mom, I have to pay close attention to my finances, and your blog is a great reference in doing so. Thanks again!
Shelley
When we all lived in the same state, we'd do a potluck to share costs and workload. Now we live 8 hours away and some of our family drives to us that morning. I don't feel like they should have to make food with that long of a drive. So, we make everything ourselves from scratch and check out flyers for the 3 grocery stores that are 5 minutes away to get the non-perishables at the cheapest price available. The veggies and such are bought on Tues/Wed at the farmer's market. Maybe not cheaper, but so tasty and fresh.
I think Thanksgiving is one of the cheapest meals to make! We get the turkey for free by spending $300 on groceries the weeks prior. The sides are always on sale this time of year. We make everything from scratch which saves money. We also cut back on the desserts.
I save money by not hosting a party! I still have like 6 relatives fighting over who gets to host, so the only money I end up spending is on gas. (We offer to bring food, but they always say no, because we "eat weird things.")
Like lots of other folks, we go the pitch-in route. I also use pre- and post-Thanksgiving food sales to stock up on staples for my pantry, like baking supplies. This year we're also having Thanksgiving a week ahead of time, which will save travelers some money on fuel (since it tends to go up the week of the holiday). I also make a lot of my stuff from scratch. For example, it may only cost $3 for a dozen dinner rolls at the supermarket, but I can make 3 dz. from scratch and have enough for both sides of the family for half that. And our Celebration decor? All made by the kids! We've had handprint turkeys, cornicopias made of plastic food, and stand-up pilgrims.
http://twitter.com/#!/turok64/status/136526987484340226
In terms of saving I am not concerned with the monetary value of saving but rather the savings of calories. I use turkey injection and use healthy marinates, I also only make one side, and one desert. Usually save me one pound during the holidays.
My family lives close, in-laws too. It's easy to potluck with both of them and we each bring a dish or two for everyone. People love my wife's homemade crescent rolls and my caramel peanuts.
We save by stocking up on fall/winter staples early when they are on sale. This helps to avoid last minute trips to the store as well as paying a premium. Cooking from scratch is fun, rewarding, and also helps save money.
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Liked you and your post on Facebook.
Responded on Twitter. https://twitter.com/#!/1bets1/status/136522048955621376
I look for coupons to combine with sales about a week or two before Thanksgiving. This saves us lots of money! Friends and family help out with paper products and drinks.
One of the best Job Crawlers out there is SimplyHired.com. It not only pulls jobs from corporate websites and allows you to do fantastic targeted searches, it also connects to LinkedIn and Facebook with the "Who Do I Know" feature so that you can network your way into a job interview.
Potluck means everyone chips in a little for a fantastic meal!
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I've been "Liking" you on FB
We stock up on onions and celery when it's cheap and freeze it, stock up on butter when it's cheap, use foods from our garden/canned, and buy on sale w/coupons!