Hosting Thanksgiving on a Budget

It is November now, and you know what that means. Thanksgiving comes every year on the third Thursday of November. While it is a time to splurge and give thanks, would not it make you a bit more thankful in the long run if you had kept more money in your savings account instead of spent for a full tummy for just a day? Traditional food will include a savory turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, rolls and of course the pumpkin pie. For just a small family the food and hosting the dinner can cost into the hundreds. For a large family even more so, plus the cost of flying family out or to drive out. Money is being spent everywhere.

Money is tight these days and with Black Friday being just one day after Thanksgiving, you will need to save every penny you can. With some simple tips you can save money and still have a Thanksgiving dinner the entire family will enjoy and be thankful about.

When having family over, ask each member to bring over a small dish to help out. As the host you can of course provide the turkey, but asking family to help out by bringing the side dishes or dessert can help a lot. You may need multiple items of each kind, so the more the family brings the more money you save. It is simply distributing the cost among several members instead of placing the entire burden upon yourself. And since you are going out of your way and time to host the dinner at your place, most family members will not mind. Just ask your mother to supply the pumpkin pie, your uncle can cover the stuffing, your sister and law and brother can cover the rolls, and in no time you have reached some good savings.

Grocery store bought food is more expensive when it comes already prepared. The store obviously has to have a mark up to cover for the labor and time it took to prepare the food. If you or someone you know has some old family recipes or Thanksgiving recipes it would be helpful to make it from scratch. Yes it may take up more time, but it will also save you money.

While Thanksgiving is not a decoration heavy holiday, it is still nice to have some light decorations around the dinner table. Instead of paying the high prices for a novelty item, you can look into either purchasing a fall themed decoration item or even have a family event where the kids can make the decorations. We all made hand-turkeys as a child, so get the children together in one room and give them a holiday activity that will make them smile. Then you can even string them together and hang them upon the wall. Simple things like this will save a couple of dollars too.

Thanksgiving is just weeks away and pretty soon the family will be pouring in asking for your yummy turkey. By following these tips you can provide it to them while on a budget.