7 Tips to Organize a Thrifty Thanksgiving Meal

Photo by LarimdaME

Is the big day at your place this year?  Don't stress over grocery store anxiety.  Thanksgiving meals can be organized for very little money if you're organized and begin early.  Start collecting pantry goods now to plan for an inexpensive yet yummy dinner.  

1. Look for free turkeys.
Thank goodness our November tradition hails a cheap bird as the centerpiece rather than medium rare sirloin steak.  While intimidating to cook, turkeys are definitely cheap and you can choose from fryers, boneless, pre-cooked, and roaster varieties.  Many grocery stores give out free turkeys with a minimum purchase of items you'll probably need for Thanksgiving dinner.  Other stores will offer buy-one-get-one free birds, especially helpful for large gatherings.

2. Get an RSVP list and assign sides.
After 29 years of sharing Thanksgiving week with 45 relatives, we have narrowed our spreadsheet to an exact science.  The whole point of Thanksgiving is hosting a potluck--think Native Americans and Pilgrims.  Our family takes this practice to an extreme, assigning prep work and clean up duties in addition to bringing food, but it works and we have never left out a dish.  This simple act of getting an attendance commitment from friends and family and inviting them to bring something will help reduce the load.  

3. Avoid the box mixes.
Making your dishes from scratch will not only taste better but will usually save some money off your bill.  Stuffing and canned yams are the worst.  If you're in a bind and have to go with a stuffing box, Good Housekeeping recommends Stove Top Savory Herb Stuffing Mix ($2) and Arrowhead Mills Organic Cornbread Stuffing Mix ($3). 

4. Shop now for canned goods and freezeables.
Consider this next week to be the Black Friday version of holiday food.  Grocery stores are fighting for your Thanksgiving buck and have reduced canned green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, and pie crusts to an all-time low.  They know that you'll spend enough in quantity to make up for the deep discounts.  Go online to scour weekly grocery ads for the best deals, but beware the convenience food lure.  Don't buy huge Thanksgiving food "kits" without comparing prices when purchased separately.

5. Be reasonable about leftovers.
There's no excuse to have four days of leftovers.  You know that by day 2.5, your stomach is reeling from tryptophan and gurgling with cream of mushroom.  Most Thanksgiving casseroles, especially the green bean, have a two-day maximum for tasting decent reheated.  For meats and leftover corn, pick out several leftover recipes ahead of time so you have a plan for what to do with the excess.  Making less means spending less.

6. Assign non-cooks to bring flatware.
You probably don't have enough plates for everyone.  And, realistically, no one will want to drag their own dishes across town along with a home-baked dish and wash them before heading home.  This is a perfect time to use disposables.  But they do add up quickly, so let a culinarily challenged individual buy them--just make sure they get there on time!

7. Skip the non-favorites.  
Every year the poor cranberry sauce jiggles in solitude on the buffet.  Local research confirms that this sad fruitish dish is not a favorite among hungry Thanksgivingers, so just forget about it.  Also topping the yuck list are store-made pumpkin pies.  These inedible frisbees of goop are tasteless--it really isn't hard to make your own and actually enjoy the extra calories.