4 Frugal Tips for The Thanksgiving Holiday
The holiday season is officially here! Thanksgiving is exactly nine days away, Black Friday is exactly 10 days away and Christmas is a little more than six weeks away! So, that being said and with the intention of helping you prepare for a fun and frugal Thanksgiving holiday, I have compiled a short list of helpful frugal tips for preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday.
1. Plan & Prepare in Advance
Here’s a quote I strive to live by: “Failing to plan is a plan to fail.” With that in mind, if you want to have a tasty and cost-effective Thanksgiving, planning for the meal, the festivities that will take place that day and decorations is a MUST! Preparation will play a large role in saving money during the holiday. If you wait until the last minute, you’re sure to pay more than if you take a little time now to get things in order. Figure out how many people will be eating at your Thanksgiving dinner, shop around online and in different food stores for prices on turkey’s, stuffing, and the ingredients you’ll need to make all the yummy desserts that are a part of a Thanksgiving meal.
2. Recycle & reuse decorations!
Decorating for Thanksgiving is typically half way done in my household because I just keep all the pumpkin/fall decorations out that I put up for Halloween. When you do your after Halloween discount shopping, keep an eye out for items that have a more neutral autumn theme that can also be used for Thanksgiving. The best advice is to shop the after Halloween sales with both holidays in mind. This will get you a head start on saving money for NEXT year’s holiday season. With an easy Google search, you can find cheap and easy ways to make frugal Thanksgiving recipes and fall decorations.
3. Use Leftovers for Future Meals
I look forward to leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner and at my house they typically last for four or five days. So, when shopping for your Thanksgiving meal, keep in mind of all the great meals that you can make from your Thanksgiving leftovers. I have found some great websites with easy recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers ranging from turkey chili to turkey soup with dumplings:
– Thanksgiving leftover dishes via the Food Network
– Holiday Leftover dishes via Delish.com
4. Have a Pot Luck Style Dinner
Not everyone’s family or friends will like this idea, but it will cut costs in a major way and spread the costs out evenly, instead of forcing a huge cost on one or two people. My advice would be to let the host make the turkey, and allow everyone else to bring sides and desserts. This will save everyone a significant amount of money and time, and yet allow everyone to find themselves with their tummies happy and fat at the end of Thanksgiving Day. Also, this type of Thanksgiving dinner brings family and friends together by making each other rely on one another. Remember: Thanksgiving does not have to be expensive or stressful, just keep things simple and plan ahead.
I hope these tips were helpful and feel free to post any tips you may have for people in the comments section!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! =)
About the Author
Samantha Savory is a 20-something-year-old recent communications graduate whose mission is to financially succeed and thrive in this economy. She writes about personal finance and anything related to shopping and saving money.