Our most favorite holiday of the year is just a few steps away. Everyone is now busy organizing activities, designing decorations and preparing menus for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day. Some are arranging flights to spend quality and memorable time with their families and loved ones across state lines. However, regardless if you are a host or a guest, celebrating this holiday always comes with a cost. And with the recession on the side, it is just wise that we put a tight watch on our Thanksgiving spending.
Prudent and frugal moms like us are always having trouble hosting a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration without sacrificing our family savings. Get your art and cooking materials ready and put your imagination and creativity to work. Organize a memorable and exciting Thanksgiving Day for your friends and family without breaking the bank. Here are some tricks to cut your holiday costs and keep your Thanksgiving dinner on budget.
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead of time is important to ensure that you don’t go into debts and still have enough money to buy your Christmas gifts after Thanksgiving. Set how much your family can afford for this special event before you start readying your menu and engage in a shopping spree. Basing on the budget that you have set, list your expected guests and assess how much dishes, appetizers, desserts and drinks you need to avoid buying foods more than what you and your guests can consume.
Stir Up Your Creativity and Design DIY Thanksgiving Decorations
Go online and look for how to videos and tutorials about easy and cost efficient DIYs. To add a unique touch to your dining area, paint a pumpkin gold, write your menu on it and use it as a centerpiece on the dinner table.
Customize your place cards. Get a colored or metallic pen and write the name of your guests on white cards. Check your surroundings and collect pine cones. Use the pine cones as holders for the place cards. On Thanksgiving Day, place the pine cones to mark your guests’ seats.
Looking for a unique beverage cooler? Cut a pumpkin into half and carve out the inside part. Put some ice and sodas on the carved pumpkin and place it on the table along with your side dishes.
Shop Smart and Get Extra Money
Get your budgeting skills out of the hat. Shop smart and try the simple strategies below to save extra dimes when buying the materials and ingredients that you need for the holiday.
- Collect coupons from local newspapers and magazines as well as from coupon pages such as MyCoupons.com and Coupons.com. Don’t hesitate to use two or even three coupons at the same time when you buy at the local stores and groceries to boost your savings.
- Choose generic items when necessary as most of these taste or look the same as the branded ones. So, why spend more on branded items when you can get what you need from the cheap ones.
- Leave your partner and children at home. Grocery shopping with everyone in the family will take more time and will most probably cost you more than what you have in your mind.
Go For Classic & Simple Dishes
One secret to having a satisfying and successful Thanksgiving party is to stick with classic and simple dishes that we all want. Drop the classy chef fantasy and come up with an inexpensive alternative to your dishes. Buy your turkey ahead of time as its price usually goes up as the day gets near. Talk to another thrifty-minded friend and consider splitting bulk but discounted items at the groceries.
Here are some of the delish but low cost dishes that you can prepare for Thanksgiving.
- Simple Roast Turkey – Thaw turkey and season it with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff it with herbs such as garlic, coriander, thyme and rosemary and marinade on turkey stock. Roast in low heat for an hour and a half and serve immediately.
- Buttery Baby Potatoes – Wash the small potatoes and drain. Place in a hot saucepan with boiling water and let it stay there for around 15 minutes until tender. Mince garlic and ready the butter. Heat pan in low fire and add in the butter. Cook the garlic and add in the potatoes. Serve to guests while hot.
- Candied Yams – Carefully place the yams in a dish. Spread butter over the yams and roll them on brown sugar. Place the dish in a preheated oven. Bake for 25 minutes in 400 degrees F.
Below are other helpful tips for successfully hosting a budget friendly Thanksgiving dinner:
- Don’t overcook.
- Agree to a potluck Thanksgiving party.
- Don’t put your leftovers to waste. Go online and explore some recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers.
- Be thrift and borrow glassware and other things that you don’t have from friends.
