DENVER – We’re about a week away from Thanksgiving and if you’re like me, you’re probably already wondering how much you need to buy and how much it’ll end up costing you this year, considering the price of everything has gone up due to inflation.
A recent survey from the Colorado Farm Bureau shows shoppers can expect to pay 4.8% more than the national average this year, putting the cost for a meal of 10 guests at $67.14 this year, which comes to about $6.71 per person.
For shoppers tightening their belt this year, there are several things you can do to not spend as much on your turkey plus the side dishes and all the traditional fixings that go along with it, according to Mile High on the Cheap’s Laura Daily.
“Typically the week before Thanksgiving is actually the time when stores run good sales on all the fixings for Thanksgiving, so they have a lot of stuff in stock and they want to move it,” Daily told Denver7. “I think this is a good time to go to the grocery store and actually pick up all those things for Thanksgiving dinner and dinners beyond.” So what does Daily recommend? Here are some tips she dished out to Denver7 for shoppers prepping for the big dinner next week.
1. Use technology to your advantage while you do your Thanksgiving shopping
Daily recommends downloading the Ibotta app, which lets you earn cash back on your everyday purchases, whether it’s in-store or online.
“Ibotta will actually give you the equivalent back in a rebate for the entire Thanksgiving meal this year, so that allows you to get a turkey and some side dishes and a few other products on their list and they will simply rebate that full amount back into your Ibotta account, so it's like getting a Thanksgiving dinner for free,” she said.
The rebate from Ibotta isn’t tied to any specific store this year, according to Daily, so app users can shop at multiples stores this year and get those rebates.
2. Gather your friends or family members and head to Safeway for a free turkey
Is your family flying over? Are you hosting a Friendsgiving turkey dinner this year? Daily recommends you head out with your family and friends to Safeway this year for a fantastic deal.
“If you or your group of friends can spend $150 or more in a single purchase, they (Safeway) will give you any size turkey – frozen turkey – for free, so that’s another way to at least stretch your dollar,” Daily said.
3. Don’t want to cook this year? See what your local restaurant is offering for dinner that day
"This is also a really good time if you want someone else to do the cooking, to either look to your local grocery story or a restaurant that you like,” Daily said.
Grocery stores will usually have turkey slices ready for you at the deli and all you need to do is grab the rest of the fixings, either bottled or canned as well as some fresh items if you’d like to prepare the mash potatoes from scratch, for example.
For those looking to go the restaurant route, Daily said shoppers are going to pay about 10 to $12 per person, sometimes even less than that, for prepackaged meal bundles that will feed anywhere from 6 to 12 people, depending on how big an order you make.
And you don’t have to go to a high-end restaurant for dinner if you’re looking to save. Daily said many restaurant chains will still be open and will be serving Thanksgiving Day specials anywhere from $15 or less.
Our partners at The Denver Post have listed some restaurants offering mouth-watering Thanksgiving dinners this year.
4. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving Day to shop for your side dishes and fixings
It's pretty well known you shouldn’t shop for your Thanksgiving turkey the day of the actual dinner because the chances of finding one will be pretty slim, but if you’re waiting to shop for your fixings and sides, Daily recommends you do it sooner rather than later.
“The best thing to do is go early in the morning when places are stocked well or try to go towards the end of the day if you possibly can because midday is when everybody goes,” Daily said.
She also recommends timing when you buy perishable items, which you might want to wait to buy until you’ve shopped for everything else that can be refrigerated or has a longer shelf life.
“That way, you don't have to worry that they've run out of, you know, the cranberry sauce and the cans,” Dailey said. “There's nothing worse than going to the store right before and realize that they're sold out and then you’re spending all this money driving from store to store to find out what they've got.”
5. Want to save money after Thanksgiving? Walk around your neighborhood!
If you want to not only save money on entertainment but also want to burn off the calories you just consumed, Daily recommends some fun ways to enjoy some free or low-cost entertainment.
“If you aren't going to watch football games or catch up on some fun movies, Thanksgiving night will be the start for many, many homes in the metro area to turn on their holiday lights,” Daily said. “So maybe after a meal, if you want to go do something, get in the car or walk around and take a look because a lot of people are going to flip their lights on for their homes.”
She also recommends people start thinking about visiting Santa on Thanksgiving weekend before it gets super crowded.
Holiday craft shows are also a good idea not just to get into the Christmas spirit, but also where you can find low-cost handmade items for gift giving to family and friends.
“This is my favorite time of year because I love going to the holiday craft shows and there will be a handful of big craft shows over Thanksgiving weekend, so if you say ‘Oh, geez, I'm not going to go shopping on Black Friday because I don't want to deal with the stores but I still would like to get out and about, that’s a really fun thing to do,” Daily said.
