If you are the host of a Thanksgiving dinner for your friends and family, you might be knowing that your costs and expenses for the occasion get out of control easily. You have to spend a lot of money on the Turkey, sidelines, cakes, pie, casseroles and other materials if you want to host an outstanding Thanksgiving dinner. One of the disappointing things about Thanksgiving is that many people spend more on food, decorations and other things that are not much of a necessity on the big day and create a dent in their monthly budget.
The Thanksgiving holiday is right around the corner and you have to be very vigilant even after the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter how eased up things are these days, you still have to be careful. One of the best things to do is to utilize your outdoor space to celebrate your Thanksgiving Day this year and you can keep yourself and other members of your friends and family circle safe. Apart from some delicious meals, you can plan out a movie with your friends and family and use your Spectrum Silver cable TV packages to make things stay within your budget.
Apart from that, you can do a lot of other things to save money on Thanksgiving.
Create an Organized Menu
One of the best things that you can do is to create a menu for yourself. It can help you organize your plans and create an accurate grocery list. You wouldn’t want to be the person who would be going for a last-minute trip to the store and shop for your Thanksgiving dinner in the morning. This might cause a little chaos in the home and you might miss out on some important ingredients as well. To make things easier for yourself, you can use different reminders and other grocery list creation apps that will make your planning for the menu easier.
Plan Your Dinner A Week Early
One of the best things to do is to start planning your Thanksgiving dinner at least a week ahead. This will get you enough time to plan your dinner and menu carefully, especially when you are hosting your Thanksgiving dinner for the first time.
You can start off by having an accurate idea about the number of guests who are coming for the dinner so that you are able to provide them with enough food. This is also very helpful when you will be setting your Thanksgiving dinner budget as well. There is no harm in borrowing different cooking tools and other material from your friends, family or neighbors if you can’t buy some dishes, a set of knives and other essentials for the dinner.
Start Shopping For Ingredients and Other Essentials Early
Shopping is one of the best and fun to do activities if you are doing it early. This will not only help you save money but will also help you find almost anything before the stores run out of some essential items that people buy in bulk. Many retailers run Thanksgiving sales a few weeks earlier which will be an amazing opportunity for you to buy things at lower than usual prices.
Compare Prices before Buying
There are so many stores that you can check out and get access to catalogs that have the best prices. Many stores put many Thanksgiving items on sale which people benefit from almost every year. Many apps can help you get in touch with stores and the different discounts offered by them. Items like different spices, stuffing, butter, mashed potatoes and many other items become affordable during the season
Store Fresh Herbs
When you are shopping early, you are supposed to think about storing your herbs and other goods very sensibly. Many fresh herbs lose their freshness before it is time for them to get cooked. Soft herbs like cilantro, tarragon, dill, basil, parsley, mint and others should be stored like a bouquet. You should get them trimmed from their ends and you can stick them in a vase or bottle with water. Do not store them at a place where they might contact with direct sunlight.
For hard herbs like oregano and others, put them in a damp paper towel in airtight containers inside your refrigerator. This will provide them with enough moisture where they can stay fresh for a long time.
Be Smart While Shopping For Your Turkey
There are so many stores that might offer free turkeys to customers who spend a certain amount on their stores and also put turkeys for a discounted price as well when you use your loyalty points. This can be very helpful for you if you want to save money on buying a turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner.
You can always buy more turkey if you have a big freezer for use after Thanksgiving as well. Different stores allow one family to buy one turkey only which makes things difficult for smaller families to get discounts and such offers. You can ask your friends and family to make things easy for you and buy for you. This way you can buy more turkeys at a lower price and use turkeys throughout the year. Also, you will find frozen turkeys less pricey than fresh ones. You can buy frozen ones and thaw them for 24 hours and use them.
In the end, one can say that being a little creative for Thanksgiving and following a few tips and tricks like the ones mentioned above can help you save a lot of money. If you are someone who wants to spend less and save more on different necessities for Thanksgiving, then it is a good idea to use different apps as well. Different apps can notify you about different stores and the discounts offered during the festive season.