No sweat: Simple ways to to ease your anxiety and help save on Thanksgiving food costs this year

Thanksgiving is a marvelous holiday—but not always for our wallets. This year, however, the financial stress (including lingering inflation) doesn’t have to break the bank. 

Salon spoke with financial, food and grocery experts to gather the best tips for a budget-friendly celebration.

Prep smarter, not harder

Anya Obrez, of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), suggests starting with portion planning. The NRDC’s free digital tool, the “Guest-imator,” can help estimate serving sizes. Obrez also advises shopping with a detailed list and sticking to it.

“Making an apple pie? Skip the peeler,” Obrez said. “Those peels are nutrient-dense and taste great in pie! I like to keep a ‘stock bag’ in my freezer where I collect vegetable and meat trimmings to make stock.”

For post-shopping strategies, Obrez recommends serving smaller portions: “Start with a smaller plate. If anyone is still hungry after the first pass, they can always go back for seconds.” She also suggests encouraging guests to bring reusable containers for leftovers.

Smart storage, she adds, can extend shelf life and reduce waste. Tools like the NRDC’s Save the Food storage guide can help, as can understanding date labels. “With the exception of infant formula, most of the date labels are generally indicators of when food will be at its peak quality and is still perfectly good to eat,” Obrez explained.

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Shopping for savings

Despite inflation, Thanksgiving may cost less this year, according to Dr. Michael Swanson, chief agriculture economist at the Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute. In many categories, name-brand products are priced similarly — or even lower — than store brands, giving shoppers flexibility.

Swanson suggests shopping early to take advantage of retailer deals, opting for store-brand stuffing, and taking advantage of stable year-over-year turkey prices. He also noted that cranberries are cheaper than last year.

For additional savings, consider a potluck-style dinner. “Have friends and family closest to retailers offering the best deals scoop up those items,” he said. 

Swanson also encouraged cooking from scratch when possible. 

“It’s always cheaper to go with foods that need a bigger investment of time,” he said. “A shopper who doesn’t want to go through the hassle of buying ingredients for a salad [might] go for a packaged mix, even if it’s more expensive – but they can then look other places to save on cost where they enjoy cooking from scratch.”

Turkey talk

Shoppers aren’t required to buy a whole turkey. If dark meat is your preference, turkey thighs and drumsticks are an option. If you love white meat, turkey breasts can suffice.

Josh Kobert, senior content marketer at FinanceBuzz, noted that turkey prices vary widely based on factors like freshness and preparation style. 

“For the sake of consistency and accurate comparisons across stores, we limit our analysis to prices for a single style and brand of turkey, which is a whole frozen Butterball,” he said. “Butterball may be the biggest name in turkey, but they are by no means the only one and birds from other suppliers may be more or less expensive, depending on things like how the turkey was raised, how it was prepared and more.” 

Turkey prices are down compared to 2022 and 2023, he said, thanks to lower feed costs and better industry planning following avian flu outbreaks in previous years.

Kobert’s top tip? Do your research. “With the rise of online shopping apps and websites it is incredibly easy to do comparison shopping from the comfort of your couch and find the best price for any and all side dishes or ingredients you may need for your Thanksgiving meal,” he said. 

No matter your approach, here’s hoping your Thanksgiving is warm, celebratory, and — above all — thankful.