The good news for Thanksgiving 2023 is that food costs are down compared to last year. The American Farm Bureau estimates you can feed Thanksgiving dinner to a family of 10 this year for $61.17 compared with $64.05 act year.
But if you’re a smart shopper, you can drive your costs down even more. To do that:
- Start with a plan
- Scan weekly good ads (online these days) to find what’s on special for Thanksgiving.
- Create your meal, and your shopping list, based on local sale items.
- Be flexible to get deals. If green beans are on sale but broccoli is not, go with the beans, for example.
- Scout a variety of stores to get the lowest price turkey (keep salt content in mind).
- Do in-store math to see if deals are really deals. I found that potatoes on sale at 99 cents a pound were not a deal compared to a five-pound bag that averaged out to 89 cents a pound, for example.
- Tie-in other shopping deals to lower your bill. I got my flu shot at a Jewel pharmacy, for example, to Get a 10% off grocery coupon I used for my Thanksgiving shopping. I shopped at a second supermarket on its senior day (Tuesday) to get 10% off my bill there as well. Plus I had a $5 off certificate there I had earned by using its frequent shopper app. At Jewel, I had amassed enough rewards in its shopper app to get an additional $4 off my bill.
Take a look at my Thanksgiving shopping receipt from our local Jewel supermarket to see how all these steps can add up to big savings. I saved 47% off full-price. Almost everything I bought was on sale, a result of pre-planning before I left for the supermarket.
Happy shopping and Happy Thanksgiving!
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