How to Plan for Thanksgiving on a Budget

Thanksgiving in the US is in four weeks, and it can be a very expensive endeavor. Here are some ways you can still throw a tasty feast for family and friends without going into the red.

The free Thanksgiving dinner items from Ibotta start 11/3/26, with a new item dropping weekly.

In the past, these free items have included: stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy mix, pie, instant mashed potatoes, and cornbread mix.

Many other cashback apps will partner with companies to offer cashback and discounts on traditional holiday meal ingredients as well. I recommend you check out my app page here to download a few of my favorites.

Aldi is doing their Thanksgiving meal deal again this year! This contains all of the ingredients for a dinner for 10 people for $39.00! It’s a really great way to save money and have a traditional feast menu.

Start by making your menu. Not all dinners are the same. Some Thanksgiving meals include foods from a family’s cultural background, while others stick to the traditional Thanksgiving foods. After your menu is made, shop your kitchen before you head to the store. You may already have some ingredients on hand. Instead of buying everything all at once, buy a few items on your weekly trip to the store. This spreads out the expense of the meal over several weeks.

Consider a potluck meal. Ask friends and family members to bring a side or dessert. Friends who are not culinarily inclined can be asked to bring drinks.

Forgo expensive dishes or dishes that are not very popular (looking at you, green bean casserole. I’m not a fan).

If you are having a small dinner or don’t want leftovers, consider a roasted chicken instead of a whole turkey, or a turkey breast. Both are smaller and more cost-effective.

 

Talk Back- How do you save money on traditional holiday dinners?

 

2/3/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgToday is my birthday, we will be redeeming a lot of my birthday freebies with this week. Little Girl and I will be enjoying a free lunch many times, as we can still share an entree.

My shopping week for this week was small:

  • Cheese
  • Avocados (Always on the shopping list)
  • Milk
  • Fresh Rolls (The local Food4Less makes incredible rolls and at .25/each, they are a tasty bargain)

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian (well, the big kid is, but the rest of us aren’t), but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

Breakfast: I’ve gone back to a protein shake or coffee with a scoop of protein powder and a few pumps of Sugar Free Syrup for me, and pancakes or something along those lines (Dave’s Killer Bagels are also a popular request for breakfast) for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch. Usually on pizza day.

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For dinner, when we’ve got busy days (like Mondays), I’ll try and put something in the crockpot in the morning, or pull something I’ve already prepped out that can be quickly cooked. We’ve got a bunch of stuff in the freezer, as I’ve been portioning out 2-3 adult-sized entree portions from several meals a week and freezing them for later meals.

  • Monday: Birthday Dinner (Not quite sure what this will entail)
  • Tuesday: Vegetable Soup- We’ve got a lot of little bits of veggies in the freezer and fridge- Time for soup!
  • Wednesday: Frozen Entrees
  • Thursday: Roasted Chicken and Veg
  • Friday:   Veggie Stir Fry & Brown Rice (We didn’t end up having this last week)
  • Saturday: Pizza
  • Sunday:  Leftover fiesta!

 

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?