If you've ever thought about how to prep and save money for Thanksgiving, this blog post is for you. There are 6 tips to prep for a budget friendly Thanksgiving. It covers everything from grocery shopping ideas to food prepping tips. With some planning and patience, you too can enjoy the holiday.
I have wonderful memories from growing up and spending Thanksgiving with my family. My parents hosted it every year at our home. They made it such a wonderful event for all of us. There was always wonderful food and most importantly, it brought our loved ones together. My parents would serve the turkey, some of the side items and the drinks. Our family that came over would each bring a side dish or a dessert. It was a day of being thankful, enjoying one another's company and having a wonderful feast.
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends and good food. But as the hostess with most of the responsibility, it can also be stressful to plan everything from the menu to cleaning up afterwards. Planning for a holiday feast is no easy feat. Here's 6 tips that will help you prepare for a Thanksgiving meal and stay within your budget.
Hosting
Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year at your home or even at perhaps maybe a clubhouse where you live? This task may seem a bit overwhelming considering all of the preparation that is involved. But there are many things that can help save you time and money.

Time saving tips
- Consider using disposable plates, cups, cutlery, tablecloths and napkins to save time on clean up. You could choose a solid color or a fun fall or Thanksgiving pattern.
- Delegate each family member with a task. Some examples may include: making sure there are enough chairs for everyone, setting up extra tables if needed, checking to make sure there are enough plates, utensils and cups for everyone, games to set out for if anyone would like to play them. Delegating tasks helps you to save time and gives you that time to focus on other things for the day.
- Make sure you have enough room for all of your food in your refrigerator and freezer. There is nothing like having all of the wonderful leftovers, sharing some and then not having any room for your leftovers to keep and scrambling to try and make some space for them.
These may not seem like big things to do, but realizing with very little time left that you may be short on something can cause panic and last minute running around to get what you need.
Also, having games on hand is something extra to have for added enjoyment. Consider the ages that will be visiting and aim to try and have a couple of options for each age group. Such as games for children, teens and adults.
If any part seems overwhelming remember there are always people who want to lend a helping hand!
Plan ahead
Take advantage of the time you have before the holiday to plan ahead. This can help you to be prepared on the day of Thanksgiving. Planning can also help you to be able to enjoy yourself too during this joyful holiday. The feeling of knowing what you will be making, what others may be bringing and making lists of groceries and your menu are just some of the ways that can help you to feel more prepared. Although there is a lot to do, not saving everything to do for the last minute is very beneficial and can help you to feel more relaxed amongst all you are doing.
Planning ahead can also help you to avoid multiple and last minute trips to the grocery store. Also by not going the last minute increases our chances of being able to get all of the things that we need for our feast.
Money saving tips
- Before the holidays some grocery stores tend to have sales on items that are popular serving this time of year for the holidays. This can help us stay within our budget and not overspend. As you make your holiday menu, check out your grocery store ads to see if any of the items you need are on sale.
- Be sure to look and see if you have any coupons for your items on your list.
- Consider making several dishes from scratch. This can be a money saver.

Side dishes and desserts
Planning a meal especially for a holiday can be very expensive. If you are hosting and provide the main dish, some of the sides, and drinks it is okay to ask your guests to bring something too. Sometimes we may feel guilty for asking others to bring something. Usually people are more than happy to help bring something especially if you are hosting and providing the majority of the feast.
This helps our guests to feel like they have shared in the preparation a little bit. Which of coarse they have. This will help you to save time in the kitchen by not having to prepare or cook quite as many dishes. It will also help you to save money when others are helping out with the food.
Prep Time
There are many things that we can do to help prep for the holiday and for our guests before the big day comes. If everyone in your family helps out around the house before the day that your guests arrive this will make for less stress on you not having to do it all yourself. Another benefit of not waiting until the day of to prepare your home for guests is that you will have more time to relax on the holiday.
Another thing to prep is some of the food you will be serving. Ask yourself what can be made ahead of time. You could make a Thanksgiving meal prep schedule. An option to possibly add to the schedule is preparing some of the dishes and freezing them ahead of time. Double check first to make sure the dish can be frozen. Some items may not always freeze well.
Time for You
You’ve made your list, checked it twice, and are ready to tackle the Thanksgiving dinner planning. But before you go full steam ahead with your plan, make sure you take a little time for yourself. You should be able to have an enjoyable holiday too.
Sometimes with all of the hustle and bustle it can be easy to not take a little time to relax ourselves. Whether that be watching a festive movie, reading a good book or even taking a little nap. You are important too and deserve to not get overwhelmed either. Take some time for you.
Conclusion
The holidays can get expensive so it's important to plan ahead. I hope you’ve enjoyed all of these tips for hosting a budget-friendly Thanksgiving meal. And most importantly, remember to enjoy your time with friends and family this holiday season!
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