By Rebecca

November 24, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this

Yes, it can be expensive. When we have Thanksgiving in Alabama, everyone who comes brings something so it is not a great burden for any one. However when I host Thanksgiving, I wind up footing most of the bill—turkey & all the trimmings— and my husband’s family usually only brings a few side dishes, so it does not really help that much (my mother-in-law said she would bring rolls.) Even though we have fewer people coming, the work and expense is pretty much the same whether you feed 9 or 25. But the way I look at it is we don’t get together that often and as I told my husband “life does not last forever and we need to make the most of the time we have”, so even though it’s expensive, it’s worth it. I make just about everything from scratch, so no pre-prepared items. I may have to scrimp on decorating. We’ll see how the money goes! Publix has cranberries 2 for 1! Sales help a lot!

By Dan

November 25, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this

Thanksgiving dinner is one of the cheapest you can make. Hit the farmers market for the produce and get a turkey on sale at Kroger and you can do it for $2-$3 per person. Most people spend more on the extras but lets be real. In general we suffer from the cost of high living not the high cost of living. Actually the fact that you can still prepare a nice meal for so many people so cheaply should provide perspective for us all, people need to distinguish between want and need

By Anne

November 25, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this

Wow, people actually rent plates & cutlery for family get togethers at home? Must be nice to be able to splurge like that.

Anyhoo, supermarket sales do help a lot and were key for me this year.

I’ve been watching circulars all month for sales & this week Publix finally came through with a lot of the stuff I needed. Friends who live near stores with sale items I need pick up stuff for me & vice vesra so we can both get the best deals. I also clip coupons regularly and saved about $30.00 thus far, which isn’t much in the grand scheme but beats a blank.

We scaled back on some things this year, for example instead of having candy sweet potatos AND sweet potato pie, I’ll only make the pie. Instead of having 2-4 vegetable choices, we’ll only do 1. Instead of having 3-4 desserts, we’ll only do 2.

By SP

November 25, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this

Since gas is cheaper this year, I’ll sponge off a relative or go to Cracker Barrel. Usually I would be going to Turner Field for Hosea’s free meal.

By lovelyliz

November 25, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this

Nobody coming over like dark meat so I planned on doing two turkey breasts instead of the whole bird. I got sticker shock the first place I looked. A single bone-in, skin on turkey breast costs as much as a whole bird that still has two. Ditto for the other 3 stores I looked at. I ended up buying a whole bird at Costco.

As for cutting elsewhere, we are preparing few sides and the ham will have to wait until Christmas. There will still be plenty to eat just less to cook and buy.

By lovleigh

November 25, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

Sorry lovelyliz didn’t mean to copy your name but hey it’s pretty cool and works well with mine.

We went to dad’s in Alabama this past weekend, had a great time and it didn’t look like my step mother cut back at all. Lots of great food even if some of the company wasn’t so hot, lol.

We’ll be going to hubby’s brother’s house on Friday but will cook our Thanksgiving here at home on Thursday. Only me, hubby, 2 kids and grandkids and we are cutting back a little, 2 vegies (instead of 3-4), 1 dessert that everyone likes instead of 2-3 that only 1-2 people like.

We’ll be cutting back big on Christmas gifts and dinner though. Usually have 15-20 here and am opting out of that this year. Not just because of cash crunch but fatigue. Same small group for Christmas dinner and others over before or after Christmas for desserts and fellowship.

By clyde

November 25, 2008 2:17 PM | Link to this

As stated before,we are opting out this year.The bride and I will be staying home.It will be a no cost day.

By lovelyliz

November 25, 2008 2:21 PM | Link to this

lovleigh

There is no copyright on cute blog names so have at it. As for cutting back at Christmas, I’ve already had to cut back to immediate family only. No problem with most because they understand too.

By Toopster

November 25, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this

We are not having anyone over to dinner, we invited some neighbors, who opted to go out. We like staying home, so we’ll cook the full meal for the two of us, (small turkey, 2 veggies, mashed potatoes, dressing, sweet potato casserole)and home made cranberry sauce and just eat that for the next 4 days or so in different variations. We’ll also freeze some of it to enjoy later. It’s still cheap—about $25—the cost of a meal out at a restaurant, but we’ll get several. There is just something nice about spending this holiday at home. Your house is warm, it smells great…I can’t imagine going out for it.

By Pamela

November 25, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this

For Thanksgiving it will just be me and my immediate family. I will not have any body over for dinner or dessert. Things are way too tight to do so. We also are not going to drive too far to anyones home. Too far for me this season is over 5 miles. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

By MamaS

November 25, 2008 9:43 PM | Link to this

I am using all last year’s decorations. The plates will be mis-matched. The food won’t be fancy - the only splurge was a cheesecake from Publix. The immediate family will be the only guests. But, we are all here, we still have roofs over our heads, cars in our garages, reasonably good health and wonderful, intelligent children. The governor did not take away our retired teacher cost of living raises and (so far) no one has lost their job. We have a lot to be thankful for — as my late father said each year “Everyone seated at this table IS a reason to be thankful and HAS a reason to be thankful.” God bless us, every one!