If you are planning to host thanksgiving this year and you are stressed out about your budget worry no more. I have the perfect strategy to ensure that you plan a great party and stay on budget. Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be an elaborate extravaganza for it to be special. It is possible to host thanksgiving on a budget and enjoy it with family and friends.
The first thing you must think about is how many guests you are inviting. This will determine how much food, snacks and drinks you should prepare. The number of people coming will impact how much you need to spend. To plan thanksgiving on a budget you need to know who is coming. Begin to send out invitations and request that they RSVP. A simple text message should be enough.
The second thing you should do is to set up a rough menu for Thanksgiving Day. Sure, you’ll have the usual trappings such as Turkey, but you’ll also need to serve side dishes. Start to plan out what you’ll serve so that you can have a starting budget for the party. The trick is to keep the menu simple. I typically start out with the number of guests I mentioned and then I do an estimate of how much food they will consume based on my menu for the day. To plan thanksgiving on a budget don’t go in blind because this leads to wastage when you buy too much food.
Once you have figured out how many people are coming and what you will feed them you can now start to strategize on how to keep costs down without compromising on quality.
5 Steps to Plan Thanksgiving on a Budget
Table of Contents
1. Make a budget
Create a budget and stick to it. Everybody’s budget will be different because the number of people coming, and the food will differ. The trick here is to set an absolute number that you plan to stick to. If you plan to spend $15 on each guest that’s what you should stick to. Don’t blow your budget to where you find yourself spending $50 on each guest because you bought things you didn’t need or hadn’t planned on. Remember if you make a plan you will include the essentials to avoid missing out on the must haves for Thanksgiving Day.
2. Keep it simple
Thanksgiving at the end of the day is about family, friends and eating a lot of food. Give yourself a mental break and keep things simple. From decorations to the food try and create an experience that is memorable without going overboard.
There are plenty of DIY decorations that you can get on Pinterest that will save you tons of money. As for the food focus on quality over quantity. Plan to cook things you know well and pair them together for a great dining experience. Your guests will eat what you serve and while you shouldn’t scale back too much you want to ensure they leave full.
The idea is that you don’t have to have a seven-course meal. Serve a couple of entrees that pair well with the Turkey, some dessert and appetizers which can be finger foods before the main course.
3. Start shopping early
I don’t mean that you buy the turkey weeks ahead, but you can start looking around for sales for all the other stuff in your menu. If you are planning on decorating check to see if items that are on your list are on sale. Save money by buying the main thanksgiving stuff a week before especially to avoid the last-minute crowds. As you plan out sides and desserts think about the food that is in season because it will always be cheaper.
Bigger turkeys are usually cheaper specifically the store brand ones. A 20-pound turkey for instance can serve about 20 people which leaves room for extras. If you like organic this may be a splurge for you. Another great tip is to buy frozen turkey. It will be as good as fresh turkey and they are usually almost 30 to 40 percent cheaper.
4. Cook most of the food yourself
Where possible cook the food yourself and avoid the pre-cooked stuff. It’s convenient to buy prepared food but there’s always a premium on things like that. You can do a comparison test yourself by checking how much it would cost you to make a fruit salad for your family from scratch verses buying a premade much smaller one. This will assist you in planning thanksgiving on a budget because it will give you a rough idea of what you need.
You can start prepping early by cutting and storing some of your menu items the night before. Ask your family to help as well where possible. Also remember to keep it simple for your own peace of mind.
5. Potluck the Alcohol
I am not a fan of asking my friends or family to bring food to an event I am hosting. I think it may be a little tacky. However, if you can take responsibility for all the major food items you can ask your friends and family to bring the alcohol. Alcohol is a big budget item and most people don’t mind BYOB. Ask them to bring a bottle of wine or whatever they prefer to drink. This way you don’t have to worry about what everyone likes to drink.
A Simple Thanksgiving Menu
So now that you have a plan on how to keep costs down ensure that you have a basic thanksgiving menu to host a successful party.
Roasted Turkey
I love this roasted turkey recipe for lifemadesweeter that yield about 12 servings. This turkey takes about 4 hours to cook so you can get it in the oven as soon as you wake up and get on with prepping everything else. I challenge you to cook it and send me photos of how it comes out.
Remember to thaw your turkey if you bought a frozen one. This takes 2 to 3 days.
Mashed Potatoes
Make a simple side dish with creamy mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes because they aren’t hard to make. Boil mashed potatoes and add some salt in the water. Once they are done mash them up add some pepper, butter, milk and sour cream. That’s it!
Check out this easy recipe here.
Sweet Potato Casserole
This sweet potato casserole is not anywhere close to being low-carb but it is a delectable casserole that will be great for dessert. It is extremely filling and not difficult to make. Find the recipe here for this yummy 40-minute casserole.
Salad
I would make a salad just to add some acidity to all this food that we are making. Pick fresh ingredients for your salad and again keep it simple. Throw together fresh ingredients like apples, berries, greens and pecans. Toss together with a light dressing and serve as a side. You can add goat cheese for a little more flavor.
Bread Stuffing
Go for a classic stuffing because all the flavors of the turkey will just enhance it. For this I would simply get bread, celery, chicken stalk, eggs, onions, garlic, rosemary, butter, olive oil and pepper.
Tear the bread up and let it sit out for a while to dry. I would do this in the morning after putting the turkey in the oven. A few hours later chop up the onions, garlic and the celery. Melt the butter in a pot and add the chopped onions, garlic and celery. Add salt and water. Cook for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, assuming the oven is still hot making sure that it is preheated at 425F.
Mix the eggs and the chicken stalk together. Place the bread in a bowl and add the eggs and chicken mix. Next add the onions and celery mix. Mix everything up and then add the chopped rosemary. Put everything in a baking dish and cook for 30 minutes.
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauces aren’t hard to make which is why you should DIY as opposed to buying a premade sauce. It takes about 20 minutes to make a great sauce and as few as 3 ingredients! Check this recipe out.
Pie
Last but certainly not least is your thanksgiving pie. I am not a great baker, so keeping everything extremely simple is important. Dessert is the probably the best part of any meal. I know I said that you shouldn’t buy premade but if you struggle like me and you know that the results won’t be great : ( save yourself the hustle and buy a pie from your favorite bakery.
Alternatively, if you have a friend or family who loves to bake ask them if they would like to bring one. I like to recognize my strengths and my weaknesses and baking is a definite weakness.
The key takeaways to planning thanksgiving on a budget are to start planning early, find out how many guests are coming, prepare a menu, shop for deals, cook most of the food yourself, DIY what you can, set a budget and stick to it, ask for help if you need it and most of all keep it simple.
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