My Top 10 Tips to Host an Affordable Thanksgiving Dinner {Frugal Friday 3}

Hiiii frugal friends! It’s week 3 of Frugal Friday and I’m just in time before you get shopping, chopping and preparing for the biggest meal of the year — Thanksgiving (!!!) — with my last minute tips to host an affordable Thanksgiving dinner…

Although I’ve never actually hosted Thanksgiving mahhhself, I’ve witnessed how much work goes into it from my mom and can only imagine! I’ve hosted my fair share of other shindigs, and I know that they can get expensive! I don’t know about you, but my perfectionism always comes out when I’m trying to be the hostess with the mostest, and that can easily mean going over budget.

If you’ve missed weeks 1 and 2 of #FrugalFriday, be sure to check out even more tips to live a nutritious AND delicious AND affordable life HERE and HERE! 

So without further ado, before you head to the supermarket this weekend, here are my tips on how to host an affordable Thanksgiving Dinner…

1. PLAN AHEAD! Thanksgiving is now less than a week away, but you still have time! Phew! If you walk into a supermarket without a plan you’ll likely BUY. EVERYTHING. Because that’s exactly what the supermarket wants you to do!

Planning your menu and making a shopping list BEFORE you hit the store can save you major dough and prevent those last minute, ‘I’ll just run to the more expensive bodega/specialty shop/ya’ll have one more expensive shop in town across the street to grab X’ type of situations.

2. Buy in bulk and stretch your menu. If you’re having less than 10 people for dinner it may seem silly to shop at a buy-in-bulk discount type of store that sells you a gazillion of something on the cheap, BUT, if you’re smart about it, you can use the same item in a couple of different ways so you’re not wasting and saving money.

For example, you can buy 10 pounds of carrots on the cheap, either at your farmer’s market or bulk discount store, and make roasted carrots with herbs and a slightly sweeter side dish, carrot pudding and no one is going to be sick of carrots because they’re two totally different dishes!

Here are some other twofers…

• Think cranberry sauce and cranberry quick bread.
• Or apple pie and roasted apples in a salad (and baked apples too!)
• Or sweet potato pie (ya know, with the marshmallows) and baked sweet potato chips to dip into hummus (or whatever else) as an appetizer. 

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3. Choose a dish that can go really far. I’m a huge fan of grain salads, and they’re the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving because 1) these days you likely have a vegan at the table, so grain salads will fill em up (hi dad!), and 2) you can hit up the bulk bin aisle of your supermarket (or amazon prime that, durrrr) and stock up on a nutritious whole grain for almost nothing. We’re talking farro, quinoa, brown rice and more!

4. Embrace the ultimate potluck meal and ACCEPT HELP. If I’ve seen one thing from my mom host holiday after holiday it’s that she loves to do it all herself. And she does it flawlessly…she’s superwoman…but we’re not all as lucky to have her incredible planning, organizing, cooking and entertaining chops. Most guests actually LIKE to bring SOMETHING, such as wine or dessert, and that can really help you cut down on your costs.

5. Thank nature and use it to decorate your table. I’ve seen some GORGEOUS table scapes on Pinterest for the holidays and I alllllwaysss want to re-create them, but the truth is that I don’t have lots of tablecloths and napkins or even dishes ((hellooooo, I have a food blog so I have exactly 2 of everything!)). But making a beautiful table doesn’t have to mean you own tons of stuff!

Here are some of my favorite ideas:

• Colleen used craft paper as her tablecloth and outlined plates and wrote everyone’s name with a marker as place cards. Add a branch from outside, some candles you have lying around the house, and voila…a beauty!
• Use leaves, acorns, pumpkins, etc that you can get fo free, like Kristen did here! If you really have free time on your hands, or crafty teens at home, you can make this twig runner that I am officially obsessed with!
• Use leftovers for your table. Although this may be a little stressful because you’re waiting until the last minute, you can do wonders with some leftover green beans!

6. Use every part of the produce you buy! Making an acorn squash salad? Then roast the seeds for a delicious appetizer…not a thing wasted and two dishes for the price of one! BOOM.

7. DIY! Making your own cranberry sauce instead of buying the pre-made (canned) stuff not only tastes better and is better for you, but it’s cheaper! And then you can re-purpose cranberries for something else (see tip #2 above!). Also, putting in a little bit more time (ugh, I knowwwwww) can save you a pretty penny by cutting your own squash, spiralizing your own veggies, etc!

Also, DIY on the baked goods…A store-bought frozen pie crust is a lifesaver, BUT if you’re trying to save some green, making your own is the way to go. This goes for quick breads and desserts too (or just service those out to your guests — see tip #4!).

8. Shop in-season and shop local. Not only will the produce be full of more nutritious bang for your buck (it’s likely fresher when you shop local!), but you’ll likely get a good deal too…and don’t be afraid to (try and) negotiate.

9. Don’t forget the apps! Appetizers are a great place to save a dime, help your guests fill up so then technically you likely need a smaller bird and less of everything else (except maybe the wine!).

Some of my favorites…

Sesame-Free White Bean Hummus
Pomegranate Salsa
Baked Sweet Potato Latkes
Roasted Red Pepper Mung Bean Dip

10. Shop off-peak times, preferably at the end of the day. You won’t only avoid crowds by going to the supermarket at 9pm, but the bakery may give you leftover (going stale) bread (helloooo stuffing!) for less than $1 a loaf because they’re not going to sell it the next day. #winning

And there you have it…10 ways your Thanksgiving meal can be delicious, nutritious AND affordable! Oh and here’s a bonus number 11… stretch a dime by making Thanksgiving SANGRIA, instead of using bottles of wine! 🙂

Cheers to that! 

Do you have any affordable entertaining tips?! I’d love to hear from you!
XO

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Looking for more Thanksgiving recipes?! 

PS – Stay tuned for next week’s #FrugalFriday where I’m sharing incredible ways to use LEFTOVERS!!!!