Tips for an Inexpensive Thanksgiving Celebration

Thanksgiving can be an expensive affair. The cost of a turkey large enough to feed the family alone can put a severe dent in your budget. Here are a few tips for a fun, inexpensive Thanksgiving celebration:

Write a menu plan and stick to it. Plan on how how much food you will need based on how many will be attending. This helps to avoid overbuying.

Organize a Pot Luck. Has Aunt Tilly offered to bring a side dish? Let her. If lots of relatives and friends are attending, arrange a potluck. Every one can bring their favorite side dish.

Cheap produce still makes delicious sides. Don't worry about making your meal a 5 star affair with things like caviar or fancy mushrooms in your recipes. There are a lot of great mashed potato recipes out there to fancy up your meal.

Not normally a fan of bulk retailers like Sam's Club? Make an exception for your Thanksgiving feast. There's no better time than Thanksgiving to buy big bags of potatoes or frozen veggies, or cases of drinks.

Use coupons. You won't believe the savings. Click here to browse the available coupons. Match them to items that you are willing to try . There are currently some great ones for Thanksgiving favorites.

Decorate and set your table cheaply by hitting your local dollar store for colorful napkins and turkey centerpieces. Also if you have children let them make hand print turkey place mats using just paper and paint. Your guests will probably appreciate seeing your child's work of art. Or go here or here for instructions on how to fold your napkins into turkeys.

Is entertaining a problem? Burn some dinner music from online site that offer free downloads, or preselect your favorites from your CD collection and condense them into one CD. Will there be lots of kids in attendance? Rent a children's movie form Redbox (just $1 a day per rental) or print out coloring sheets for them to color right at the children's table. Break out the board games for an after dinner fun fest.

Have a fun and inexpensive Thanksgiving!

Have ideas and tips of your own. We would love to hear them.