With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s time to start planning your holiday! During the holidays, it seems that we end up spending much more than usual. Sometimes, it’s not really do-able with a strict budget, though. If you’re wanting to save money and host a frugal Thanksgiving, this guide will help you do that!

How to Have a Frugal Thanksgiving

Entertainment

Of course, one of the biggest parts of Thanksgiving is having your family over. Naturally, providing a dinner and entertainment for a large group of people can get pretty costly. Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need to purchase anything new for entertainment. If you have board games, use them! If you don’t, maybe shop some yard sales and see what kind of fun activities you can find to use for your frugal Thanksgiving dinner! Most people appreciate a good family game night, and having lots of people over for Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to get people together to play games!

Food

If you’re having a smaller get together or you have a calmer crowd that wouldn’t be interested in playing games, the primary focus will definitely be the food. While it’s true that your choice of protein is going to take a chunk of change out of your wallet, you can most definitely save on side dishes for your frugal Thanksgiving. Firstly, if you’re going to make stuffing or dressing, try to avoid prepackaged bread squares. Ultimately, you’ll end up paying more for the convenience, when you could actually just do it yourself! All you’ve got to do is set out some bread a few days prior and let it dry out. Then, you cut the squares and mix them with whatever you use, just as you would with the prepackaged bread! You’ll find that it turns out just as good, if not better, and you save a ton of money by purchasing a loaf or two of bread.

Shop Local

Lastly, don’t forget to shop locally when you can. This goes for turkeys, hams, produce, and more! Anything you can find locally is typically going to be cheaper because your local farmers are in competition with mass retailers, and thus usually have better prices to allow them to stay in business. As an added bonus, everything is fresh and grown right in your “backyard”! Fresh food and great prices are extremely hard to beat. Additionally, if you can’t afford to make a huge dinner for all of your guests, ask each guest to bring a side dish of their choice. This helps ensure you have a frugal Thanksgiving and it also gives you a chance to breathe and relax on Thanksgiving day!