Cards and Coupons
Make the most of any store coupons. Card members can make great savings with "buy one get one free" offers, reduced-price-per-pound turkeys if your grocery bill reaches a certain threshold, and more besides.Think Small … or Big
With turkey, buy only the size you need. Or buy bigger than you need. Now that sounds like oddly conflicting advice. But think of it this way: if you're a family of four, perhaps you really only need a turkey breast, which will feed you all handsomely and allow a day or two's worth of leftovers, without waste. Breast meat also happens to be low fat, which will help keep your diet on track. Don't forget to remove the skin!The case for buying a bigger bird is if your family loves turkey, and is happy to enjoy leftovers in various forms for more than a day or two—bearing in mind that leftover turkey or some of the dishes you choose to make subsequently can be frozen. If you're able to make a number of meals from one bird, down to using the carcass for soup, then it's obviously a worthwhile investment.
Of course, if your crowd aren't that keen on turkey, period, think about serving a roast chicken or a lean pork loin, which may save you both money and waste. Both chicken and pork loin are great low-fat options.
One Potato …
Cut down on side dishes. Just because you can have two or three kinds of potato dish, doesn't mean you should. There's no point serving a sweet potato casserole if only one family member is likely to eat it. Conversely, if everyone loves sweet potato casserole, you don't need to offer mashed potatoes too.Veg Out
The same goes for other vegetables. Just because green bean casserole is synonymous with a Thanksgiving or holiday dinner, it doesn't mean you must prepare one, especially if it's something many of your guests don't care for. If you really don't think anyone will eat Brussels sprouts, don’t buy them.Fresh or frozen? It's up to you, so see where the best deals are. Remember that any fresh produce that's been trimmed or cut, will be more expensive.
From Scratch
Make your own stuffing and gravy. Day-old bread may be cheaper than bags or boxes of stuffing mix. You can control the fat content by making good use of fat-free broths (or skimming juices from the bird), leaving out sausage meat from the stuffing, and omitting butter.Save money by making your own pies instead of buying pre-made ones. This means you can also control the ingredients, perhaps choosing fat-free evaporated milk, sugar substitute, less or even no butter. Do you need both a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie? Perhaps you do, but if you know most of your guests prefer one kind over another, then opt for that one.
