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Save Money and Actually Enjoy Your Thanksgiving

November 5, 2014 by Cat

Wild TurkeyIf you’re a reader of my other blog, Budget Blonde, you might know that I am not the biggest fan of holidays. I know I know, I am a such a scrooge, but I have good reasons for it. Just to name a few:

1. People get so stressed around the holidays. Admit it if you’ve cried at least once over holiday stress.

2. You’re always going to disappoint someone. You can’t see every grandmother, uncle, and cousin on both sides of the family and your spouse’s family. You will go crazy. And yet, whatever choice you make, it always seems like the wrong choice. Even if you stick to your guns and try to enjoy time with your own little family well, that makes someone mad too. In sum, you can’t win.

3. The holidays cause people to spend money they would have never dreamed of spending any other time of year.

4. The holidays cause people to eat food they would never eat at any other time of year.

I know that generosity, love, and spirituality are also associated with the holiday season, but I feel like more people are worried about “donating” their money to Black Friday sales than they are about anything else.

So, a few ideas on how to save money and actually enjoy your Thanksgiving:

1. Travel and Skip It

I don’t mean to actually skip it and pretend Thanksgiving never happened, but consider some alternatives. What about taking a family trip and eating Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant? You won’t have to worry about the stress of cooking, and you get to enjoy seeing a new place. My family did this for several years, and the destination was always a surprise. We often didn’t know where we were going until we got to the airport.

2. Have it Catered

I recently saw an ad in the paper for a fully cooked Thanksgiving meal for 12 people for $99. That’s pretty amazing. If you do that, you can spend time making some side dishes or desserts that your family loves without having to stress about having to cook 14 things in two days.

3. Enjoy it With Friends

The last few Thanksgiving dinners I had were spent in Grenada. I had them with friends and co-workers and people from all different countries and walks of life. Not that I don’t love my family, but those dinners were some of the most interesting and memorable Thanksgivings I’ve ever had. If you have a friend from out of the country or you’re living away from family like we are, then consider having a meal with people outside of your immediate family.

This Thanksgiving, we are actually doing a combination of everything. Our children are getting baptized the Saturday after Thanksgiving so both sides of our family are coming up since their God parents are 4 of our siblings. All of us are having Thanksgiving dinner together at a restaurant. So, there will be some family time, but no one has to stress about cooking. All in all, I’d call that a win.

What are your Thanksgiving plans?

13 thoughts on “Save Money and Actually Enjoy Your Thanksgiving”

  1. amen, sister! I hate the holidays (but I love them, too). I always feel so so rushed. And I have an aunt who is obsessed with wanting me to participate in that annoying Elf on the Shelf. But Thanksgiving, we will have a quiet dinner at home. Family will fly in the following day. Same for Christmas.

    1. Right!? It’s a love/hate thing for sure! Yeah I just don’t know about Elf on the Shelf. Who made that up anyway and why can’t we think of something like that? It’s just one more thing to do. Like I said, I’m a Scrooge!

  2. Holidays have definitely changed for me and my mom since my dad passed away. The three of us used to have Thanksgiving at home but now, on Thanksgiving morning, my mom and I run the Turkey Day Race through New Orleans’ City Park. It’s a great new tradition for us. The weather is usually nice and it’s only 5 miles. Then we go home and relax and just enjoy spending the day together. My husband joins us for the run now, too. It’s also a good last day if relaxation, as Black Friday through Christmas are obviously total chaos working in retail.

  3. Erin @ Journey to Saving

    The reasons you listed are so true! I’ve become less and less of a fan of holidays as I get older. I love seeing my family, but so many of us have grown up and moved, so it’s hard now. I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with my parents, just the 4 of us. Nothing crazy!

  4. I’m getting married two days after Thanksgiving this year, so our holiday is definitely going to be as LOW STRESS and LOW KEY as possible. Thanks for these tips!!

  5. We are having the family over for Thanksgiving and a great way that we save is getting the turkey through my hubby’s school. They offer free turkeys around the holidays and they probably are not free range or anything fancy like that but it saves us a bunch of money and they taste great, especially because we fry our turkeys. đŸ™‚

  6. Cooking is part of the enjoyment for me. I actually love to host, because I think it’s all fun, an don’t stress out about it.

    I have loved ones who do stress about things that just aren’t important, and I wish they would see the impact it has on others. Do what you can, what you enjoy, and plan around what you don’t enjoy- like your suggestions!

  7. Pingback: Writing Wrap Up

  8. We’re hosting Mr. FW’s family for Thanksgiving and I am actually looking forward to it. They’re very low key and, it’s our third year in a row hosting them so I know what to expect. I think it’s easy because we’re all pretty laid-back about it, which I’m grateful for! (Plus, Mr. FW does all the cooking… đŸ™‚ )

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