Is this year's Thanksgiving dinner frugal?

I made pie pastry and both fillings today. I'll fill the pie shells and bake tomorrow.

A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation indicates that the average cost per person for Thanksgiving dinner this year is roughly $5.80, which while lower than 2023 or 2022 (which were the peak cost per person for Thanksgiving meals in the USA of all time), is about 19% higher than 2019. So, if your Thanksgiving dinner cost feels high to you, that's because it still is. Only time will tell if the next 4 years see a dramatic decrease in grocery prices.

As for me and my family, here's how I've made our Thanksgiving dinner as frugal as I could. I posted my menu yesterday. I'll repost so you don't have to look it up.

Roast chicken with sage-tangerine glaze

Smoked pork roast

Bread, sage, onion, celery, sausage dressing

Mashed root vegetables

Green bean casserole

Sweet potato casserole

Carrot, celery, olive tray

Garden greens (kale, radish greens) and dried plum salad in sweet and tangy dressing

Gravy

Cranberry relish

Pumpkin Pie 

Cherry pie

Whipped cream

Sparkling cider and sparkling water

The whole chicken was one I bought in summer and has been sitting in our deep freeze since. The glaze is made from garden sage, home-canned crabapple jelly, and the zest and juice from 1 tangerine (bought the other day at WinCo).

While at WinCo, I found a 2-pack of pork sirloin boneless roasts marked down for quick sale, for about $2.20/lb. That's a great price for boneless pork roasts these days in my area. I'll make a rub from garden herbs, garden garlic and some spices. Tomorrow, I'll smoke the roast in my Mother's Day gift smoker.

The stuffing/dressing will be made with homemade bread, homemade chicken stock from the freezer, garden celery, garden sage, onion, and sausage bought at Grocery Outlet (salvage store) on Monday.

The mashed root vegetables are made from WinCo russet potatoes, garden turnips, garden garlic, onions, and carrots. The purchased veggies are budget ones.

The green bean casserole contains 4 dented and clearance-price cans of green beans (Fred Meyer), homemade cream of mushroom soup concentrate, and homemade onion-bread crumb topping. 

The sweet potato casserole is made from 2 clearance shelf cans of yams that I had in the pantry (Walmart, bought a year ago), clearance pecans from 2021 stored in the freezer, eggs, spices, homemade brown sugar, and butter.

The vegetable and olive tray is made from all store-bought ingredients. However, I had the can of olives in the pantry. Olives are very expensive these days. If I had to buy them right now, I would just skip them.

The salad uses homegrown greens and homegrown plums, with a dressing of homemade herb vinegar, olive oil, salt, and homemade crabapple jelly.

Gravy is made from the roast chicken drippings, flour, and homemade chicken stock from the freezer.

My son and daughter-in-law are bringing the cranberry relish.

The pumpkin pie will use home-cooked carving pumpkin, eggs, homemade brown sugar, spices, soy milk (so I can eat some, too) and homemade crust.

The cherry pie will contain our tree's cherries frozen from last summer, sugar, lemon juice,, almond extra, and homemade crust.

I bought the whipping cream a few weeks ago at Walmart. I'll use part to top pies and part to make more eggnog in early December.

The sparkling cider was a gift from my daughter's boyfriend a few weeks ago. (He came to dinner one night and brought 2 bottles. We drank one. He offered us the other to use on Thanksgiving.)

The canned sparkling water was leftover from our 4th of July gathering.

That explains what is going into everything we're having for Thanksgiving dinner. Here's what I actually bought specifically for Thanksgiving (even if we'll be using the leftovers for other meals):

• 2 lbs tangerines -- $2.88
• pork roast -- about $3.10
• bundle of celery -- 98 cents
• frozen sausage -- $1.99
• 10 lb bag russet potatoes -- $3.48
• 5 lb bag of carrots -- $3.48
• 4 cans green beans -- 45 cents ea, total $1.80
• fresh mushrooms -- $1.98
• onion powder -- $1.00
• pint whipping cream -- $3.37

Our total additional cost for Thanksgiving dinner is $24.06. The other foods used in the meal were purchased over time, intended for everyday meals. We would have to eat anyways on Thursday. So I don't figure those into the added cost of hosting a holiday meal.

I bought foods on clearance as I saw them throughout the seasons (canned yams, canned green beans, pork roast, pecans). I made my own products to substitute for commercial convenience products (canned soup, onion topping, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, salad dressing, homemade bread). Some of the newly bought foods are "budget foods," such as the carrots, potatoes, and celery. I shopped at "budget stores" like Grocery Outlet, WinCo, and Walmart. Some of our dishes will contain homegrown fruit and vegetables. However, the bulk of what I've used to make this meal were purchased. I don't think a person needs to keep a garden to do Thanksgiving frugally. The right menu selections combined with smart shopping and using what's on hand can produce a very yummy, budget celebratory meal. 

In answer to my question, I think for a holiday dinner, especially one where we're hosting guests, this year's Thanksgiving will be somewhat frugal while still being tasty and festive.