Grocery stores now make shoppers spend a certain dollar amount in order to qualify for a super-low price per pound on their Thanksgiving turkey. I call this marketing strategy the "turkey deal."
As grocery shoppers have become more savvy in their pre-Thanksgiving shopping with hopes of spending the least to get the most for their dollar, grocery stores have had to change their game plan in order to garner a larger slice of the spending pie. Gone are the deals when turkeys were a simple loss-leader item, and shoppers didn't need to make a special purchase to get the great price per pound for their bird. There are now hoops through which to jump if you want to save a few bucks on your Thanksgiving turkey. In addition, if the last two years are any indication of grocery store trends, gone also are the days where most of the items for your Thanksgiving meal are sale items. Since I don't want to overspend on everything else just so I can get a great price on a turkey, I've had to up my own game. This is my strategy for finagling the grocery store turkey deals.
Step 1. Make my list of what I want to buy at each of my regular stores. These are items that I routinely find at their best price for each store.
Walmart
- milk, gallons -- up to a 6 week supply
- chicken leg quarters in 10-lb bag
- decaf instant coffee
- bathroom tissue, 20-roll, Great Value, 1000 sheet/roll
- bananas
- Great Value garlic powder
- sparkling cider (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter)
- house brand vegetable shortening
- frozen orange juice concentrate
Fred Meyer
- house brand non-dairy milk, up to 2-month supply
- bulk bin nuts -- almonds and pecans
- house brand hot dogs
- house brand butter
- house brand confectioner's sugar
- house brand milk -- up to a 6-week supply
- clearance sections
- shoes/some clothing items
- kitchen gadgets (wanting a pizza wheel)
- batteries
- small gifts -- cosmetics, bath/spa items
- house brand feminine hygiene
- house brand automatic dishwashing detergent
- sparkling cider (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter)
- house brand cream cheese
- vitamins
- OTC meds
- epsom salt
- hydrogen peroxide
- canned vegetables, including green beans, corn, pumpkin, and yams
- chocolate chips
- flaked coconut
- marshmallows
- confectioner's sugar
- maple syrup
- kielbasa sausage
- butter
- bananas
- bulk bins -- lentils, powdered milk, powdered coffee
creamer, cocoa powder, onion powder, chili powder - sparkling cider (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter)
- tangerines
- frozen apple juice concentrate
I can use these lists to make 2 or 3 turkey deals (one at each store), or I can buy my turkey at the store where I can get the best deal, then buy just what I need from the other stores without thought to making a minimum spend. I can even split one store's list in half in order to buy a second turkey in that same store later that week or during the next.
I try to make sure that I have enough items for each store, with some as back-up items to cover a shortage of something that I'd planned on buying. As I make my lists, I think ahead to the other special occasions in the coming months. I know that I will be baking for birthdays, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and Easter, so I include ingredients that I anticipate wanting at those times, too.
We also have Safeway, Albertsons, and QFC as grocery stores in our area. However, the marketing strategy for these stores has been to have a small handful of loss-leader items with considerably higher prices on everything else. I've found it difficult to spend enough (at rock-bottom prices for items) at any of those stores to qualify for their turkey deals. Even if their turkey price per pound was exceptionally low compared to my other stores (free even at some stores), it still might work out to my advantage to grocery shop at Walmart, WinCo, or Fred Meyer for the items that I truly need and just pay the regular price per pound on our turkey. This will be a matter of doing the math to see which route is the one where I come out ahead.
I also keep in mind that these lists are not necessarily everything I will buy, nor will I buy everything on each list. The lists simply give me ideas of what I could purchase at a great price to bring me up to the minimum spend amount for a store's turkey deal. Once the turkey deals are announced, I'll be able to fine tune my shopping lists for each store.
Step 2. When I am at the store where I'll make my turkey purchase, I will track my spending as I load my cart. Depending on which stores have the best turkey deals, I may need to buy a three or four-month supply of some items to bring my spending up to the minimum amount required. For example, I buy our bath tissue at Walmart each month. A 20-roll package costs about $10. If Walmart requires a $50 purchase to qualify for a discount on my turkey, then I may need to buy as many as 5 packages of bathroom tissue.
Step 3. My lists have one last purpose. Should I get to the checkout and discover that I have underspent by an amount enough to bar me from receiving the turkey deal, I will have a quick list to consult for adding an extra, last-minute item to the transaction to bring me up to that minimum spend amount. I will hopefully have an additional pair of feet with me to go and grab any last-minute items.
It's just the end of October. Why am I planning my Thanksgiving shopping now? I need to plan all of my November grocery shopping before the first of the month so that I can take advantage of all of the special sales as well as the Senior shopping which falls on the first Tuesday of the month. And you know me, I plan, plan, and plan some more. That's part of my overall strategy to staying within our small grocery budget.