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Descubre la Iniciativa Hispana de WeStreet: un espacio creado especialmente para ti. Nuestra página en español ofrece educación financiera y detalles sobre nuestros productos y servicios.
Discover WeStreet in Spanish: a space created especially for you. Our website in Spanish offers financial education and details about our products and services.
westreet españolThanksgiving can also be a stressful time whether you are traveling to meet loved ones or hosting them in your home. With a little bit of creativity, you can manage to keep the costs, stress, and time spent preparing to a minimum. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather with loved ones and celebrate what you are thankful for.
We’ve put together a list of tips to help you make it through the difficult parts of Thanksgiving so you can focus on what’s best: the people.
Before you begin shopping for ingredients, plan your menu to make sure you don’t prepare too much or too little food. A good first step is to determine how many people plan to attend your Thanksgiving feast.
If you plan to host a lot of people, you might want to consider doing Thanksgiving potluck style. This can cut down on the amount of cooking as well as the cost of ingredients by having everyone bring their favorite side dish.
The last tip for menu planning is to find recipes for all of the dishes you plan to prepare and create a list of ingredients. Knowing what you need early gives you plenty of time to shop around for the best deals or handmake decorations.
Once you have prepared your menu, do a thorough inventory of your pantry to see what ingredients you need that you may already have. It’s easy to lose track of cans of pumpkin, spices that you rarely use, and pie tins you only break out for the holidays.
Make sure to look through your decorations to ensure you aren’t purchasing duplicates you don’t need. For decor you want but don’t have, consider making it yourself to save money; or setting up an activity for any little ones to make some homemade decorations.
When shopping for ingredients, keep an eye out for sales offered by grocery stores. Check your mail for coupons and consider downloading an app to keep track of sales and deals. If you’ve planned your menu ahead of time, make sure you stick to what you need when you go grocery shopping. Moving away from your list can cause costs to add up quickly.
When it comes to the star of the Thanksgiving show, you might want to consider purchasing a frozen turkey. Frozen turkeys are often much less expensive than fresh, and if properly defrosted and cooked, your guests won’t even notice a difference!
For decorations, the best time to shop is actually right after Thanksgiving. Many stores that sell fall decorations will offer steep discounts to make room for winter decorations. Purchasing some staples that won’t go out of style during a sale can help you save a ton in the long run. Skipping fancy decorations for simple pieces like pumpkins, a leaf garland or two, and some homemade crafts is a great way to avoid spending too much as well.
Alcohol is often one of the most expensive parts of any gathering. If you want to serve your guests alcohol without breaking the bank, there are two options to save on drinks: limiting drink choices and making your Thanksgiving gathering BYOB.
Limiting the types of alcoholic beverages is a great way to save. If you want to serve alcohol, keep it to one kind of cocktail, one or two kinds of wine, or a simple selection of beers. Even better, create a tasty fall punch that combines alcohol with several other ingredients. Alcoholic punch can stretch one bottle of cheaper alcohol into a lot of servings to keep costs down, plus it tastes great and can be customized however you like!
Making your Thanksgiving gathering BYOB or Bring Your Own Beverage helps you save by having your guests bring their own alcoholic beverages if they choose. Many people have a favorite drink that they are more than happy to bring (and hopefully share) and this way you end up not having to purchase any alcohol yourself.
If you are planning to fly to visit loved ones for Thanksgiving, booking your flight early can save you a lot on ticket prices. Also, booking an early morning flight or even one that arrives on Thanksgiving Day can cut down on flight costs. Try and pack light if you can; every extra bag costs extra!
If you are driving, consider carpooling if you can, which will help cut down on gas costs. If travel is too expensive this year, you can always celebrate virtually or host a gathering with local friends.
Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what we have, especially the people in our lives. The best way to celebrate that is by taking time to slow down and eat good food with people you love, regardless of where or how. Odds are, your guests won’t remember your decorations nearly as vividly as they will the food and conversations with the people they love.