Thankful for deals: Work around higher food costs this Thanksgiving with these tips

While consumers last Thanksgiving were worried about supply issues, this year's greatest concern is higher costs due to inflation. But with careful planning, families can still pull off an affordable feast.

According to the most recent Consumer Price Index for Food, the cost of grocery store food climbed 12.4% nationally between October 2021 and October 2022. That includes a 16.9% hike for uncooked poultry other than chicken, which includes turkey.

Other year-to-year increases are a 47.1% rise for margarine, a 26.7% hike for butter and an 18.6% increase for frozen and refrigerated bakery products, including pies, tarts and turnovers.

According to the Information Resource Inc.'s (IRI) Thanksgiving Tracker 2022, based on Oct. 16 data, the cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal is estimated to be 13.5% more than a year ago.

"Thanksgiving dinner really exemplifies the whole inflation problem," said economist Wayne Winegarden of Pacific Research Institute, a free-market think tank in Pasadena, California.

"Our incomes have gone up maybe 5, 6%," he said. "You're talking about double-digit increases really across the board for Thanksgiving dinner. Your ability to purchase the dinner has really eroded. So there's a real concern about affordability."

"Without a strategy, it's either gonna cost you more or it's gonna be less festive," Winegarden said.

Many shoppers have been picking up deals as they see them promoted before the holiday week, according to the IRI report. It says 23% of millennials and Gen X consumers, compared to 10% of older consumers, worry that inflation might make them unable to afford their usual holiday celebrations.

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Nationally, the weighted average cost of a frozen turkey was $1.11 per pound for toms and $1.14 per pound for hens the week of Nov. 4-11, according to the USDA National Retail Report on turkey. In the Midwest, the weighted average was $1.10 per pound.

These Akron-area stores offer best turkey deals

That doesn't mean there aren't great local deals to be had as retailers offer low-priced whole turkeys to entice consumers to their doors.

Local deals on frozen turkeys are 49 cents per pound at Acme with a card, 55 cents per pound at Meijer and 59 cents per pound at Giant Eagle. Other frozen turkey offerings under $1 per pound include 87 cents per pound at Marc's and 99 cents per pound at Dave's, while Aldi's Butterball turkeys are $1.07 per pound.

Acme, Giant Eagle and Dave's turkey purchases are limited to one and Marc's and Aldi's are limited to two.

"It's the lowest price in town for sure," Katie Swartz said of Acme's frozen turkey deal. "It's very important for us too that families can have a great Thanksgiving and have very low prices on that key element."

For Thanksgiving staples, she recommends the Acme private label brand Food Club for canned and frozen vegetables and baking ingredients such as flour and sugar. She also stressed checking Acme's weekly ad for deals on everything from buy-one-get-one-free butter to the store's selection of discounted Top 100 Wines selected by Acme wine specialists.

Shoppers also can check out savings at Aldi, which is offering a special Thanksgiving Price Rewind promotion of more than 50 food items at 2019 prices through Nov. 29. That includes stuffing mixes, apple pie, pecans, mini marshmallows and more.

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Strategic shopping helps keep meal costs down

Mandy Ulicney, assistant lecturer in hospitality and event management at Kent State University, has some advice for Thanksgiving grocery shoppers, including comparison shopping by price with the help of store ads. That includes strategizing which stores have the turkey specials and which have buy-one-get-one free deals on sides or ingredients.

She cooks for 25 people each year at her home in Youngstown. Since her family enjoys both turkey and ham, Ulicney also shops for specials on hams.

Ulicney said family Thanksgiving potlucks are becoming popular to keep costs down for hosts. In her family, everyone brings a side dish or dessert, and she provides the turkey and ham plus another favorite — sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Potlucks can even be planned on a family phone call, where names are picked from a hat to assign interesting side dishes, Ulicney said.

"Really, when you think about Thanksgiving, each individual item is not actually that expensive but it all just adds up because you're making it in bulk," she said.

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Since at-home wine prices have increased 3.2% year-to-year, Ulicney suggests keeping costs down by offering lower-priced cocktails or mocktails. Instead of serving her usual four bottles of cranberry wine for Thanksgiving, she plans to use two bottles of cranberry wine to make a fancy cranberry spritzer in a large decanter. She'll add a big container of cranberry juice, a 2-liter bottle of 7-Up and fresh cranberries.

"I like the way it's going to look because it'll be a pretty color," she said.

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Ulicney recommends an inexpensive green bean casserole made with beans, cream of mushroom soup and french-fried onions for about $7. She also saves her old bread — including leftover hamburger buns and hotdog buns — and rips it apart the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to dry it out for stuffing with different bread textures.

She buys nearly all of her spices low-price at Aldi and also uses frozen basil, parsley and cilantro from her summer garden. Ulicney also saves significantly buying staple items for the meal, including milk, eggs, butter, flour and sugar, at Aldi.

For most desserts, her family likes to bake from scratch. But for the last five years, she's also bought low-priced 12-inch pumpkin pies from Sam's Club, which are now selling for $5.98.

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"They're huge, and they're delicious," she said of the pies.

Most of all, Ulicney reminded hosts to try not to get stressed out over Thanksgiving meal preparations.

"I would say maybe just put more of a focus on what the holiday is all about," she said. "That's really what it's all about, is spending time with family."

Arts and restaurant writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Despite inflation, families can still shop for affordable Thanksgiving