While Thanksgiving and other holidays are generally thought of as occasions when wallets get drained, there is a secret opportunity to actually save money hidden in holiday deals. With inflation up, turkey is starting to look more attractive than ever.
In fact, Phil Lempert, founder of SuperMarketGuru.com, said learning to love turkey is one of the best ways to take advantage of Thanksgiving deals long-term when he talked to Rob Hart this week on WBBM Newsradio’s Noon Business Hour. That, and freezer space for stocking up on sale-price birds.
However, turkey isn’t where deals end. Lempert mentioned the package meals offered by Walmart and Aldi ahead of Thanksgiving. Then, even better deals come around after the holiday is over.
“Now this was something I did a couple of years ago only because we had a youth sports event over Thanksgiving weekend so we didn't really have time to make the traditional Thanksgiving meal until the Sunday after,” said Hart of his own post-Thanksgiving deal experience. “I went to the grocery store on Saturday and probably got all of the staples of a Thanksgiving meal for about the third of the price.”
Last year, a survey from Talker Research showed that the average American planned to spend $1,000 on Thanksgiving. If the economic pressure is getting stronger this year, a belated turkey day might be the way to go. Those sales might also provide items that could be used later into the year, too.
“You can’t buy canned pumpkin year-round. You can’t buy a lot of the stuffings,” Lempert noted. “So, shop around the whole store. You’re going to see a lot of bargains that typically are used for Thanksgiving the rest of the year. And also, you know, with the high price of beef that we’re having now, think about replacing it with ham. Ham and pork products are under market valued.”
