Tips on Saving Money While Working on Thanksgiving Dinner

With Thanksgiving coming up - it is the perfect time for stocking up on things that will be on sale so that you can have good meals at a very low price in the future. It really helps if you do double batches and freeze half or later. You have all the ingredients and are making the mess at the moment - if you double the recipe now, you won't have the big mess or time-consuming chore to do late! You'll be able to spend that time doing something else. Pull double-duty when you can and watch your time and money increase!

Here are a few ideas:

Turkeys are always on sale! Watch the ads in the papers. Get one for Thanksgiving Day and another one or two, to freeze for later! If you don't have a freezer to use for multiple turkeys, buy an extra one and cook it the same time you do the one you will be having on Thanksgiving Da...just don't eat it! Let it cook, refridgerate it and the next day start picking it apart to seperate into meals portions. If you are not having T-day dinner at your house, pick a day and cook 2 turkeys then and seperate them both into meal size portions and freeze the meals! If you make your own soup stock - you now have the bones to do that. Cook the stock, pour it into containers or zipper freezer bags and freeze it!

Hams - same thing - buy additional ones if you can - I have seen them for 49¢ a pound at holiday time and that same ham for $1.99 off season. Why pay more if you dont have to! Again, bake it, slice it and freeze in meal sized portions. This way also takes up less freezer space so you have more space to utilize.

Canned goods - cranberries, pumpkin, vegetables - all those yummy side dishes... buy a few extra and have them in your pantry for meals next month. Canned goods have a long shelf life, so no worries about when you have to use them. Boxed stuffing is also a good thing to buy now so you have it ready to go with that turkey you have in the freezer. Just think, a turkey dinner in February!

Baking goods - sugar, flour, spices, margarines - all these great ingredients are usually on sale in November. Get what you need for the holidays, but grab a few extra while they are on sale and you'll have them for later months baking needs. You have baking for Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day coming up!

Fresh foods - like yams, sweet potatoes, scalloped potatoes - make 2 dishes, serve one and freeze the other! Remember to freeze in meal-size portions so all you have to do is grab a container out of the freezer in the morning and let it thaw in the fridge all day while you are at work. When you come home, pop it into the microwave or toaster oven to bake while you change clothes and get the rest of the meal ready.

If you make your rolls/biscuits from scratch - depending on the receipe, double the dough recipe and freeze half of it for baking near the Christmas holiday. Or to have on hand to bake for guests and drop-ins. And remember, Christmas is coming up next - so if you make double dishes now, you will have meals ready to eat that will cut down on your time spent cooking when you want to spend your time celebrating, caroling, or just visiting friends and family! These dishes are also great for those drop-in guests, unexpected or last minute, stay-overs guests!

The week after Thanksgiving Day, check out things like decorated napkins, paper cups, table cloths and other Thanksgiving theme items. These things are marked down pretty cheap as the stores don't want to store them until year. You can save them for next year, but hey - no reason you can't use a napkin with a turkey on it come January! Use this same method for after Christmas or any other holiday for that matter! Ijust purchased Hallowen napkins - 50 for 25¢. I cut the four-fold napkin in half. Now I have 100 napkins for less than a penny a piece! They are great for those not so messy wipes for adults, and perfect for little faces! My little grand daughter loves opening her lunch box to see a cute little jack-o-lantern (napkin) smiling at her! She is quite the talk of the lunch table as the "luckiest girl"! And the paper plates I got for 50¢ for 75 plates after 4th of July - perfect timing for Veteran's Day!

So keep your eyes open, your freezer available and a stock of freezer bags....time is important and time is money. Pull an easy double-duty when you can and you'll have extra time for later events