In the Perkey household, Thanksgiving always means the more the merrier.
"I got stuck doing it because I enjoy doing it, I enjoy feeding my family. My children of course, help a tremendous amount," Loretta Perkey, who is hosting her family's Thanksgiving, said. As a mom and grandmother, she's already making a list and checking it twice.
"I have the one month out, the two weeks out, and everyday leading up Sunday through Thursday of what I need to do," Perkey said.
With a week to go, she's sifting through ads to know what she can get on sale and cross off that list. She says she's managed to pull off Thanksgiving meals under 45 dollars. "Turkey we can get for 39 cents a pound on sale. And cornbread, you can't get much more reasonable than that," Perkey said.
Her budget represents the average household, expected to spend about 50 dollars this year. And that cost shouldn't fall solely on the host.
"Potluck is absolutely the best because you always get somebody else's favorite brought in," Perkey said.
But keep in mind convenience, comes at a higher cost.
"Make everything yourself rather than buying it pre-made, you'll definitely save money by doing that," Eddie Owens with United Supermarkets said.
And even though food prices are up, you can still score festive deals if you shop generic. "Pumpkin is a good example where you should look for store brands rather than national brands. Pumpkin quality doesn't differ much no matter what the label is," Owens said.
Perkey says she'll splurge for her specialty.
"My family likes my dressing. So my husband is in charge of the turkey, but I always do the dressing," Perkey said.
An affordable tradition, that will never grow stale.
