T-Day Dinner--How much did it cost?

[Ahorsesoul]

I have never thought about how much I spend on Holiday dinners. I have always just picked up what I wanted. So this time I kept my the bill. I added up everything I paid for our Thanksgiving meal. I still have to buy Gluten-free pastry dough, G-F corn bread, and some pecans, about $15 worth. Add that to my total of $36.94 it comes to $51.94. This does include butter, eggs, sugar for baking. Didn't have to buy any spices this time. I have frozen cranberries from the farm so I didn't figure them into the amount. I have been saving G-F leftover bread for the stuffing so that wasn't figured in either. And I didn't buy onions since I have some.

Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes with spinach
Gravy
Sweet potatoes
Corn Casserole
Cranberry Jelly
Black Olives
Frosted Pumpkin pie with ginger snap crust
Cranberry Pie

So for five people it's little over $10 a serving. Of course there probably is enough for at least 8 or 10 people. I could have saved more if I had shopped for a lower priced turkey (97 cents a pound! at Wal-Mart). Next year I scout out a good price for my turkey. DS will bring shrimp and my step-mom brings a little something, probably sushi and candied chestnuts.

I usually make a Turducken for Thanksgiving but this year I'm in love with the French Onion soup Crock-pot Turkey recipe so that's that. DS will be unhappy about not getting his Turducken but I doubt he'll not eat because of it.

So how much did you spend and for how many?
Total: $51.94
Amt people: 5
Price per serving: $10.38
Wisconsin

 

[Lou]

So far I've spent about $49.00 and I know I'm going to have to spend more on last minute fresh ingredients. Sweet potatoes, aromatics and fresh herbs for the turkey and who knows what else I'll think of at the last minute!

And, here's the sad part for me....this bill includes a bargain turkey from the local supermarket because the price of fresh turkeys from the health food store has skyrocketed this year to 7.99 per pound. I love a fresh turkey but not that much! I hope the brining process makes my bargain turkey taste as yummy as the free range one I bought last year.... :turkey:

Tacking on an additional $20.00 (for the above mentioned misc.) to the $49.00 brings me to a grand total of $69.00 (could be a tad bit more could be a tad bit under). I'm only serving 6 people so that comes to about $11.50 per person.

But, I've always known that the holiday meals are pricey. I don't think my menu is out of the ordinary but I make everything myself with very little in the way of contributions (by choice) so maybe that's why it all adds up.

Menu:
Turkey (include the price of the aromatics and brining ingredients which were a bargain as I purchased a kit instead of buying all the ingredients individually)
Dressing
Mashed potatoes/gravy
Homemade rolls/real butter
Green bean casserole
Corn
Cranberry relish
Baked sweet potatoes
Apple crumb pie
6 Pumpkin Pies (I know that is alot for 6 people but I bake mine the night before and the guys will finish off one or two that evening plus my son's bday is on Thanksgiving so he gets a whole pie to himself instead of bday cake--per his request. And my Dh likes to have pumpkin pie leftovers--what can I say? We really like pumpkin pie at my house!

It will be interesting to see what everyone else spends! I wonder if certain areas of the country are more expensive than others?

 

[christmascreations]

I seriously don't even want to think about it. I guess since I buy stuff sporadically it is hard for me to figure it out. Next year i am going to have a Thanksgiving and Christmas FOOD receipt album (mini photo album)and then I can see it add up... :thud:

:frown: Being that I am not making a turducken like I wanted to, next year's will probably add up to more than I am spending this year!!!

I think after all is said and done I will see how much I used and then calculate the approximate costs!!!

 

[HouseElf]

:turkey: Wow, I never broke it down before! My cost is about 5.13 per person (9 people) not bad!

 

[momof4]

I'll be making 2 separate dinners (Thanksgiving and the following Sunday) for a total of 39 people (counts my immediate family twice). Both menus are essentially the same and guests will be bringing desserts and rolls to both.
I only do turkey breasts because most of us on both sides of the family prefer white meat. I bought 5 of them for about $70. I haven't bought all the non-perishables, but I figure the rest will cost another $25.
Including drinks, paper plates, napkins, and plasticware for dessert, new candles for the tables, foil pans for the oven, and a disposable platter for the turkeys, but not including basic staples I have on hand anyway, I spent about $370. Divided by 39, that comes to about $9.50 per person.
:turkey:

 

[snowangel00]

I have never sat down to figure the amount out actually.

For some reason this year my family wouldn't get their act together as to which family member was going to host Thanksgiving.

I usually host it - and I will be doing it again this year.

Because everyone has drug their feet and did not decide until today - there weren't any turkeys big enough at the store tonight.

I will have to rush back tomorrow morning and hope I can find a turkey that will feed the whole family.

 

[GrammaD35]

:turkey: I had to make a guess on the homemade rolls. I keep all those ingredients on-hand year round. I also guess at what the girls brought which was easy because I know they shopped for bargains. We spent about $2.95 per person for 13 people.
Plus I used the leftovers the next day for supper. What that make the cost lower?
GrammaD35

 

[Christysue]

:friendly: I can't really get an acurate price tag because we split it all up. DM, DSis,DSil and I each bring a couple of things this way no one has to pay for the whole thing. I have hosted dinner for the last 4 years, I would hate to see the price tag for the 15-18 people we usually feed if only one of us paid for the whole thing! :turkey:

 

[Lolwlias]

I've never quite figured it out. Since I'm not quite finished yet, I'll see what this year comes out to......

 

[Jadyne]

Our menu is:
roast turkey
gravy
mashed potatoes
candied sweet potatoes
creamed corn
green beans
sausage-cornbread stuffing
bread stuffing
tossed salad
cranberry sauce
cranberry-orange relish
pickles
pumpkin pies

I totaled it up. $32.41 for 17-18 people, that's $1.89 per person. Really good! What helps us is that all the veggies are homegrown and home preserved so our production cost is well below store prices. We'll have leftovers for a few meals, too. I might splurge on a cranberry-apple pie if I have time to bake it, so add a couple more dollars.

 

[Lolwlias]

How is it that everyone seems to be spending so little on the meal? What am I doing wrong? I spend so much money on Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
I will do appetizers early in the day and then the dinner later on.
I do plan to cut back on the pies this year. We definitely don't need those sitting around. (IE: My hips don't need them sitting around waiting for me to indulge....LOL)
Okay, I think I need help with how to provide a holiday meal at a decent price!!!!

 

[aggy]

I still have a few more ingredients to pick up. Afterwards I will sit down and find out exactly how much I spend. I don't think it will be more than $100 though.

 

[ripleysmine]

It is interesting to see the costs of everyones dinner! I haven't got everything yet, so I have no idea what our cost will be!! But we got a free turkey from dh's job!!

 

[Woman]

I am really surprise how little everyone seems to be spending for their Thanksgiving Dinner-I am having 12 people over and I have spent about $300.00-I will have to say some of the stuff will also be used for Christmas I do a full course dinner with several pies and cakes-and lots of dips-vegetables-chips-crackers-punch-plus a few drinks for the adults. WOMAN


:friendly: :friendly: :friendly:

 

[aggy]

Altogether I spent nearly $150.00. I couldn't belive it. I think that is very good. Now Christmas will be another story.

 

[kmwiegand]

I'd say that I spent around $90 - $100 for thanksgiving (that includes the $25 gift card from work - but not the 10 lb turkey from DFIL). That fed 22 people so - around $4.50 per person. We had 2 - 10 lb turkeys (there are some leftovers), mashed potatoes (a lot left over, but I made a whole crock pot full), green bean casserole, stuffing, veggie tray, pop, chips and dip, and pumpkin pie. That's a pretty good deal! :friendly: