After Halloween is over the major holiday rush begins.  Thanksgiving comes about a month after Halloween and then Christmas comes a month later.  With all those holidays so close together, it makes sense that people would be looking for a way to have a frugal Thanksgiving as they prepare for the major expenses of the rest of the holiday season.[ad]

How can you save on Thanksgiving costs yet still provide a scrumptious meal for your family to enjoy?  These suggestions can help you cut the total amount of your food bill for the day, as well as give you ideas for cutting expenses at other times of the year.

Begin by deciding how much money you’re willing to spend on each person who will be dining with you.  A good estimate for the meal would be to spend around $10 per person and not feel like you’re serving bread and water.

Cut down on your cost by serving a vegetarian meal instead of a huge turkey to feed 20 people.  Besides saving money, you’ll also save time because vegetarian meals don’t take as long to cook.  It’s also quite possible that you won’t have all the leftovers to store and eat over the next week.

Make as much of the food from scratch as you can.  Convenience foods like pie shells, biscuit mixes, and stuffing may save time, but they’ll cost more than if you make them from scratch.  When you make pumpkin pie, try baking a pumpkin, and use the meat of it to make your pies.  Your guests will probably tell you it’s the best pumpkin pie they’ve ever had.

If you have some time before Turkey Day, begin preparing the things you can now rather than waiting until Thanksgiving Day to do so.  Make a few pies ahead of time or several dozen cookies to keep you from having to rush on the day of the feast.

Even though using disposable plates, napkins, and cutlery would make clean-up easier, it also makes the day more expensive.  It shouldn’t take more than a dishwasher load or two to get all the dishes cleaned up.  Of course, larger items like the turkey roaster will need to be washed by hands.  Tablecloths, napkins, and dishtowels may all fit into one washer load.

Buy items that are in season.  If turkeys are a really good price, and you have the room to store them, get a couple so you can use them over the next couple of months.  Don’t be afraid to stock up on staples that you know will be used.  Stay away from things that will only be used at Thanksgiving.

Use natural items to create your centerpiece if you choose to have one.  Pumpkins, gourds, pinecones, pine boughs, and fall flowers can make lovely tablescapes and they won’t cost you anything.

If money is a real problem at this time, don’t be ashamed to ask for help.  There’s nothing wrong with every family bringing an item or two to share.  Just because you’re hosting the meal does not mean that you should have to prepare everything.  Set a menu and ask people which items they would like to supply.

It is possible to have a frugal Thanksgiving and still have a great meal.  If money is tight, don’t try to do everything.  If you know that you are going to have to provide the lion’s share of the meal, begin saving months ahead of time so that everything doesn’t come out of one paycheck.

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It won’t be long before people all over Canada and the United States will be celebrating Thanksgiving, the second Monday in October for those in Canada and the fourth Thursday of November in the US.  Now is the time to think about home-made Thanksgiving centerpieces you can make.[ad]

An obvious choice for a home-made Thanksgiving centerpiece is to use the traditional decoration – the cornucopia.  While you may not want to create your cornucopia out of a hollowed-out goat’s horn, you can go to your local craft store and find baskets that are shaped like a cornucopia.  Use real gourds, fruits, nuts, and greenery to have spilling out of the horn, or use silk and plastic items.  If you choose to use silk and sugared plastic items, they can be stored and reused each year.  Place the basket on a mirror with candles around it to help illuminate your harvest table.

Many people associate the pilgrim’s hat with Thanksgiving.  You can create a pilgrim hat out of terracotta pot, black felt, and some yellow paper.  Determine the size of the brim by rolling the terracotta pot in a circle, marking the top and the bottom until you get a complete circle.  Cut out the shape on both lines, and cover the pot and brim with black felt.  Cut out a buckle out of the yellow paper.  Glue the buckle on the covered pot.  After the glue has dried, put a potted flower inside and place it in the center of your table.

Create a harvest wreath to use as a centerpiece.  Find about 20 feet of Virginia creeper or grape vine for your base.  Wrap the vine into a circle small enough to allow you to place plates around it, probably around 10 inches in diameter.  After the base has been made, you can add small pumpkins, gourds, or fall flowers in it to give it color.

To get the children in the family involved in the decorations, let them create a Thanksgiving turkey out of a large paper grocery sack.  Gather colorful fall leaves to use as the tail of the turkey.  Fill the bag with crumpled newspaper and tie it off with rubber band to create the head.  Draw on wings.  Create a waddle and legs from construction paper.  Glue the leaves on the flat part of the bag as tail feathers.  Glue the waddle and legs where they belong.  Don’t forget to give your turkey eyes.

Thanksgiving is a great holiday to enjoy with family and friends.  No matter how you decorate the table and what you use as a home-made Thanksgiving centerpiece, be sure to leave room for the most important item on your table – the turkey and fixings.  Your guests may appreciate the decorating effort but they’ll appreciate a great meal more.

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