The soaring price of groceries is about to run headlong into Thanksgiving. A new survey from Lending Tree finds the cost to host Thanksgiving dinner is up 19% from a year ago. "If you just want to do what you did last year for Thanksgiving, it's going to cost you a whole lot more," says Matt Schulz, Lending Tree analyst. "The average we're seeing is about 431 dollars...that's a lot, especially when you talk about how many people are living on tight budgets."
The survey of more than 2,000 Americans finds more than half (56%) still plan on hosting Turkey Day dinner in some capacity, but 1-in-10 are scrapping plans to host altogether. "Inflation is definitely leading people to change their Thanksgiving plans," says Schulz. "Some of them are changing what they serve, some are using coupons more, some of them just aren't going to host because it's too expensive."
If you are among those sticking it out as a Thanksgiving host, one option to save money is to have guests kick in more toward the meal, potluck-style. In fact, the survey finds 6-in-10 hosts expect their guests to offer money or an item to offset expenses. So if you've been invited to someone's Thanksgiving, show up empty-handed at your own risk.
"With difficult times come difficult decisions," Schulz tells KTRH. "Nobody likes to think about finances potentially putting a damper on Thanksgiving festivities, but unfortunately for a lot of folks that's where we are."