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Matthew Mead / AP
Putting a traditional turkey dinner on the table is going to be pricier this Thanksgiving.
By msnbc.com news services
Putting a traditional turkey dinner on the table is going to be pricier this Thanksgiving.
The American Farm Bureau Federation reports that a meal with turkey and all the trimmings will cost about 13 percent more this year.
The trade group estimates a classic meal for 10 will cost $49.20 on average. That is $5.73 more than last year's $43.47 average.
The meal will cost less than $5 a person, but it's still much more expensive than in years past. The jump results from food makers and grocers raising their prices to cover higher commodity costs.
Nearly everything from cranberries to pumpkin pie is pricier this year, but the biggest hike is for the main course: A 16-pound turkey costs almost $4 more this year, at $21.57, according to the trade group.
The group surveyed prices in stores nationwide. But grocers often discount key items as the holiday approaches and that could reduce the cost of Thanksgiving dinner.
John Anderson, senior economist for the Farm Bureau, said it's important to remember that Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than most people around the world.
"Given what is going on in the economy, higher prices on anything are not welcome," Anderson said. "(But) it does not have the same impact as food prices in other parts of the world do. We are fortunate in that sense."
Here are some tips to save money on Thanksgiving. Share your own plans in the comments field below.
CNBC's Sharon Epperson says that buying food online and shopping at warehouse stores can help keep more money in your bank account when you're purchasing food for the big Thanksgiving meal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Yes, and for the middle class it could cost even more if the Republicans get their way and force everyone to pay income tax no matter their income.
Thanks to Obama, gas has doubled, food is up 13-15% depending on what part of the country you life in. 2012 can't come soon enough, with a new President and Senate we can start to repair the damage that the Dems have done since 2006 and get America back on track.
Yeah, we need to let the Republicans back in so they can finish the job and we can be in a full blown depression.
Read the charts Obama has done a good job: http://ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2011083428/three-charts-email-your-right-wing-brother-law
I guess we can wait for Bachmann to bring back $2 gas........(rolls eyes)
How is it Obama's fault. What should he do to reduce the price of gas?
Eric is obviously a democrat with blinders. take a look at 8 yrs of Bush and republicans compared to <4 yrs with Ovomit and democrats. Yup.. much better off now .. right?!!! I've had my home for over 25 yrs and only in the last 3 have I had difficulties. Been working since 1979 and last year was the first yr I dropped dental coverage. My medical coverage has gotten worse in the last 2 yrs as well. yup.. dems have done so much good .. for thmselves, foreign countries and their buddies. Right eric read Obama's charts and IGNORE the facts
Don't know where you've been living, but Pres Obama didn't create these problems... they were handed to him by the Republicans. Anyway, eat your Thanksgiving dinner... 2 BILLION people on Earth eat scraps, IF they're lucky.
Price of gas was higher under Bush administration. You have a right to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
@sjc, those charts are the facts. Since Obama has been elected the GDP has grown each and every quarter. Just google GDP chart.
Bush raised spending 88%, Obama just 7.2%. Notice how the jobless claims fell after Obama came into office.
Eric: do you use excessive amounts of dugs every day or just on Weekends
Stop putting politics into everything. For this Thanksgiving, I say thanks to both of you for not taking responsibility and your willingness to pass blame to the other side.
....and you are going to vote for whom?
F%#& you
I'll probably vote for Obama. He seems to be the only one who is working towards getting us out of this mess. All of the others are political panderers. I'm not a friend to progressives nor to the far right. Give me reasonable, open-minded people that don't have blinders on. I give Obama credit for his pragmatism.
MNHUMAN, I know what you mean. I take exception to your use of the word All, though.
There are some people in Congress -- my Representative is one of them -- who have been trying to take a reasonable, open-minded and people-oriented approach. There are just not enough people like that in Congress right now -- and the people who are loudest and most publicized are indeed the ones you call political panderers.
The problem with pragmatism is that it wins you no friends on either side. Even though I understand that Obama probably has accomplished more of his agenda through political pragmatism than he could have accomplished through the "bully pulpit," I'm still disappointed in what looks a lot to me like selling out.
For the longest time, he was willing to compromise but the 'other side' was not. So he kept giving in, and giving in, and they just stubbornly stood their ground. I'm glad the progressives are getting air time now. It's changing the conversation for the better. Maybe we'll see some movement now.
I find it unbelievable that a turkey dinner for 10 costs only $50...all of our family members, coworkers, and friends all thought that suggested amount was ridiculous. This year, our family was going to skip T-day and eat the normal box dinner, as that is about as much as we can afford for a dinner. A classic Thanksgiving suggestion on the part of a family member, we all chip in a portion of the dinner and potluck--and we can all enjoy the meal and family without killing our grociery budgets. Sadly though, had that not been suggested--or family would have had the same old same old cheap as you can find dinner in a box for all of us to share that we eat every other day of the year. Now on to the pawn shop with tools to pay some bills....
If you are buying boxed dinner fixings, you are wasting money. Try cooking from scratch. There is usually nothing in that box except cheap carbs, salt, and very little flavoring, plus a lot of chemicals.
Unfortunately Sherrie--we did think about that but find that the overall cost for one dinner for the family is cheaper in a box dinner form than to purchase the individual ingredients to create a more nutritious dinner. We only have a certain amount of money per month for groceries and we basically purchase generic cereal to eat sparingly for the month and from that--we then take the remaining budget and divide up that amount for per day dinner costs. We don't have snacks, eat lunch, desserts, or anything extra. Being at the grocery store is the same as window shopping at the mall for us. From scratch is just way too expensive.
i was lucky at giant foods this week they had shady brook frozen turkeys at .47/lb. i got a 15 pound one for $7 :)
I had a wonderful meal in 2008, this business of blaming the Last Guy started with the whiner, NO President has ever Pulled that excuse ...Every Black man that is pulled over says the same thing in Chicago! We have a Charlatan for "Pretender in Thief". Notice the "smudge" mark at the End when you look at the portrait of American Presidents,. We will be alot better off IMMEDIATELY when he is gone....Communist, Liar!
Name one thing Obama has done that has been communist. I think you're suffering from Fox News Syndrome (FNS). It's curable by watching other news sources.
How do they arrive at $49.20 for 10? I am feeding 7 people, 5 are adults. I went to Peapod to make my list and the total was $189.57. That will be very close to what I am really going to spend at a disount grocery. And that does not include my cost for liquor. I don't use coupons because 95% of what I buy is produce or fresh items that is not processed so there are never coupons. I am not going to skimp on this dinner and embarrass myself after cooking for two days by buying generic just to save a few pennies.
$49.20 maybe if you plan on feeding gerbils. It's more like 200.00+ for 10 ppl.
"Change you can believe in"? ask yourself, which direction has this 'change' taken us and the truthful answer is either BACKWARDS or down a road that we should never have taken.
We now have more than triple the deficit, high unemployment figures with thousands of lost jobs, businesses having to close down and far, far worse than we were before the present administration got in. We can all say that "someone else (President Bush) got us in the mess" etc; etc; but it takes a courage and character to 'man up' and take blame for your actions. When does the 'blame game' end and owner-ship of the country and your own mistakes start? 4 years, 8 yrs? The day that that happens is the day when we will start to see progress and have confidence in whoever is the President and his administration.
We haven't gone backwards at all.
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdp_glance.htm
Look at the GDP, its grown each and every quarter since Obama has been elected.
Look at how the jobless claims have fallen since Obama has been in office:
http://www.bullandbearwise.com/InitialJoblessChart.asp
Actually the "blame game" as you call it mr got to laugh, will take at LEAST 8 years. A mess that took 8 years to make will take 8 and most likely more to clean up. The reason it is still bad is you can't just 180 immediately and have everything fixed. We're in for tough times because we let the downward spiral out of control for 8 years and we're trying to slow it and bring it back up.
I will be feeding 7 adults this Thanksgiving. I can pretty well guarantee that our meal will cost more than $49.20. That is ridiculous ! I can just say that I am grateful that I grew some vegetables and was able to can some of them myself, thus saving a little bit of money. But still, we can't all grow our Thanksgiving dinner.. Wish we could ! Right now, we will just be grateful to have something on the table.
Blaming Obama for the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner!! I thought Homer Simpson was a cartoon character?
Three Places To Hear That Gobble Gobble Sound:
1. From a turkey.
2. From the folks eating at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
3. From inside your wallet.
===========================================
We'll spend 13 percent more-
Preparing the dinner, buying at the grocery store.
Well, the Republicans have ruined everything else, so we are not surprised to see them ruin Thanksgiving dinner with their posts here. The Republicans should be ashamed of the Great Bush Depression they caused.
Everything is pricier this year. Merchants will hike prices like crazy because people just have to have that turkey on the table (its tradition.)
And just think, christmas is a few weeks after that and all stores will have to raise their roofs because of the sky rocketing price increases for every thing conceivable.
Holiday spirit? Not in this millennium.
You are right, many retailers raise prices just before the holidays and then lower them to make it look like a "sale" there are a lot of deceptive practices and people still buy. Example I was at Target for halloween, they had their costumes marked down 30% (most off of 19.99, so it was 13.99 and the aisle was just about wiped out), but Walmart had the same costumes for 12.99 regular price, totally stocked full. If you know your prices, you'll know when an item is actually on sale!
When life throws you lemons - make lemonaid
Use price match, take sales items from other stores and bring them to the grocery store that does price matching!
Read more strategies here:
Huh?! That's impossible! Our inflation rate is well under three percent; that's what the current Administration says and it's OFFICIAL! This survey must be lies put out by those darn Republicans...everyone knows that Democrats don't skew facts and look out for us...because they're Democrats by God! Oops...by a non-sectarian being I mean.
I wounder if that 13% rise in the cost of thanksgiving is reflective of how much food has increased this past year.
If it is, it is an easy fix....no more corn for ethanol, no more subsidies for ethanol. No more ethanol.
This is the biggest amount of BS i have seen in AWHILE. I know people that work for warehouses that stock frozen turkeys and they have (in there freezers) enough turkeys for years. Some BULK freezers, have turkeys that have been frozen for 4 to 5 years already and are waiting to be shipped. Most turkeys should be cooked by 6 months of the frozen date, but these big companys dont care. They are going to sock it to you when they get a chance. THIS IS that chance i guess. People writing this story should do more in depth reporting. I could lead them right to the freezers. The BIG COMPANYS want their money, they WILL get their money. Inflation has nothing to do with it.