Now is a great time to stock up on fall decor.
Thanksgiving is just over a week away, and you’re all probably thinking about roasted turkey and pumpkin pie. While I’m also excited about the upcoming holiday, I’m also looking at the opportunity to stock up on other things.
Turkey
This one is obvious. This is the one time of year turkeys go on sale for 20 cents a pound, which is a FANTASTIC price for any kind of meat or poultry these days. If you have a freezer, consider buying an extra turkey. You can eat it at Christmas or Easter, or you could roast it and chop it up for broth, casseroles, salads, or anything else that normally calls for cooked chicken.
Pumpkin
Thanksgiving is also a great time to save on canned pumpkin. I stock up to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, and of course, pumpkin pie. I love to slip pumpkin into my baked goods. The kids don’t notice that they’re eating something good for them!
Baking Ingredients
Other baking ingredients are also on sale this time of year, and glancing through last Sunday’s coupons, there are good coupons out there as well. Make sure you print free coupons at sites like coupons.com, too. Things to stock up on include sugars, flour, chocolate chips, and other candy making ingredients.
Don’t wait for the Christmas sales on baking ingredients, because my experience has always been that the November sales are better than the December sales. One year I made the mistake of waiting for the Christmas deals, and they never came.
Fall Decor
I went to Walmart this week and bought a whole bunch of fall decorations for my Thanksgiving table at 50% off. I’m sure after Thanksgiving the prices will drop even more, so if you’re set for this year, wait a week or so, and then buy for next year. You can find things like decorative pumpkins, apples, fall leaves and wreathes. Combined with real gourds and pumpkins and a candle or two, these items make great table centerpieces.
Household Items
If you need roasting pans, dishes, tablecloths, or other cooking and baking items, watch the sales over the next month. Our local Fred Meyer store has a Kitchenaid Roasting pan with rack on sale for $39.99 (regularly $59.99). On top of that, there’s a $20 rebate, so the total cost is $19.99. Not a bad deal!
If you know you’ll need kitchen and dining room items over the next year, look for sales now! I’m on the lookout for a basic white tablecloth, so if you know of a great sale, let me know!
By always thinking ahead, you can make sure you buy items you’ll need at the lowest possible prices. You get more for your money, and you’ll be prepared for the next season.
Are you stocking up on anything this year? Have you found any good sales this week? Please share!
Photo by Elin B.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Just before school started, GM cereals were on really good sales at my local grocery store. I had coupons on top of that and the store doubles coupons regularly (up to 99¢). I must’ve bought a dozen or more boxes to stash on my basement pantry shelves.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Where do you find turkey on sale at $.20 a pound? I just might move there for the sale!!
Seriously, when turkey goes on sale I will buy 2 and have them cut in half - there are only 2 of us so 1/2 is perfect AND halves fit in the freezer better.
Also, for canned goods & baking items I write the date purchased on them to make sure they get rotated in the pantry.
I also shop “after” holiday sales and will stock up on things I know I can use as gifts - for one couple getting married in June I bought Fall & Winter decorations/tablescape items - it was a big hit already having placemats, napkins, candles, strings of minilights, a First Christmas ornament, etc. for the upcoming holidays all packed up in a picnic basket (and it cost less than $20). And no, I do not feel I have to spend a certain amount on any gift, as long as the gift is appropriate.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I don’t know if you have ever shopped at JoAnn Fabrics, but they always seem to have awesome sales and they don’t just have fabric either. You know those ceramic lighted Christmas houses?? Well, I started a tradition a couple of years ago and buy one for my mom every year, and every year they are 50% off or more at JoAnnem before Christmas, so that $25-$30 house is normally around $10-$12!!
November 18th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Hi Lynnae!
I’m with Bellen - where do you find turkey for .20/lb?? I thought our local store was pretty good at .59/lb! ha!
We do have pumpkin 2 cans for 1.00 as well as cranberry sauce and broth.
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 18th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I wish we had 20 cent turkey! The lowest we are right now is 39 cents & it has major strings (limit 1 with $$ purchase). Regular price is still hovering around 88 cents. I tried to shop for some “Fall” items for my up coming dinners & nothing was to be had, so sadly not much for “after” clearance either!
November 18th, 2008 at 10:05 am
Don’t forget stuffing and cranberry sauce. now is about the only time of year I find them on sale.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
The only thing that we are stocking up on right now is gonna be canned gravy lol. It’s free after coupon at my local grocery store and I use it a lot during the winter to “beef up” soups and stews. Since it has a high salt content, I tend to not add salt to my soups in the winter, add a can of the gravy and season after that. You get just the right amount of sodium since the small can is diluted in the big pot of soup.
Also, I stocked up on a few cookie mixes…add the right ingredients and they taste just like homemade without all the trouble!
November 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
@Amiyrah - I stocked up on canned gravy this morning! My deal wasn’t as great as yours, though. Still, not bad.
I got my turkey for 20 cents a pound last year. The deal had strings attached. I think I needed to spend $50, but I was doing my normal grocery shopping then anyway, so I had no problem going over $50.
So far this year the best I’ve seen is 23 cents a pound, if you spend $50 at Safeway. Winco usually has a deal a cent or two cheaper than the best regular grocery store price, though, so I’m betting I’ll get a good deal there early next week.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
My mom used to have the butcher cut the turkeys in half which was a great way to enjoy turkey more often, and also easier to freeze and store.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Great article. I was wondering if baking items actually go on sale since they are so cheap relative to everything else in the first place.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
23 cents at Safeway W/$50 here also. (NW Oregon)
Since I quit drinking soda pop tho, it’s hard to get to $50 anymore
Now just imagine how inexpensive turkey dinner could be next year with a big garden!!! I’ve got just dug spuds, with homemade gravy, fresh brussell sprouts or peas or carrots, or home grown frozen green beans or asparagus or brocoli and cauliflower. Salad: Lettuce, the last of the tomatoes are just ripening in the window sill, carrots, chives, herbs, nasturtiums, and onions. The stuffing will be dried bread crumbs (homemade) and cornbread made the day before and overdried, with sage, celery, onions, chives from the garden. Homemade bread/buns.
And the pies? Homemade pie crust with from the garden butternut squash (which I like more than pumpkin), and dried apples reconstituted.
It doesn’t get much cheaper than that!
Actually, the grandkids grew purple potatoes - so we are having purple mashed potatoes…ok so it’s not traditional, but I’m trying to keep encouraging the grandkids’ work in the gardens
November 18th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Purple potatoes sound fun! And I’ve heard most canned pumpkin is actually various forms of squash anyway.
I won’t be buying my Turkey from Safeway. They’re too expensive on other things. I’ll stock up on $50 worth of Winco food and get my turkey that way. If they’re running the deal, that is. We’re getting a free turkey from Jim’s employer, so if I can’t find a deal, I won’t buy an extra this year.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Well, when you only have a Safeway and a Freddies, there’s not much choice!
Actually, I am having dinner at one of my son’s this year - so I just have to bring the homemade pies (MUST be homemade he says!) So I get off easily in the money dept…
My employer is also giving out either a card for turkey/ham or just a gift card also - I’m not sure which, but it will be spendable. I’ll use that like I did last year to stock up on the baking supplies
November 19th, 2008 at 9:31 am
http://www.freecycle.org; & local recycling sites in your area (ours is RVR (rogue valley recycling)are great! If you don’t join, please do so. Everything on it is free; rule is you 1st must give something then you can ask for something you need. (I was thinking if you need roasting pan!); I got turkey at Thunderbird store here in town, stopped by on way to pick up daughter, found skinless boneless chicken breasts for $1.19 a lb (unadvertised special) stocked up & got turkey 23 cents a lb!
December 4th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Hi,
I just came across this blog this morning and had to make a comment about pumpkin. I’m from New Zealand and I don’t think it’s possible to buy pumpkin in a can anywhere here. We buy our pumpkins whole or sometimes in pieces and do everything from scratch. Is canned pumpkin the standard thing in the States?
December 4th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Canned pumpkin is pretty popular in the United States. I prefer fresh pumpkin in pumpkin pies, but I like to have canned on hand for making pumpkin bread and pumpkin pancakes.
December 4th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I too prefer fresh for my pies - I grow butternut squash actually for my pies - as I like that flavor even better than pumpkin in pies.