Thanksgiving is different than most holidays. Not only do you spend it with family, but you consume what you spend, even when the goods are overcooked thanks to that one relative you shouldn’t have trusted with the food to begin with.
To make sure everything goes according to plan, the Credit Repairmen have our own gift to you.
Slay Those Money Vampires and Buy the Best Turkey
If just for the weekend. Consumers pay an average of $50-$75 extra on brand named items for no reasons other than they’re a familiar name, and maybe they have funny commercials. With so many goods to buy for a family (and then some), now’s a good time to pick up better savings habits.
Turkeys are fairly expensive, with some costing more than $30. Expect to spend roughly $5 per person. Thanks to Butterball’s research, we know exactly how much turkey to buy: 1.5 pounds per person according to their report (said to allow for leftovers). Turkey farmers and butchers recommend buying as soon as possible. Why? Because farms typically raise turkeys in time for Thanksgiving, growing them at the appropriate size, meaning the best turkeys are the ones you buy early.
Fresh turkeys also cook quicker, whereas frozen turkeys from supermarkets are hard to tell “how long they’ve been frozen”, according to another farmer. Also, DON’T store your potatoes in the fridge. A lot of vegetables used for Thanksgiving can be bought frozen too, which is a lot cheaper.
The (Dirty) Secret to Shopping
There’s no longer any such thing as a Thanksgiving that doesn’t involve shopping. What’s the best way to save?
To start with, it’s critical to know when you’re not actually saving. For example, the Wall Street Journal recently clarified how this works – retailers will buy a product from a supplier at a high enough cost to make you, the buyer, perceive your discount as a miraculous accomplishment. OMG these jeans cost less than half of what they normally do.
The truth is that retailers generate high percentage markups so that “normal” prices (say, $50 jeans) are inflated, while “discounts” are merely prices that balance the average from the initial retailer/supplier purchase (say, $14.50 jeans before the markup). I.E. retailers try to find their “suckers” before the sales the real costs.
92 percent of 2013 Black Friday ads contain the exact same items at the same prices as 2012.” So maybe the deals aren’t as great as they appear, but you’re still buying products at a price that’s more affordable on Black Friday than it was previously, regardless of the high games retailers play. All of that would be just fine and dandy except for the loyal opposition – shoppers who range from tactical, to aggressive, to transgressive.
The best choice is to take advantage of online shopping. While many do their shopping online already, not everyone takes advantage of the many apps that make shopping more affordable – Honey being the most popular in finding you the lowest prices for your online purchases, and apps like Shopular (no coupon clipping required) being another.
For a comprehensive list of items on sale, Fortune magazine has you covered.
For a Free Credit Evaluation to make sure good credit buys good savings to afford good turkey, call us at 210-520-0796 or visit our approachable offices at 6989 Alamo Downs Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78238.
