Categories: Food & RestaurantsLifeShopping & Retail

Talking turkey: Here’s how much it costs to feed 10 on Thanksgiving

Large Thanksgiving dinner family gathering

Theo Thimou | November 16th, 2017

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There’s news for penny pinchers who like to throw festive family gatherings on a budget!

You’ll probably find you’re able to tighten your purse strings this year and still have a feast fit for an extended family.

Thanksgiving food is cheaper this year than last

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is out with its 32nd annual price tally that tracks the cost of traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

The good news is prices are down overall versus last year.

If you’re cooking for 10 people, AFBF figures the average cost of this year’s feast will be $49.12.

That’s down 75 cents from last year’s average of $49.87.

Turkey is 2 cents per pound cheaper in 2017

The average 16-pound turkey priced out at around $1.40 per pound, or $22.38 this year.

Back in 2016, you were likely to pay 36 cents more for your whole turkey, or $22.74.

Now let’s take a look at how some other items fared on the price-tracking tally…

These foods also went down in cost

Gallon of milk, $2.99
One dozen rolls, $2.26
Two nine-inch pie shells, $2.45
Three-pound bag of sweet potatoes, $3.52
One-pound bag of green peas, $1.53
Miscellaneous items including coffee, along with butter, evaporated milk, onions, eggs, sugar and flour, $2.72.

Yet these foods cost more this year

On the other side of the ledger, these items saw a small rise in cost in 2017 versus 2016:

Half-pint of whipping cream, $2.08
14-ounce package of cubed bread stuffing, $2.81
30-ounce can of pumpkin pie mix, $3.21
12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries, $2.43
One-pound veggie tray, $.74

The Farm Bureau reports that after adjusting for inflation, the cost for the average Thanksgiving dinner is at the lowest level it’s been since 2013.

More than 140 volunteer shoppers in 39 states tallied prices at grocery stores for this year’s survey.

The prices they reported do not include special promotional coupons or purchase deals — like spending a certain amount of money at a store and receiving a free turkey.