I LOVE shopping for Thanksgiving food. Shoes? Hate shoe shopping. Clothes? Nope. But shopping for the goodies to grace our table on Thanksgiving day? I love it! We just got in from our big Turkeyday haul, and it just gets me so excited for next Thursday to arrive. I can’t wait.
Some Thanksgiving shopping tips:
- Don’t wait until the last minute! Not only will all of the non-cracked pie crusts be gone, but it’ll be crazy and crowded and stressful. Our goal is to eliminate the stress this year, remember?
- Try to schedule your trip early in the morning or later in the evening. Avoid when everyone else is getting off work. We went after supper, and honestly, the store was slow. It was really nice. Everyone thinks to go shopping right after they get off of work, and that’s when traffic is at its worst. You’re more likely to forget something and force yourself to return to the store later if you go at a stressful and busy time.
- Buy the dry goods and cold stuff early. Sales are hot right now, and as the week goes on, things will fly off the shelves.
- Wait on produce. This seems like a no-brainer, but it should still be said. For total freshness, wait to buy your fresh produce until next week. Monday or Tuesday would be a good day. Avoid the stores like the plague on Wednesday! I mean it!
- Take your shopping list, menu, AND recipe cards. Sounds like a lot, but you wouldn’t believe how many times I got to the store in years past and discovered I forgot to write down the necessities for an entire side dish. Keep it all together in a folder. If all goes well with your shopping list, then you won’t even have to check the menu or recipe cards, but better safe than sorry, right?
- Buy generic brands when you can! Canned pumpkin at my local grocery store was $.78, but the name brand stuff was $1.50. Every penny adds up, and with basic ingredients like that, no one will ever know. It’s really okay if your whipped topping isn’t Cool Whip. I promise.
- Set aside a decent amount of time for your shopping trip. Take things slow, don’t rush yourself and you won’t forget things. Since my goals for this year is to de-stress Thanksgiving, I don’t want to have to return to the store. I always end up having to return to the store, so this year I made my list, checked it more than once, brought along all recipe cards and my full menu, and set aside an entire evening to do nothing but shop. I nearly made it out of the store without macaroni and cheese, but I remembered! Yea trip saved!
You know what? That was truly the least stressful Thanksgiving shopping trip I’ve ever made. It was actually fun! And when I got home to unload the groceries, my fridge and pantry was clean and open for all of that food. It was so nice.
Enjoy your holiday shopping day!! Tomorrow we begin the big house cleaning. Are your gloves ready??
Kat
Love Makes A Family {by mommyponders} 