If you are a regular reader you’ll know that I’m currently in Macedonia and James is back at home feeding the cats their Thanksgiving treats and writing on papers.
For those of you who have a bit more sense of normalcy, I thought some findings on Thanksgiving costs might be interesting. Here are some stats that I found on the average cost of Thanksgiving Day dinner.
Perhaps I’m too used to the over inflated food prices seen in DC, but I think these figures aren’t possibly within reality. Keep in mind that these figure aren’t just for you and your significant other, but 10 friends and family. I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t imagine hosting a party of 10 for less than the price of dinner for two in DC!
The stats show that the price of a Thanksgiving Day dinner – a 16-pound turkey and the traditional fixings – increased from $31.53 in 2005 to $34.71 in 2006. The total is also higher than the 2004 average, but it is within a few cents of the 2003 and 2002 totals.
The Indiana Farm Bureau survey was first conducted in 1993. Average prices for the full family meal from each year the survey has been conducted are listed below.
1994 – $26.87
1995 – $27.73
1996 – $31.09
1997 – $28.37
1998 – $28.68
1999 – $34.26
2000 – $31.44
2001 – $33.46
2002 – $34.48
2003 – $34.21
2004 – $31.28
2005 – $31.53
2006 – $34.71
According the the American Farm Bureau this year’s national average cost of $38.10 is equivalent to $18.99 in 1986 inflation-adjusted dollars, which means the real cost of the Thanksgiving dinner has declined 34 percent in the last 20 years.
I’m doubtful that many people can keep their expenses so low. I certainly don’t see the price of foods being less than they were 20 years ago! Out of curiosity, how much do you think you spent on Thanksgiving dinner this year? If you want to leave a comment that would be fun!
On a final note, gas price are at 6-week high for Thanksgiving
Average cost-per-gallon hits $2.24, up 3.8 cents from a year ago
The bad news is that we spend our first Thanksgiving married apart, I guess the good news is that we saving money since we aren’t driving or preparing a T-Day dinner!
Enjoy your Thanksgiving!
Miel
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DINKS (Dual Income No Kids) Finance is a blog discussing personal finance for couples. While by no means financial experts, we own a variety of assets including real estate and stocks. We've been up to our eyeballs in debt and have made tons of financial mistakes. However, we've successfully retired that debt and we both do learn from our failings. We hope that our voice in this blog can help others in achieving their goals!
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