Walmart invited me to take a challenge! They sent me a $50 Gift Card and asked me to buy a complete Thanksgiving meal and share what I bought on Koupon Karen. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, last year the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal was $43!!
I was up for the challenge but honestly I thought that with buying a turkey too, I’d spend more than $50. So I set out to see what I could do.
Here is what I bought…
Stove Top Stuffing double pack, $1.50
(2) Betty Crocker Potatoes, $.98 each
Bag of Salad, $2.50
Cubed Squash, $2.48
(2) Great Value Rolls, .98 each
Great Value Butter, $2.38
(2) Great Value Turkey Gravy, $.94 each
4 Pack Green Giant Corn, $2.00
Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce, $.98
Diet Cola, 3L $.98
Frozen Pie, $3.48
Frozen Turkey 13lbs @ $.68lb, $8.89
Total Spent: $31.06 –> WOW
Did you see the price of that turkey! I couldn’t believe it!!! So I was wrong. The turkey was not going to bring me over the $50 at all! Plus I have some things on hand that I could use as well. I’m sure if you look through your cupboards you could find food already there that you can cook for thanksgiving dinner.
MENU
Salad – will use salad dressing I have on hand and anything else I have that goes into a salad.
Turkey with stuffing & gravy — I bought boxed stuffing to save time and I will dress up the stuffing with some ground hamburger and ground sausage I have on hand in the freezer.
Potatoes –> I bought instant to save time
Cranberry Sauce
Squash – I bought cubed squash to save time. I will use apples and walnuts that I have on hand already to mix with.
Corn
Rolls with butter –> just bake them and they will be nice and fresh
Beverages – Soda and Water
Dessert – Frozen Apple Pie
I thought for sure this would be a hard challenge but with Walmart’s prices it really wasn’t. They’ve lowered prices on so many items for the holidays to make sure everyone can afford to enjoy a GREAT meal.
Items on Rollback (prices below are national average, see your store for local pricing)..
- Fresh green beans at $.98 per pound
- Fresh sweet potatoes at $.28 per pound
- 4.0–6.6-ounce box of Betty Crocker Potatoes for $.98
- 5–6-ounce box of Stove Top Stuffing Mix for $1.25
- 9.5–15.25-ounce can of Green Giant or Del Monte Canned Vegetables for $.60.
- Sara Lee 12-count Dinner Rolls for $1.88
- 14-ounce can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce for $.98
- 12-ounce jar of Heinz Home Style Turkey Gravy for $.98
- 2-liter soda, variety of flavors for $.88 each
- Paula Deen 9-inch Dark Rum Pecan Pie for $8 in the bakery department
- Pumpkin Pie, $3 each in the bakery department
- Grandpa’s Oven Pumpkin Cobbler Bread, 16 oz, $2.98 in the bakery department
That’s AWESOME! What great deals! I hope you enjoy your thanksgiving dinner! 🙂
Great job shopping….when will the turkey be ready?
Erm, who has sudden spuds and crappy boxed stuffing for Thanksgiving? Buying low-quality pre-packaged junk isn’t really a challenge.
Why not use coupons for a better deal?
April the only item I had a coupon for was the Betty Crocker Potatoes, the other items I didn’t buy enough to use coupons or there wasn’t anything for them. But I also wanted to shop like a lot of people do, and that is without coupons, and show that you can still get great deals at Walmart. I wasn’t trying to stock up on this challenge either or I would of bought more items to use the coupons. It was just to make one meal.
As far as the boxed foods, well the stuffing is really just bread anyways and I add fresh meat to it and the potatoes my family prefers the flavored ones but a LOT of people do eat out of boxes for Thanksgiving for stuff like this. My mother always made fresh mashed potatoes growing up and you can get more for you money when the potatoes are on sale. And I do not have the time to make fresh cranberry sauce so I always by the canned one.
But for those that have $35 or less to spend on Thanksgiving can get everything they need at Walmart. If you have more money to spend then of course buy all fresh items.