While gathering together for a meal and expressing one’s gratitude does not require a transaction, Thanksgiving can be costly. All the ingredients for the big turkey dinner, transportation and the commercialized spending that follows the holiday during Black Friday and Cyber Monday can eventually add up.
To help Americans decide where to spend Thanksgiving without breaking their bank, WalletHub compared the 100 largest U.S. cities across 20 key metrics including the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, hotel room prices and prevalence of affordable restaurants with high ratings.
They also compared factors, such as the chance of rain on Thanksgiving, holiday decoration shops per capita, traffic congestion and volunteer opportunities per capita to find the best cities to celebrate Thanksgiving overall.
Scottsdale. ranked among the top 15 cities to spend Thanksgiving, placing at No. 12 on the list. It ranked 43rd for the cost of Thanksgiving dinner, 1st for volunteer opportunities per capita, 25th for forecasted Thanksgiving precipitation, 32nd for traffic congestion and 1st for holiday decoration shops per capita.
While certain cities are more-cost friendly than others during Thanksgiving, there are ways to save money throughout the holiday while traveling and participating in other activities.
“I recommend trying to steer clear of the small charges that can add up a lot in the end,” says University of Minnesota Twin Cities Professor and Chair in Marketing Kathleen D Vohs. “For instance, you could take an empty water bottle to the airport and fill it at a free water station as opposed to buying expensive water bottles to and from your destination. If you are driving, bring a cooler with food and drinks so you can avoid having to eat out.”
Click here for the full WalletHub report and more expert tips on saving money during Thanksgiving.
