Talking Turkey -- Again -- It's Get Tedious -- November 16, 2022

November 18, 2022: a reader sent me another note about Thanksgiving dinner and inflation. My reply:

Apparently you've noted that this whole issue is a burr under my virtual saddle -- I've posted this many times on the blog.

Knock off the price of the turkey and we're talking about $30 for the dinner. If you can't find a free turkey this holiday season, you're not trying hard enough.

Regardless, a 16-pound turkey can be had for 98 cents / pound -- as noted below -- or less than $16 -- compare to the nearly $30 in the graphic above.

By the way, we bought five big turkeys (16 to 22 pounds) earlier this week to donate to charity -- $92 from Target. Less than $20 / turkey. And most of the turkeys well above 16 pounds. All turkeys for 98 cents / pound sold out; had to settle for $1.19 / pound and two were Butterballs.

All this has been posted on the blog numerous times.

Stuffing? Store bought? My mom made incredibly good stuffing using old bread that would have been thrown out anyway and the gizzards / liver from the turkey. Celery? Most expensive ingredient? LOL. Her stuffing was essentially free.

Eggs: high price due more to avian flu than inflation.

And let's say the dinner does cost $70. We'll have leftovers that will last three or more lunches. Compare cost of these leftover lunches with a lunch downtown.

Later: today at Walmart, best price I've seen all week --

Same price as last year, 2021, or perhaps a penny / pound cheaper.

Original Post

Have you ever noticed, that all those folks quoting turkey prices never show the ads?

It never quits.

It gets tedious.

From The Hill, another inflationary Thanksgiving. What a bunch of malarkey. 

Let's talk turkey.

First, most folks can get their turkey "free" this year. Even the "homeless." Sophia's extended family, by itself, donate seven -- count 'em -- seven turkeys -- to charitable donation. 

"Every" grocer across America is offering a free turkey for purchases of as little as $50.

But even if paying for your turkey, see below the fold, below.

The linked article says: 

Butterballs, which we bought and donated two days ago: $1.19 / pound.

Honeysuckles, which we bought and donated two days ago: $1.19 / pound.

Off-brands: 99 cents / pound. Sold out, two days ago.

A 16-pound turkey: about $16.

Not the $30 The Hill is quoting.

It gets tedious. 

The price of a front-row ticket for Taylor Smith? $5,000+. That's if you can find one for that price.

I'm biking to Walmart to check on prices. I'll report back later. 

But what a great county, when you-all can have turkey for Thanksgiving for free. What a great country, and here we have folks complaining about the price of turkeys. Oh, give me a break. What the Ukrainians would give for just a turkey leg.

Previously posted, just a few days ago:

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Talking Turkey

After posting a note on Thanksgiving meal expenses, I ended up in an e-mail discussion with a reader from Minnesota. Both he and I were comparing notes on grocers giving frozen turkeys away as promotional items if customers bought $50 to $100 worth of groceries.

If grocers are giving away turkeys as promotional items that suggests to me there is not a shortage of Thanksgiving turkeys as the mainstream media would have us believe. 

I also noted the price: that a non-Butterball turkey was actually slightly less expensive than last year (although I might be comparing non-Butterball with Butterball turkeys). Be that as it may, you can still get a Thanksgiving turkey for less than $1.00 / pound.

Curious, the Minnesota reader simply typed in Butterball in his google search and this was his return:

Google/Walmart was tracking his location and referred him to a Mankato, MN, Walmart store. Note: this Butterball turkey at Walmart was priced at $1.18 / pound, a decrease from the "original" or perhaps competitor's price of a $1.70 / pound. 

This certainly suggests to me that there is not now a shortage of Thanksgiving turkeys and they aren't much more expensive than last year.

However: my hunch is that by the last week in November, before Thanksgiving Thursday, it may be hard to find a turkey at your local grocery story. Plan accordingly. 

.... it never quits. Now this, another google search that took me to Amazon: