ICYMI #3 → Book Your Holiday Travel ASAP; Plus a Thanksgiving Turkey May Cost You 112% More This Year

Welcome back for another edition of ICYMI: A weekly-ish roundup of finance-related news that matters for you and your money.

🛫 Book your holiday travel ASAP

According to travel deal site Hopper, “Mid October is the sweet spot for getting great holiday deals, while prices are low and deals are still available to many top destinations.” They recommend booking your holiday travel no later than October 20 to try and snag the best deals possible. They anticipate that, “airfare will rise by $10 per day from the end of October through Thanksgiving, and is expected to peak at over $450 for last minute tickets.”

Pro tip: Planning ahead is the name of the game in travel. If you know you have travel coming up that is non-negotiable, make the most of your money with deals. You can also use a tool like Google Flights and see the cheapest flights by day using the date grid.

🛍️ Shop seasonal sales wisely

Amazon just wrapped up another sale that they called “Early Access” to holiday deals. But don’t be fooled. These events are created to encourage shoppers to spend all the way up to the holiday season. With inflation still super high, retailers are nervous about what the holiday spend will look like for consumers this year. Target and other big box retailers have already rolled out their Black Friday deals too. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t shop. We just want you to do it for your reasons and on your terms – not theirs. 

Pro tip: Make a list and check it twice. When you’re on a shopping website it’s easy to scroll and find things to add to your cart that you never intended to buy (and may not need). Make a list before heading to your favorite retailers, and use comparison shopping tools like Google Shopping or camelcamelcamel to make sure you’re getting the best deal. Plus, you can use tools like Honey to stack your savings even higher.

⛽ Find ways to fuel up on the cheap

The average cost for a gallon of gas this week is $3.92. That’s up 17 cents from when we reported it to you just two weeks ago. While this will be influenced by OPEC Plus’s decision about oil production and accordingly the US reaction to that, we’ll need to keep considering the impact of gas on our wallets.

Pro tip: If you can cut down on unnecessary trips by combining errand runs, that’s one way to save at the pump. But if you have to put in the miles, consider other ways to cut costs like using a rewards app like Upside or buying discounted gift cards that you can redeem like cash as a gas station.

🦃 Less bird for your buck

With costs rising on everything this year, it’s not that surprising to learn that the cost of your holiday bird will also be higher this year. But it’s not just inflation that’s making your tryptophan trip more pricey. According to the Farm Bureau, “Families can expect to pay record high prices at the grocery store for turkey this upcoming holiday season thanks to the impacts of the bird flu and inflation.” The impact is a 112% increase in the retail price for fresh boneless, skinless turkey compared to 2021. 

Pro tip: Family traditions are important. If a turkey is part of your holiday ritual, be sure to plan ahead for the extra expense. You can also consider some cost-cutting measures like buying a Thanksgiving meal kit or chipping in with some other family members to get a bigger bird but at a fraction of the price for you. 

Data featured as of October 10, 2022