How US Inflation Will Affect Your Thanksgiving Dinner

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  • With US Inflation at a 30-year high and consumer prices rising, Thanksgiving celebrations in 2021 might be the most expensive in U.S. history.
  • The cost of the Thanksgiving dinner has gone up by 14% – American Farm Bureau Federation Survey.
  • Americans expect Thanksgiving shopping to negatively affect their personal finances.

This year’s Thanksgiving dinner will have a slimming effect on your personal finances. This is due to the U.S. inflation negatively impacting the cost of Thanksgiving dinner.

Last year, Thanksgiving dinner was one of the cheapest with many Americans holding smaller gatherings amid the Covid-19 restrictions. This year, you may have one of the costliest Thanksgiving dinners.

With inflation at a 30-year high and more households expected to host big dinners, the holiday meal will be an increase in price. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation’s 36th annual survey, the cost of the Thanksgiving dinner has gone up by 14%.

The price of food at home is up 5.4% in the last one year, according to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released on November 10. The latest consumer price index  (CPI) shows an 11.9% increase in the price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs.

If you take the price of turkey, for example, it has been rising as U.S. turkey farmers struggle with a range of supply chain issues including labor shortages in processing plants and higher costs in farm inputs including feed, packaging materials and transportation. Currently, the wholesale price of frozen whole tom turkeys weighing between 16 and 24 lbs is at $1.36 per pound, an 18% increase from a year earlier. In addition, turkeys are in shorter supply. In October 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the supply of turkeys in cold storage was down 20% from October 2020.

If you look at other items other than the turkey, they have gone up by about 6.6%, which is relatively close to the 6.2% CPI inflation that was reported recently. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the price of food at home has gone up 5.4% over the past 12months. There is also an 11.9% increase in the price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs.

There are many reasons for the higher grocery bills, including but not limited to labor shortages, widespread supply-chain issues, immeasurable product shortages and increased consumer demand.

It is expected that more than 109 million Americans will travel for Thanksgiving this year and a good number of Americans are expected to take out personal loan facilities such as instant online payday loans and installment loans to finance their Thanksgiving celebrations.

This is because consumers expect increased prices when shopping for their Thanksgiving celebrations and that it will have a hit at their personal finances.

About Nancy Lubale PRO INVESTOR

Nancy is a successful finance, crypto analyst and content writer with many years of writing experience finance and blockchain fields. Nancy has been producing quality content for websites in the cryptocurrency industry including Krptotrends, Forexcrunch, and InsideBitcoins. She is a Certified Cryptocurrency Expert (CCE) from Blockchain Council. Her interests are in cryptoasset research, Fintech, Blockchain, DeFi, NFTs and Personal Finance.