Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Thanksgiving by the Numbers 2015

thanksgiving spending
One nice thing about Thanksgiving is that, even when times are tight, we still celebrate it. There are years when we have to choose driving over flying, spend less on food than we like, or worry more about the price of gas. But the urge to get together and give thanks amongst family and friends remains strong. Yay, us!

Apparently, the price of gas will be the lowest, and the number of us taking off in the car the highest they have been in many years. Who knows if we are ever going to get back to 2007 levels of “comfort,” but this year seems to be better than last. How so? Let’s take a look at Thanksgiving by the Numbers 2015!

Travel:

  • $2.00 (approximately): average gallon of gas. Lowest since 2004!
  • 46.9 million: people who travel will be driving this Thanksgiving (highest since 2007!)

Food:

  • 248 million: Average number of Turkeys raised in the U.S. each year
  • 51 million: turkeys consumed on Thanksgiving day (same as 2014)
  • 20%: of turkeys raised every year will be eaten this day
  • $1.15: Average cost of pound of turkey
  • $4.37 billion: Total value of turkeys produced in the U.S. annually
  • 16 pounds: Annual consumption of turkey by the average American
  • $56.18: Average household spending on Thanksgiving dinner
  • $2.9 billion: total spent in US for Thanksgiving food

And… this year’s completely random statistic, courtesy of Cracker Barrel:

  • They will serve 1.6 million pounds of dressing that together weighs nearly 4.5 times more than the Mayflower, the ship that brought the pilgrims to America in 1620! Now you know!!

How about YOUR Thanksgiving spending in 2015? More travel or less? Driving or flying? Longer distance or shorter? More food and/or guests, or fewer? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page! Gobble gobble!

Sources:

 

Holiday Shopping Season Begins!

Seriously? For real?
Seriously? For real?

Holiday shopping season is upon us, so let the madness begin! It used to be so simple – around about 5am on Black Friday the doors would fly open and the trampling would commence. Now, the times are all over the place. Kmart is particularly tricky: Open at 6am Thursday, closes at 4pm, opens again at 8pm, closes at 11pm Friday! You get all that? If not, the folks at About.com have compiled a pretty thorough set of lists for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday store hours, so check ’em out!

Thanksgiving Day Opening Times

(Click the header for a complete listing)

6:00 AM – Kmart (closes at 4pm, reopens at 8pm)
7:00 AM – Big Lots
8:00 AM – Bass Pro Shops
8:00 AM – Family Dollar
9:00 AM – Old Navy
10:00 AM – Gap
8:00 PM – hh gregg
8:00 PM – Kmart
8:00 PM – Sears (stays open until 10pm Friday)
8:00 PM – Toys ‘R Us
8:00 PM – Wal-Mart (stays open until 10pm Friday)

Black Friday Opening Times

(Click the header for a complete listing)

12:00 Midnight – jcpenney (open from 8 PM Thurs thru 9 PM Friday)
12:00 Midnight – Kohl’s (open from 8 PM Thurs thru 9 PM Friday)
12:00 Midnight – Kmart (open from 8 PM Thurs thru 11 PM Friday)
12:00 Midnight – Old Navy (open from 7:00 PM Thurs)
12:00 Midnight – Sears (open from 8 PM Thurs thru 9 PM Friday)
12:00 Midnight – Target (continuous hours from 8:00 PM Thurs)
12:00 Midnight – Walmart (continuous hours from 8:00 PM Thurs)
5:00 AM – Bass Pro Shops
5:00 AM – Lowe’s
8:00 AM – Radio Shack

So, what’s YOUR battle plan? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page! And don’t forget, we did an online Holiday shopping guide a couple of weeks ago. You can check that out HERE.

Pre-Thanksgiving Brainstorm

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By the time we meet again, you will be ignoring this space and engaging in hand-to-hand combat at the mall. So, to kick off your battle planning, here are some gift idea links from around the web:

CNBC has this year’s top gadget gifts

Good Housekeeping picks this year’s best toys

Consumer Reports likes these electronic gifts

Help for Parents has a Top 10 gifts for kids list

Digital Crave picks the 5 best cell phones

Ask Men has a top 10 for her (relax, it was written by a woman!)

And also a Top 25 for him

And hey, who’s hungry? Planning your Thanksgiving Day feast?

Consumer Reports names the best stuffing mixes

Epicurious picks the best frozen pumpkin pies

Here are the top 5 cranberry sauce recipes (from 2010, but hey)

Hope this helps! Have a great Thanksgiving Day. Remember to actually, you know, give thanks. And be careful on Black Friday- I don’t want to see you in a riot on YouTube!

(photo: wetcanvas.com)