Thanksgiving Dinner In Illinois: Here’s What It Will Cost In 2023

(Before we get too deeply into this, I should point out that many different groups and organizations break down the costs associated with our annual Thanksgiving dinners. One of the most respected, the American Farm Bureau report, will be released next Wednesday, November 15th. They're expecting to report a reduction in turkey prices from last year, but we'll have to wait and see.)

Let's get things started here with a little comparison that should make you feel a little bit better about the money you've spent or will be spending on this year's Thanksgiving Day dinner on Thursday, November 23rd

Whatever you'll be spending on your Thanksgiving Day dinner more than likely pales in comparison to what, for a few years, was called the most expensive Thanksgiving Day dinner in the world--The Thanksgiving Day Feast at New York City's Old Homestead Steakhouse.

Back In 2018, The Old Homestead Steakhouse Offered Up A Thanksgiving Feast For $150,000, Then The Next Year It Was $181,000

It appears as if they took a break from those astronomically priced Thanksgiving feasts because of the pandemic, and the Old Homestead Steakhouse website this year doesn't say anything about dropping in for the most expensive Thanksgiving Day dinner on Earth this year.

So, what does one get when ponying up all that money for Thanksgiving dinner? According to CNBC.com, there was quite a lot:

• 2 twenty pound free-range turkeys at $5,800 ($145 per pound)
• The turkeys are covered in $2,000 worth of edible gold flakes, and seasoned with saffron among other things that cost $4,000
• Gravy that's been infused with a $3,650 bottle of Louis XIII cognac

The real money comes in with the part of the dinner that you don't eat. A $50,000 yacht trip for 2, an $8,000 bottle of champagne, a $20,000 Black Friday shopping spree, his and hers iPhones worth $2,750, and two tickets to the Super Bowl worth $30,000.

Let's Get Back Down To Earth With The Cost Of Thanksgiving Dinner For 10 People Here In Illinois

In spite of reports of turkey prices coming in lower than they did for Thanksgiving 2022, the experts in this sort of thing are definitely predicting higher overall costs for your Thanksgiving Day dinner.

The bottom line, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is that grocery prices are up nearly 17% over the past two years. Last year, the rate of inflation, the general rise in prices of goods and services, was running at 13%. This year, the inflation rate for food at home was at 2.4%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report.

Courier-Journal.com:

The American Farm Bureau will release its annual estimate of the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 15. Consumers spent on average, a total of $64.05 in 2022, and $53.31 in 2021 on their Thanksgiving Day meal. This year, the AFB is expecting a decline in turkey prices of 22% from last year, falling from $1.63 a pound in 2022 to $1.27 a pound in 2023.

It appears as if most analysts are expecting this year's Thanksgiving dinner to cost more, but the rate of increase will be less than what we've seen over the last two years.

Here's that "World's Most Expensive Thanksgiving Dinner" I was telling you about: