SURVIVE THANKSGIVING: Don’t Let Inflation Ruin Family and Fun

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As you prep up for Thanksgiving survival, let’s see what you’re telling me.

• You’re reading with your children one of my favorite books we read to our children, Hatchet, celebrating its 35-year anniversary. It’s never too early to read about self-reliance, and the book makes for a wonderful gift this Christmas. For starters, you can watch the movie A Cry in the Wild, based on the book and released in 1990. The film stars child actor Jared Rushton, who you probably know better from Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and enjoys a small role played by Ned Beatty.
  
• My daughter tells me the excitement is in the air for college students looking forward to getting a break for Thanksgiving. I remember those days and how fun it was to see my friends back home at the Mattapoisett Inn for what was basically an annual reunion.
• You’re telling me about the new condo in Florida you purchased and how you’re excited to get down there and begin some of the renovation work. It will be a nice reprieve for the winter.
• Congratulations to another client whose daughter just had a baby boy and is looking forward to bringing him to work. She’s a dolphin trainer. Pretty cool.
• You just bought a place on the Jersey Shore and can’t wait to turn it into a family home for your retirement years.
• GasBuddy’s 2021 Thanksgiving Travel Survey: Average gas prices are $3.35 per gallon, the highest in seven years for this survey. It was $3.44 in 2012. Raise your hand if you think this is “transitory.”
• Under the heading of letting algorithms run the show and what could possibly go wrong, check out the property liquidation going on at Zillow.
• You’re looking forward to visiting with your grandchildren and hearing about their success in school and on the field.
• You’re getting out of debt, and it feels great.
• You’re planning on taking a big retirement adventure, and you want to be sure you can get in touch with your family back home. You’re asking about the difference between personal locator beacons and satellite messengers. And considering a satellite phone.
• It’s always a good time to visit Your Survival Guy in Newport, RI, but if you’re a fan of Disney’s Hocus Pocus, now’s the time. Hocus Pocus 2 is filming in Newport, and the cast and crew are enjoying all Newport can offer in the way of culinary satisfaction.
• Speaking of food, take it from Your Survival Guy’s fried turkey experience. There’s a fine line between underdone turkey tartar and this. Maybe leave it to the pros.
  
• The biggest thing you may be thankful for this year is simply being able to afford to buy the dinner you’re eating. Joe Biden’s inflation has driven the price of your family meal up 14% compared to last year. Vanessa Yurkevich reports:
  

  Thanksgiving dinner will cost 14% more this year, according to a new survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation. Dinner for a family of 10 will cost on average $53.31 — up $6.41 from last year’s average of $46.90, which was down 4% from 2019, the lowest in 10 years.

  Several factors led to this year’s increased pricing, including more Americans expected to cook at home as well as economic disruptions.

  “These include dramatic disruptions to the US economy and supply chains over the last 20 months; inflationary pressure throughout the economy; difficulty in predicting demand during the COVID-19 pandemic and high global demand for food, particularly meat,” said Veronica Nigh, senior economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Action Line: There’s a lot more to surviving Thanksgiving than just what I have here, especially if you’re having a big family get-together. If the kids or grandkids are coming home from college, give them a copy of my Special Report: How To Invest After Graduating College.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.