$$$Thanksgiving$$$

Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation released their annual study on the cost of serving Thanksgiving dinner. And they found the average cost of a 10-person dinner, including turkey, lots of sides, and dessert, is $49.20. Not sure what grocery store they're shopping at because NO ONE here in the real world thinks they can host Thanksgiving that cheap. Spending $50 is such a ridiculous notion that Harris didn't even ask about that small of an amount.

In a new nationwide survey by Harris Interactive:
Seven out of 10 Americans will spend at LEAST $100 to host Thanksgiving.
60% of people plan to save money by using coupons
52% of people believe it will cost them between $100 and $250.
37% will shop at a warehouse store
34% will ask their guests to bring a dish.
31% of Americans who are hosting Thanksgiving think they'll spend under $100.
10% are planning to play a VERY dangerous game and wait until the last possible second to go shopping, hoping that stores will slash prices to empty out their inventory.
Read more HERE

BUSTED!

A ScamBusters.org Thanksgiving study found that eating turkey, which contains tryptophan, does not make you sleepy. Dr. Audri G. Lanford, who conducted the study, says people would need to consume more tryptophan than the amount contained in a Thanksgiving turkey to fall asleep. Large amounts of alcohol and carbs are what make people sleepy.

TURKEY HOTLINE

The Butterball Turkey Hotline will receive 12,000 calls tomorrow at 1(800)288-8372. Experts can handle questions in English and Spanish.

Funniest Calls Of All Time::

• Can I brine my turkey in the washing machine?
• Can I use my oven's self-cleaning cycle to speed up the cooking process?
• Is it okay to thaw my turkey in the bathtub while bathing my kids?
• Can I take my frozen turkey into my sauna to thaw it faster?
• If I cut my turkey with a chainsaw will the oil affect the taste?

Talkin' Turkey

According to the National Turkey Federation, close to 90% of Americans will eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Other findings:

• Over 46 million birds will be eaten tomorrow.


• Americans will gobble over 690 million pounds of turkey tomorrow


• 75% of America will devour pumpkin pie for dessert


• 575 million pounds of cranberry sauce will be eaten


• 1.4 billion pounds of sweet potatoes have been grown for Thanksgiving and Christmas consumption.


• According to a survey by Pepperidge Farm, 70% of American women will be doing the cooking on Thanksgiving.


• Only 50% of those who actually cook a Thanksgiving meal enjoy eating it.


• 34% of Americans love to watch football on Thanksgiving while only 22% enjoy Thanksgiving Day parades.


• Thanksgiving Eve ranks as one of the top five busiest days for pizza delivery in the United States. The other top days are Super Bowl Sunday, Halloween, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
• Bally's says the average American will consume 3,000 calories and 86 grams of fat during their Thanksgiving dinner. That's the equivalent of 16 slices of pepperoni pizza!

Drunken Turkey

New York pub owner Paul Hurley is serving a Thanksgiving turkey that you can 'eat and drink'. O'Casey's Tavern is injecting all of its birds with 100-proof Georgi vodka and plans to provide straws so guests can sip up the Vodka gravy. Every six hours, the restaurant injects its turkeys with 8 ounces of vodka. The practice is expected to continue over the next few days meaning each turkey will have soaked up more than a half gallon of Vodka by Thursday. The $29.95 meal includes sausage stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and a cab to anywhere in Manhattan.

Gobble Gobble Glug Glug

The owner of a Henniker, New Hampshire turkey farm is using beer to increase the size of his birds. Joe Morette says his turkeys drink 60 beers a day. "The turkeys, as well as other animals, like beer. It slows them down a little. They're enjoying their life."

No Free Lunch... but free dinner?

Jeffrey Strain, who writes about ways to save money at Grocery Coupon Guide, is attempting to purchase a complete Thanksgiving dinner for six people for less than $1. His dinner will include rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce and turkey. Strain got free stuffing and gravy after he found a coupon at Safeway offering $5 off his next purchase. He also used coupons to get 120 Pillsbury rolls for free. Strain hopes to land a free turkey by taking advantage of a promotion that offers a free turkey in exchange for buying $100 worth of food. He says, "I hope to use coupons to get the $100 worth of groceries for free and the turkey on top of it," he said. "Of course, some places offer free turkeys if you, say, take a test drive in one of their cars, so that's an option too."