HOW MUCH?
If you're hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, it might not be as bad as you think. For a group of 10 people, it should only run you about $41.
The Associated Food & Petroleum Dealers (AFPD) just released their annual report on what Thanksgiving dinner SHOULD cost, and this year, they're saying it's $4.09 per person for a 10-person dinner.
That includes turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, green salad, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, rolls and pumpkin pie. Beverages aren't included.
Believe it or not, $4.09 is a big jump from last year... when they estimated that the cost should be $3.67 per person. In 2005, it was even lower, at $3.37 per person.
The reason the cost has gone up: Gas prices. It costs more to ship food now, and those costs, naturally, get passed on to you, the consumer.
Jane Shallal, the president of the AFPD, says that one reason their price still seems so low is because grocery stores hold lots of sales on Thanksgiving items this time of year, to try to get you to do all your holiday shopping there.
WOULD YOU LIKE "FRIED POTATOES" WITH THAT?
McDonald's made an announcement yesterday: They're trying to go UPSCALE. That doesn't mean they're going to get rid of the ball pits, though... it means they're going to start serving ESPRESSO and SMOOTHIES.
Over the course of the next year, at every McDonald's nationwide, they're also going to add sweet tea, frappes, a sausage breakfast burrito and a southern-style chicken biscuit.
