If you’ve ever planned a Thanksgiving feast, you know that the cost of everything can add up faster than you can say, “Gobble, gobble!”

Here are some practical ideas for saving money on your holiday feasts, from now through the new year:
* Ham or turkey, not both. Choose one meat or main dish and plan the rest of your meal around it. This not only saves the cost of the additional meat, but also the cost of special side dishes that go with it. The cost of electricity for cooking both meats is reduced, too.

* Choose the right bird. Extension experts recommend purchasing about ½ to 1 pound of turkey for each person at the table. The higher estimate will allow for leftovers. If you don’t want to pay for or deal with leftovers, choose a bird within the lower weight range.

* Balance “expensive” and “cheap” dishes. Mashed potatoes are less expensive to make than a creamy vegetable casserole; a pumpkin pie is generally cheaper to make than a cheesecake. Limit the number of dishes requiring expensive ingredients. Choose your family’s favorites and serve less expensive dishes to complement them. Foods with fewer rich ingredients are easier on the waistline as well.

* Trim down extras. Do you really need three different vegetable casseroles and five desserts? Who will miss the extras? Try to cut out at least one extra that no one will miss from each food category. This will save not only extra expense, but also the temptation to overeat excess calories.

* Look for substitutions. Many holiday recipes call for expensive ingredients you may not normally keep on hand. Before you invest in special ingredients you’ll use for only one recipe, check the substitution guide in your favorite cookbook or at www.foodsubs.com to see if there’s anything you can substitute.

* Serve inexpensive beverages. Alcohol, sodas, punch and fruit juices can be expensive additions to your holiday shopping list. Water, coffee, iced tea and lemonade are inexpensive alternatives. No- or low-calorie beverages quench thirst better and help to hold the line on calorie intake.

* Take advantage of loss-leaders. In the weeks before Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, grocery stores run fantastic specials on traditional holiday foods. They hope that while you’re visiting their stores to get the specials, you’ll also buy lots of other things. Be a savvy shopper. Take advantage of each week’s specials without falling into the extra-spending trap.

* Stock up on seasonal bargains for future meals. Special holiday foods are seldom offered at a better price any other time of year. If your food budget allows, buy extras now which can be served for family meals in the future.

Canned pumpkin is full of Vitamin A and can enhance breads and desserts all year long. Fresh cranberries are seldom available any other time of year. They can go directly into the freezer for use in future salads and sauces.

Sweet potatoes– canned and fresh– are often at their best price around Thanksgiving. So, stock up now to serve for future family meals. Sweet potatoes don’t have to be a diet disaster– go easy on the high-calorie additions like butter, brown sugar and marshmallows, and instead enjoy the naturally delicious flavor. I like to cut a fresh sweet potato into chunks and toss with a bit of olive oil and herbs for oven roasting.

Turkey is a delicious, low-calorie meat which can provide inexpensive family meals to come. If the whole turkey is too big, ask the butcher to saw the frozen turkey in half or in quarters. His meat saw can easily cut through a frozen bird to give smaller portions which can be re-wrapped for the home freezer. Or thaw the turkey and cut it up yourself to re-wrap for smaller meals. Remove the legs, thighs and wings, cut off each breast half and simmer the remaining carcass for meat and broth for soups and casseroles.

Food prices seem to continue to rise, so seasonal food sales are a great time to stock up on delicious, nutritious foods at special prices for your holiday feasts and for family meals for months to come.

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.