You can be fairly sure your life has taken a questionable turn if you find yourself perusing the Thanksgiving Dinner Price Index 2023 just a few days before Turkey Day itself. Then again, NJ Spotlight News is not known for shirking its duty. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that the price of a Thanksgiving dinner in New Jersey has barely budged in the past 12 months, climbing a mere 2.23% from $75.83 to $77.52, according to Scholaroo, a firm of scholarship professionals that helps students find funds for higher education.

I can hear the skeptics muttering about how much dinner they get for their dinero: Scholaroo has gathered information from official public data to price out a 12-person Thanksgiving meal, including nonorganic whole turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and apple pie with whipped cream.

The T-Day totals also present another good reason to live in the Garden State: That Thanksgiving meal will set you back $88.87 in Alaska or $88.33 in New York.

Of course, Thanksgiving isn’t just about getting together with the family, overeating and falling asleep in front of the TV. (We’re all adults here.) It’s about scouring the malls and big-box stores for bargains. According to Scholaroo, 34% of consumers will be looking for Thanksgiving deals before holiday week. Further, 196.7 million consumers shopped over Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 2022.

And I can personally attest that at least 25% were on Route 4 in Paramus on Black Friday.