Let’s talk turkey–the go-to dish for Thanksgiving. Any chance your local supermarket offers the chance throughout the fall for you to earn points towards a free turkey? If so, make sure you cash in that free offer before it expires–even if you’re not cooking on Thanksgiving.

Even though my mother in law is treating us to a meal out on Thanksgiving, you can bet that I didn’t let my free turkey pass me by. In fact, I cashed in that “coupon” this past weekend and guess what? The turkey I got was worth $34! That’s not chump change. My plan is to save it for Christmas or some other meal over the winter. But I wasn’t about to let a free offer like this pass me by.

I know that my free turkey coupon would have expired towards the end of the month. What about yours? Don’t just file that coupon away and forget about it, because you’ll be missing out on free food. However, if you’re vegetarian or just don’t have any desire to cook or eat turkey, why not take your coupon or the free frozen turkey itself and donate it to your local food pantry. I’m sure the folks there would appreciate the free turkey and will put it to good use.