These grocery stores will give you a free Thanksgiving turkey

Now that November’s in full swing, one thing is on everyone’s mind.

It starts with a “T” and ends with a “Y” — or maybe a “Why… did I let myself eat so freaking much?” as you slump over on the couch.

But while the turkey might be the time-honored centerpiece of most Thanksgiving Day meals (though not all!), it sure ain’t cheap.

The price for whole turkeys is likely dropping this year, but the cost of feeding a family for the holiday is still nothing to scoff at.

Unless your bird’s pretty small (and you’re willing to forgo leftovers), you’ll still likely pay $20 or more.

And that’s just one element of your Thanksgiving dinner.

How to Get a Free Turkey This Year

To help offset this major holiday cost — and to bring more hungry holiday shoppers into their stores — many grocery chains run specials that allow you to get a free turkey (or other holiday centerpiece) through their rewards programs.

It’s not worth it to buy $100 of random items just to score a bird you could get for $20. But if you’re going to spend that money anyway, why not get the turkey on the house?

One word of warning: All of these offers vary by store, so you’ll want to call ahead and make sure your favorite location is participating.

And sorry, Giant shoppers! Your beloved market no longer offers free turkeys to bonus card members.

Here’s where to go instead to get a free turkey this year.

ShopRite

Earn points on purchases through Nov. 23 — Thanksgiving Day — with your (free!) Price Plus club card.

Once you spend a certain amount, you can present your Price Plus club card to the cashier to receive a free Turkey, Ham, Turkey Breast, Kosher Chicken, Lasagna or Tofurky.

You can pick up your free item any day up to and including Thanksgiving Day. (Note that the turkey is frozen, so you’ll want to pick it up well ahead of time if you plan to make it for the big meal!)

If you want to go fresh — or didn’t quite plan it out well enough — you’ll get your ShopRite Fresh Grade A Turkey for $0.50 per pound up to 21 pounds with qualifying purchases or $1.99 per pound if you haven’t hit the qualifying purchase threshold.

You can also choose a Butterball Fresh Grade A Turkey for $1.00 per pound up to 21 pounds with qualifying purchases or $2.49 per pound without.

RELATED: Check out all of the stores that will closed for Thanksgiving and Black Friday:

Albertsons

Albertsons Rewards shoppers can enjoy a free any size Signature Farms Turkey when you spend $150 in a single purchase between through Nov 22.

The $150 excludes alcohol, tobacco, gift cards and guest services.

Weis Market

If you’re part of Weis’s free Preferred Shopper’s Club, your rewards points could get you a Thanksgiving turkey for free.

It’s pretty simple: You accrue 10 points for every $50.00 you spend, and it takes 50 — that’s a $250 spend — points to get a free Weis Quality frozen turkey up to 20 pounds.

That might seem like a lot — and it is! — but it includes purchases starting on Oct. 10. If you spend $50 per week on groceries and have been shopping at Weis each week since then, you’re more than covered.

It’s important to note that you must spend $50 in one calendar day to get your 10 points. If you spend $45 on Monday and then $10 on Tuesday, you won’t get any rewards points despite having spent more than the required $50.

In New York state, it’s a little different: You get a point for every dollar you spend, and you’ll need 300 points for your free bird.

Once you qualify, you can also choose a whole boneless ham up to six pounds, a smoked ham “portion” up to 10 pounds, “party-size” lasagna, or 80 cents off per pound of a variety of other fresh and frozen holiday centerpiece meats.

And in case you’re hosting dinner on a different day, you can redeemWeis’s holiday rewards anytime through Nov. 23.

Fareway

Stop by your local Fareway before Nov. 22, and spend $50 or more at the meat counter to receive a 14-pound Fareway Broth Basted Turkey for free.

The offer is limited to one per order and is not valid with any other offer.

Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. Her writing has also been featured at The Write Life, Word Riot, Nashville Review and elsewhere. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.