Thanksgiving dinner might be the most daunting meal of the year, but it sure doesn't have to be the most expensive.

Angela Johnson of Forney will serve Thanksgiving dinner for six, with ample leftovers, for $20 – half what someone else might pay for the same fixings.

She and Cassie Harris of Mesquite met outside an Albertson's in Garland last week, lists ready and bulging coupon books – 2-inch ring binders stuffed with potential savings – balanced on their carts.

True, the cook still has to wrangle with a range of side dishes and potential pie choices. And there's always that big bird lurking.

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Angela Johnson spent $20 on a turkey dinner for six, using her trusty binder to keep track of coupons.

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But costs can be controlled. Study your store's circular for sales, use that to build a shopping list, and bring your coupons.

This year, turkey production is up 6 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and wholesale prices are modest.

But no one has to pay wholesale for turkey. The holiday bird is a loss leader for supermarkets, with prices as low as 37 cents a pound around Dallas. The grocers figure they'll make money on all that goes with it.

That's where the list and the coupons come in.

Ms. Johnson, who operates yourcouponbuddy.com, chronicles her shopping exploits on her Web site, where she shares tips and resources for other coupon clippers.

She and Ms. Harris snip coupons religiously, cataloging them in plastic sleeves used for baseball trading cards and organizing them by categories to make them easier to find in the store.

Serious coupon clippers work a mix of coupons, Web sites, store sales, rebates and other offers to trim their grocery bills.

Their shopping lists guide them but don't limit them. You never know when you'll stumble on an unadvertised special, Ms. Harris said.

And when they find a deal, they stock up.

"Oh, look at this! Coupons!" Ms. Johnson said, collecting several at a Keebler display, and using one on a box of Honey Wheat Wheatables for her pie crust.

A nearby rack held baked goods marked down to 99 cents. Ms. Johnson picked up a bag of sweet rolls, originally priced at $2.69.

"You can freeze these," she said, "and they'll be perfect for Thanksgiving."

Turkey came next, and Ms. Johnson hauled a 21-pounder from the freezer. At 67 cents a pound, the price tag said $14 and change. But in her binder, she had a $5 Albertson's coupon from the weekly circular and another for $1 from the manufacturer, dropping her price to $8.

She grabbed two bags of Texas Toast croutons for stuffing, marked down to $1 from $1.79, used two 55-cent coupons and paid 45 cents a bag.

Birds Eye frozen vegetables were $1, and Ms. Johnson bought four, using a 35-cent coupon for each. After the coupons were tripled, she made 20 cents on the deal. Two cans of Carnation evaporated milk were free, too. They'd been marked down to $1, and she used two 50-cent coupons that doubled at checkout.

Down the freezer aisle, Ms. Johnson pulled out two big bags of Ore-Ida mashed potatoes, $3.99 each. But she had a pair of coupons – one for $1, the other a 2-for-1 deal. So instead of almost $8, she paid less than $3.

Occasionally, Ms. Harris and Ms. Johnson have to spend full price for something.

"You hate it when that happens," Ms. Harris said. "But some things only go on sale once in a blue moon."

A woman filling a rack with cake decorating items watched the shoppers flip through pages of coupons and calculate deals.

"You're serious shoppers," she told them. "Do you do OK using the coupons? How much do you usually save?"

"Around 70 percent," Ms. Johnson replied.

Sure enough, Ms. Harris paid $25 for $76 worth of groceries and Ms. Johnson, with a total bill of about $250, paid $86.

But getting the best deal at the store is only the first step in a frugal Thanksgiving. If your family won't eat that can of cranberry sauce, or if the turkey pops bone-dry from the oven, you haven't saved a thing.

Dallas cooking teacher Tina Wasserman can help

She roasts her turkey on a bed of vegetables – the recipe is featured on her Web site, cookingandmore.com. But she's a fan of tradition, too, so if your tradition is the classic roast turkey, she has some suggestions.

Brining a turkey is in vogue, and the brining liquid – water, maybe some unsalted broth, with salt, sugar and other seasonings – keeps the bird tender.

But proper roasting technique does the same thing, she said. And that means tenting the turkey so the white meat stays moist while the dark is fully cooked.

"The problem with roasting turkeys comes from the one thing Reynolds Wrap doesn't tell you," she said. "When you tent the turkey with foil, the shiny side needs to face out."

•Watch grocery-store ads for promotions and loss leaders – items that sell below cost to attract shoppers into a store. This week, these will include Thanksgiving staples such as stuffing mix and turkey.

•Check out discount stores, from Big Lots to T.J. Maxx, for items such as chips, dips, olives, roasted red peppers and nuts for pre-dinner or game-time snacking.

•Buy a whole bird and roast it, even if you're having a small gathering. It's cheaper than parts, and you can always freeze the leftovers.

•Avoid prepackaged meal helpers and do as much cooking from scratch as you can. The fewer preparation steps you "buy," the cheaper the meal.

•Avoid disposable dishes, cutlery and napkins. It costs less to run your dishwasher a few extra times than to buy plastic silverware and paper plates, cups and napkins.

SOURCES: Dallas Morning News research; The New York Times; Chicago Tribune; KRQE.com; Boutell.com