There's something special about Thanksgiving dinner: the perfectly roasted turkey, the side dishes that somehow taste better when someone else makes them, the desserts, the apple cider. It's a feast worth celebrating.

But here's the part that stings—the bill keeps getting bigger. Year after year, hosting Thanksgiving gets more expensive, and this year is no exception.

How Much Does Thanksgiving Actually Cost?

Thanksgiving falls on November 27 this year, and according to a LendingTree survey, the average American is expected to shell out about $487 on food, drinks and decorations. That's a 13% jump from last year and a whopping 34% increase from 2023.

The rising costs are making people think twice. Nearly one in five hosts surveyed said they might skip hosting duties next year. Can you blame them?

What If You'd Bought Bitcoin Instead?

Here's where it gets interesting. While Thanksgiving dinner has been draining wallets, some assets have been doing the opposite.

Consider Bitcoin (BTC). On Thanksgiving Day 2023, the cryptocurrency was trading at $37,289.62. Today it sits at $86,952.92—a gain of 133%.

Let's do some quick math. If you had taken the average 2023 Thanksgiving dinner cost of $362 and invested it in Bitcoin instead, you'd be sitting on $844.12 today. That's enough to cover this year's $487 dinner and still have money left over.

And this calculation holds up even after Bitcoin pulled back from its all-time high of $126,198.07 last month during a sharp market correction.

Of course, nobody's suggesting you skip Thanksgiving dinner to buy crypto. But it's a fun reminder of how quickly things can change in the investment world—and how the everyday expenses that feel so necessary can look very different when you think about alternative uses for that cash.