Where to Buy Extra Plates and Glasses Without Spending a Lot of Money

So. Your “small Thanksgiving dinner” has ballooned into a full-on friends-and-family affair, and you don’t have enough plates or glasses for everyone. Before you make a beeline to the nearest drug store for paper supplies, stop! Spend just a little more and you can get real glasses and basic white plates that’ll last you far beyond this dinner. Here are five places to buy cheap dishes at the last minute:

• 1 IKEA: We have to start here because it’s so obvious. If you live near an IKEA, this is the best place to pick up cheap drinking glasses, plates, silverware, and wine goblets. Get five FÄRGRIK plates for $15, or you can pick up an 18-piece dinnerware set including dinner plates, salad bowls, and bowls for $35. And don’t forget about glasses: a HEDERLIG wine glass is only $1.50 a glass, or get a 6-pack of the SVALKA wine glasses for $4.80. I also love the VÄNLIG water glasses, at only $4 for six of them.

• 2 World Market: If you’re not near an IKEA, then World Market is a great online shop for budget dinnerware. Get a set of four Coupe dinner plates for $12.70 on sale right now (originally $15), or if clear glass is more your style, get a set of four Clear Moderno dinner plates for only $10. World Market also has glassware value sets available, like this Wine Glass Entertaining set or this Champagne Glass Entertaining set, both of which include 12 glasses for $20. (The box design is also nice, because you can store the glasses right there!) For water glasses, get a set or two of our favorite French Picardie 8-ounce glasses for $12 (one of the cheapest places I’ve found them online).
  
  
• 3 Crate & Barrel: Their offerings are a little pricier than the previously mentioned stores, but there are still deals to be had. This set of 6 boxed Zoom wine glasses will only set you back $10, as will these Zoom flutes.

• 4 Target: We can always find something we need at Target. They may not be fancy, but this 16-piece Corelle dinnerware set is a great deal at $30. This set of 8 stemless wine glasses includes both large and small sizes, and costs less than $15. Or upgrade just a little and get this 12-piece stemless set for $22.
  
  
• 5 Fishs Eddy: NYC-based Fishs Eddy has an open stock collection of basic dinnerware it supplies to restaurants and consumers. The basic 10.5″ Carlton dinner plate sells for $3.95, but there’s a wide collection of styles and sizes to choose from — all white! They also have great all-around basic glasses like this 15.5 ounce Lexington glass and this wine goblet, both for under $3.

Do you have a go-to source for affordable plates and glasses?