15 Startups That Will Make Your Thanksgiving 15X Easier

Technology is wonderful at solving problems. Although Thanksgiving is a day full of family, friends, and food, it can be certainly a stressful event with its own challenges. As the cofounder of Whttl, I am constantly searching and discovering startups that can help make life easier and frankly, better. As we close in on Turkey Day, I thought I would share the handpicked startups that I’ll be using to optimize my caloric intake this Thursday. Here we go.

Pet Sitting

If you are traveling, you probably are not going to bring Fido along for the ride. But where do you leave him? A kennel is the traditional option, but that’s expensive and doesn’t sound fun for your pup. What about calling in a favor from your friend? She probably has holiday commitments herself, so count that out. And Craigslist? Do I really need to say why you shouldn’t use that?

Enter pet sitting startups DogVacay and Rover. For less than a traditional kennel would charge, your dog will be spoiled silly by a qualified and vetted sitter. You’ll be able to check in whenever you are missing your canine companion, and even receive timely photo updates to bring joy to your day. Instead of spending time in the doggy jail cell at the kennel, you’ll rest assured knowing your dog is in a warm home, getting plenty of human love and affection, and probably some turkey scraps, too.

Food Delivery

When preparing for the feat of digestive engineering known as Thanksgiving, just about the last thing on your mind is what to eat during the days leading up to the event. Instead of cooking and cleaning today and tomorrow, why not order freshly prepared meals, delivered directly to your house? That’s where food delivery startups Sprig, Munchery, and SpoonRocket come in. Unlike restaurant delivery services, these startups have designed meals exclusively for transport. As a result, you can expect reasonably priced, tasty, and healthful dishes.

These services are mostly confined to the San Francisco Bay Area for now, but they all have plans to expand elsewhere. If you are outside of the Bay Area, follow the category on Whttl to get notified when any of these startups roll out in your area.

Last Minute Items

When you’re prepping food for the big day, you are bound to forget something. Instead of spending 90 minutes battling parking and checkout lines to purchase Paprika, why not get it delivered to your house?

Same-day delivery startups like Postmates, Instacart, and WunWun all promise to deliver nearly anything to your door, sometimes in as little as 30 minutes. Delivery fees are reasonable, especially when you consider the savings in gas, time, and frustration of buying the items on your own.

If you still enjoy the car ride, try this happy medium. A new startup called Curbside will buy your items at the store, and meet you out front. To use it, simply order on the app, and pull into one of their locations. (They are working exclusively with select Bay Area Target stores right now.) They’ll hand off your bag of goodies, and you’re on your way. You won’t even have to get out of your car. Think of it like a pit stop for parsley.

I recommend following the same-day delivery category on Whttl so you can see when these startups roll out to your specific locale.

Getting Home For The Holidays

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the most traveled day of the year. Instead of plunking down big bucks for a plane ticket, or singing karaoke alone on the congested interstate, why not ride with someone headed the same direction? Carpooling marketplaces like ZimRide, RideJoy, and Carma connect drivers and passengers that have similar intended routes. A 100 mile ride is often as low as $10. That’s a pretty darn good deal. Just don’t ask your fellow traveler if they want to hear the most annoying sound in the world.

Cleaning

It’s Friday morning. Thanksgiving is only a fuzzy memory of pumpkin pie and cranberry filling. The mess, though, still lingers on. Instead of spending your day off cleaning up the house, why not tap a few buttons on your phone or computer and have someone show up to clean it for you?

Cleaning startups Handy, HomeJoy, and HouseCall are all your new best friends here. While you’ll generally find more availability if you book in advance, nearly on-demand cleaning is available in select areas. Pricing is very reasonable, and are home cleaners are professional, friendly, and genuine grime-fighters.

What about you? Tell me on Twitter what startups you’re using to help with Thanksgiving.

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Greg Muender is the founder of Whttl, described as the “Kayak.com for the sharing economy.” Use it to compare dozens of different providers and marketplaces at once, including RelayRides, DogVacay, and HomeJoy. Drop Greg a line via greg<at>whttl/dot/com. For further reading, check out the Official Whttl Blog.