31 Ways to Save in 2011: Saving on meat

One of the most common questions I get asked by people who read my blog is – how do you save on meat?? If you read my Menu Planning Monday posts, you’ll see that we really do eat meat  So, the answer is ~ I stockpile meat, too! A few years ago for Christmas, I told my husband that all I wanted was a second freezer for my garage, and Santa came through. So, we have a freezer that is basically full of meat and I ONLY but meat when I get an awesome deal on it, so if there is a great deal on meat one week, I might put the bulk of my grocery budget for that week toward meat and the basics (milk, bread).

Here are a few tips for saving on meat:
*Look for markdowns – Every grocery store I have ever been to has a section for marked down meat. Sometimes they do these markdowns early in the morning and other stores will do them late at night. Over time, I have managed to figure out when my stores do these markdowns which kind of gives me “first dibs” at the newly marked down items. It never hurts to ask at your store about when they do the markdowns so you have a heads up.  From my experience, marked down meat is typically 30-50% off the original price.

*Use your OYNO catalinas – When I post the grocery deals and match-ups, I typically also post any good catalina deals that are going on. I use the “OYNO” (on your next offer or on your next purchase) catalinas to help offset the cost of things like meat because there aren’t coupons for those items very often. Sometimes there are also wine tag coupons for meat and every now and then, I get personalized customer loyalty card coupons for a certain dollar amount off of a meat purchase.

*Look for good sales and stock up when meat is on sale – I pretty much only buy meat if I can find a good deal. Here are some examples of what I consider good stock up prices for meat:

Beef:
Beef roasts – $.99/lb-$1.99/lb (yes, you can really get it for that cheap on sale – I’ve got several roasts in my freezer right now to prove it)

Beef round steak – $.99/lb

Ground beef – we ONLY use the 93/7 lean beef, so $1.99/lb is a “stock up” price on this for me

Chicken:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – $.99-$1.69/lb (it’s hard to find it for $.99/lb these days although it does happen every now and then…so, I consider $1.69 to be my “stock up” price when I’m getting low) – I know that “bone in” chicken or whole chickens are much cheaper but this is much more convenient for me, so I’m willing to pay more

Pork:
Pork chops (again I buy boneless) – $$.99-$1.39/lb

Pork spare ribs – $.77/lb-$.99/lb

Pork roasts – $.99/lb

Turkey:
Ground turkey – $1.99/lb (again we buy the 93/7)

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