I’m always on the lookout for ways to stick to my grocery budget. While I do serve meatless meals a few times a week, we still eat meat. I like to buy chicken breasts, pork loin and beef at their lowest sale prices, but I supplement that with marked-down meat. Here are some tips:
- Find out where & when your store marks down meat. Just ask the butcher! Many stores do so in the early morning, so it’s best to stop in before 9:00am. Some stores move all marked-down meat to a special area; others leave it organized by type. One of the stores in my neighborhood marks their meat down multiple times a day, so I’ve been able to catch a few good deals in the afternoon or evening.
- Check the expiration date on the package. Marked-down meat needs to be used or frozen immediately. If you can’t handle it tonight–either freezing or cooking–don’t buy it. According to the FDA, you can freeze meat in its store packaging, but that wrap is permeable to air, so you may want to contain it in a freezer zipper bag. If you choose to freeze the meat for later, make sure that you use it immediately upon defrosting–don’t let it sit in the fridge another few days. It won’t save you money if you end up throwing it out!
- Buy the smallest packages you can find to get the most savings. Most stores use $1.00-off or $2.00-off stickers (like mine, in the photo above), so you’ll save more money applying that $2 off to a smaller weight.
- Check the unit price of the meat, calculating the savings sticker. It may not be below the typical sale price, so be careful.
This strategy really works! A few weeks ago, I found one package of Shady Grove Farms Ground Turkey marked down to $1.52/lb after the sticker. There were five more packages with an expiration date of the next day, so I went back the following day (when they had the stickers) and bought them all to freeze. That was the lowest price I’d seen for ground turkey in over a year. Marked-down meat really works for me!
To learn more about Freezing and Food Safety, head to the FDA’s website. For more money-saving ideas, see my Grocery Saving Strategies vlog series.
For more Works for Me Wednesday tips (not just money-saving, all kinds!), head to WFMW at We Are That Family.
Works for Me Wednesday Index
Thursday 5th of April 2012
[...] Mix Cookies Closing the Kitchen Finding Marked-Down Meat Frozen Fruit in the Lunchbox Lemon & Dill Crockpot Chicken Making Our Own Pizza Making a Second [...]
Regina
Wednesday 21st of March 2012
I love these tips. I have gotten meat for the week on discount before. I also like to go shopping, see when the meat is going to be discounted (the sell by date) and go back and get the sale meat, on more of a sale too!
I also check to make sure it still looks alright before buying it, still normal color ;)
Roxie
Wednesday 21st of March 2012
My favorite store to buy marked down meat went out of business in our area. I loved Albertson's meats. I knew that at 8:45 when the meat market was going to close down they marked the meat way down. Often times I got really good ground meat for .99 a pound. I got steak for half price and chicken for half price too. My freezer stayed full all the time. Now, not so much. I need to find another place to find good priced meat.
Tammy
Wednesday 21st of March 2012
I know when my local Harris Teeter marks down their meat, and that's when I go check and see what they have. I have gotten some really great deals and it saves our family money. Unless meat is on a really great sale, I decide what I'm cooking on what is marked down when I visit the store.
Michelle
Tuesday 20th of March 2012
I'm eating marked down meat for dinner tonight! One of the grocery stores we drive past frequently seems to have a better meat selection in general, and has a specific shelf that the marked down meat goes on, so I stop there at the beginning of our grocery shopping trips and plan meals around what I can find. Sometime there's nothing...and sometimes I score something really yummy for dinner or lunch.