When it comes to saving on groceries, meal planning is certainly where it is at. I make up a list every week of what I need and make one online order at my local Walmart. Doing so, lets me get just what I want with no waste. One thing I never by at Walmart though is meat.
Saving On Meat
With 3 kids, we go through lots of meat. At lest 2 to 3 pounds a day and as you know, meat can be expensive.
The key to saving money is to shop the “LOSS LEADERS”.
What is a loss leader?
A loss leader is a sale that you find on the front page of a grocery store circular, usually meat. They want to lure you into the store with one product that is heavily discounted, sometimes below cost. Then, they hope that you buy the rest of your needs, at a premium of course.
I do not do that, I just shop the LOSS LEADERS.
Shopping for just what meat is on sale does not jive well with meal planning, unless you want to serve the same kind of meat all week. Boring.
The Solution
Freeze your meat.
When properly prepared, meat can keep for 2-3 months in the freezer. This requires two things, a vacuum sealer like this and a good deep freezer. The money spent on these two things will pay huge dividends.
I can buy chicken in bulk when it goes on sale for $1.69 instead of paying $2.99 retail. I can stock up on hamburger meat for $1.99 instead of paying $3.99 when it goes off sale.
In general, I can get meat for 1 to 2 dollars a pound cheaper when shopping the sales. Since my family can go through 60 to 90 pounds of meat in a week, that is a savings of well over 100 dollars a month.
The Plan
The only catch with doing it this way is that you have to plan ahead. Two kinds of meat are almost never on sale at the same time. One week it will be chicken, the next it will be ground beef and another it might be pork chops.
Get it while you can and then prep it and freeze it.
When it is time to cook, just pull out what you need and thaw it. If you use the vacuum bags, you can simply place the meat in a bowl of water and set it in the fridge. Most meat will thaw like this in under an hour.
The End
There you have it. Keep meat in your meal plan and save a ton of money in the process.
