I saved $44 on Meat!!

Meat is probably the single most expensive item on my grocery list. Combine that with the fact that you almost never see great coupons for meat means there is no way to avoid the high prices.. or is there??

A couple weeks ago I saved $44 on meat by simply doing a little work myself. I don't know about you but $44 is a lot of money to me!

Here is how.. The single easiest way to save on meat is to do a little packaging yourself. Meat in larger packages is almost always cheaper per pound than meat in smaller packages. The key to making sure you don't waste it is to repackage it into sizes that your family will actually use.

Our local CountryMart had a great sale on meat two weeks ago.(don't worry if you missed it they often run sales similar to this and even if it isn't on sale it's always cheaper to repackage meat) Anyway the deal was amazing.. but here's the catch.. to get that great price per pound you had to buy it in 10lb packages. What are you going to do with 10lbs of meat? Bring it home and immediately separate it into individual bags. Do not put it in the freezer until you do. If you do then it will be next to impossible to separate and you will waste food.. and money!

So here is the breakdown.

First up ground hamburger.. Reg $3.29lb on sale for $1.99lb   Saved $1.30lb 10lbs total saved $13!!

Here is everything you need. Large package of hamburger, Freezer Bags and a Sharpie

Cut the hamburger into sizes that fit your own family. I divided ours into a little over a pound per bag which is what most recipes call for and what I normally purchase in the smaller packages.

Done! Finished product all ready for the freezer! 

Comparison On the right is the package I packaged and on the left is a package I had purchased a few days before. Both have slightly over 1lb making the cost of the one on the left around $2 and the one on the right $3.72! 

Now for the pork. Pork chops are one of my husband and boys favorite meals but it can be expensive! 

Pork Reg $4.79lb on sale for $1.69lb saving $3.10lb  10lbs saved $31!

 Here is the price of the smaller chops

 Here is the package I bought

 

Here are some of the packaged bags. 

 Another great benefit to packaging your own meat is that you can save yourself time later by doing a little prep work. For example I took some of the smaller chops and cut them into small pieces to make pork fried rice out of later. (One of Connor's Favorites) The same could be done with the hamburger. You could make it into hamburger patties, meatballs and such. So it's great all around. It saves you money and it can save you time at dinner time! 

Hope this helps you save the next time you are in the meat department.