Cheap Meat

One of the biggest grocery budget busters is fresh meats. You can find meat at reasonable prices if you know when to shop for it. Simply ask the butcher when they mark down their meat. Grocery stores usually slash prices by half and even more on meat that is nearing their sell by date. You just have to know what time of day your particular store performs the mark downs to get the best selection. My local Harris Teeter puts their reduced meat out by 8am. However, my local Lowe's Foods does their markdowns later around 10am.

If I'm out or just need to stock up on meat I will just run in and check the meat section for any decent buys that day. I plan my meals around what cut of meat I have bought the week or weeks before on discount.

On my last meat run I got 2 packs of 1lb. ground chicken. 2 packs 1 1/2lb. boneless/skinless chicken thighs, 1 lb. boneless/skinless chicken breasts and 3 NY Strip steaks(splurge for $5,originally 17.50!) all for $17.

The week before I got a great deal on Perfect Portion Chickens breasts originally priced at 8.99 on sale for 7.99 but had a $5 off sticker on the outside of the package! That was about .50 for one boneless skinless perfectly portioned chicken breast. What a bargain.

Now the cheapest way to save on meat is to go vegetarian and not buy meat, but my husband would not live without meat. However, lately I have been trying to sneak in a meatless or low meat meal a week. This week we had Black Bean Quesadillas. He raved about how good they were.

Stockpiling and Aldi

I really like shopping at Aldi, but they don't take coupons, have loss leaders or run sales. That being said their prices are consistently lower than other grocery stores and I shop there weekly. If you have never shopped at Aldi you can check their store locator to find a store near you. I used to stockpile items from sales from other grocery stores matching coupons with the sales. I still do if the items are close to being free by doing so. All this got me thinking how could I stockpile using Aldi to fill my cupboards. I came up with a plan to spend an extra $10 a week on stockpiling by picking 2 items and buy extra of them. This week it is peanut butter and rice. Next week will be flour and sugar since baking season is upon us. Obviously, this only works for groceries with a long shelf life and if you have the space to store the goods.

Sidebar: Stockpiling is a great way to fill your pantry now for when times are more lean. However, you have to be careful when you have an abundance of groceries the "there's more where that come from" mentality can lead to using more than is really needed.