Guest post from Sarah of Sidetracked Sarah
Unless you’re a vegetarian, you most likely buy meat on a regular basis — and those meat prices can add up quickly! It can be hard to find ways to save money on meat, as you typically just have to pay the going price.
We have a busy and hungry family of 9 people, and buying enough meat to feed us all can be VERY expensive, especially now that we have a few teenagers in the house. Here are a few ways that we’ve saved money on meat for our family throughout the years:
1. Buy in Bulk
While this can be pricey up front, it will likely save you lots of money in the long run. We’ve bought meat in bulk in a number of ways.
- Shop Sam’s Club
You can buy a case of ground beef at the meat counter and the price is reduced more than it normally is. You just have to have a plan in place of how you are going to store it and/or use it. For instance, you could plan to have a Crockpot Freezer Meals cooking day, using these hamburger recipes. Or you could plan to separate it into 1-2 pound packs and freeze it. - Buy a Side of Beef From a Local Farmer
You can purchase a whole cow, half a cow, or even a quarter of a cow from a farmer and have it processed at a meat processing plant.
Typically, the beef you get from this tastes much better than the store bought kind AND you get those expensive cuts of meat that you typically don’t buy because of how outrageously priced they are. I recently ate T-bone steaks for $3.50 a pound!
2. Shop the Sales Circulars
Stores tend to go in cycles of when they lower the price of certain cuts of meat. Watch the cycles and prices and buy them when they’re at their lowest.
3. Find Creative Replacements
Here are two simple ideas for replacing expensive meat with less expensive options:
- Decrease the amount of meat a dish calls for and add beans or other ingredients in its place.
- Mix a less expensive cut of meat with ground beef. We commonly have done this with venison.
4. Eat Venison
Do you have a deer hunter in the family? Or maybe a hunting friend? Ask them if you pay for their hunting tag if they would let you keep the meat from the deer and have it processed.
If you have a hard time with the wild game flavor, mix it with hamburger meat or use it in dishes that require heavy seasoning, like chili.
Here in Southeast Kansas, if you call the Sheriff’s office, they will put you on a list of people who would like to pick up roadkill deer in good enough condition to be processed. If you get the call, you simply go out and pick up the deer right after it happens and then transport it to the local meat processing plant.
5. Use Food Buying Clubs
Recently, I was able to buy 40 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Zaycon Foods for $1.69 a pound. They don’t offer deals like this very often, but it’s well worth it to stock up when they offer it.
There may be other food buying clubs in your area that you could join that have great meat prices, too. Ask your friends and family to see if they’ve heard of anything in your area.
6. Raise a Cow
I hear what you’re saying,”But, we don’t have land!” I realize, I live in Kansas, where there are lots of farms all over the place, so this may be much more applicable to me than to you, but I couldn’t leave it out.
I’m writing this list because I want you to think a little outside of the box. Some of our friends live on 80 acres and they have cows on it. They offered to let us put a cow out there, too. All we really have to do is provide any feed that it may need.
Now, I realize you may not have a friend out there who will do this, but is there a farmer who would accept a fee from you to do this, still making the meat less expensive? It’s worth a shot.
7. Go Fishing
My husband loves to fish but he doesn’t love to clean the fish. If, however, someone offered to take any fish that he caught and clean them, so they could eat them, I’m sure he would gladly hand them over.
There are probably plenty of fisherman who would do this. Of course, you could be even more adventurous and go cast your rod in and catch the fish yourself. Yes, that would be much more fun!
8. Shop the Markdowns
Every store handles their soon-to-be expired meat differently. I’ve seen Dillon’s freeze it and offer it for sale for cheaper in a special section. Walmart immediately marks it down when it’s getting closer. Other stores probably do similar things.
Get to know your store. When do they mark their meat down? For us, it’s first thing in the morning, so it pays to be an early shopper. If you can’t figure it out, go and ask the meat manager when the best time to buy meat that is close to expiration. I’m sure they’ll happily pass this information on, as it will help them get rid of the meat faster.
How do YOU save on meat?
Sarah Robinson, busy mom of 7, blogs regularly about feeding her busy family on her blog Sidetracked Sarah. She’s discovered the secret to having stress-free dinner times by regularly using Crockpot Freezer Meals. She would love to give you a free Freezer to Slow Cooker one week meal plan when you visit her here.
Teresa Miller says
While this is less than earth-shattering, I purchase burger in 10 pound tubes and portion it out into 2/3 pound packages. Recipes that call for a pound of burger don’t suffer from a couple less bites of meat. From a 10 pound tube, I can get 15 meals.
Ann says
You don’t always have to raise the cow yourself; we went in with three friends and split half of a cow. We now have a deep freeze full of meat (a variety of cuts, including 40+ lbs of hamburger) of better quality than we would get at the grocery store for a lower price than the going rate for hamburger.
Janene says
I love the cow idea, but I doubt that would work in an urban setting lol. Nonetheless, great list and I think #3 works the best for me, especially since I am trying to cut back on the amount of meat that I eat.
Ellen says
We purchased a lot of ground beef and bone in chicken by the pack and used it in mac n cheese, Mexican dishes, etc. when the kids were little. Now that the kids are older, much older, we still purchase by the pack but get the leaner cuts and go for bigger sides. Not for everyone but it’s worked for us.
Diane says
We’ve done well with buying a half hog since pork tends to be much less expensive than beef. Also, I mix my ground pork with equal amounts of cooked lentils to stretch it further. We eat a lot of eggs, dairy and beans.
Carmen says
The only time we’ve had “gamey” venison is when we’ve ended up with an older buck to process – you know, the ones with the large antlers that most hunters prize? Does and young bucks won’t have the rutting-season hormones running through them and they taste much more like lean beef.
Esther says
My husband is a hunter, but I have never eaten gamey venison. Always soak the meat in cool water as it thaws, and replace the water several times. The more blood you can remove this way, the better it tastes. Another advantage to venison is that it is organic and free-range. And I guarantee that a venison roast tastes better than any store-bought beef roast you have ever eaten!
Busy Mama says
We let the de-boned meat rest in a ice/water-filled cooler for a couple days before processing it for the freezer. The water needs to be changed out multiple times, but it will draw out a lot of the blood left in the meat and virtually eliminate the gamey flavor. (I’ve heard of people soaking their venison in milk for the same reason – as well as to help tenderize it – but we’ve never done that.)
We have also found that the venison tastes different in different parts of the country as we have had the opportunity to live/hunt in a couple regions. In northern regions where the deer are scrounging for food in the winter, the meat tends to taste more gamey; in the south where they are able to graze virtually year round, the meat tastes much less wild.
Aimee says
Great ideas! I’ve found I can make our meat go further by serving it in a dish (enchiladas/casseroles) or by serving it over rice. Having at least one meatless meal a week helps too.