How to Not Break Your Budget when Buying Meat for Your Dinners

When grocery shopping and buying your food for the week the most expensive item in your cart is usually meat. Unless you are vegetarian, most meals are centered around meat as a main dish and that can add up to a very big grocery bill even if you only have meat half the week. Here are some tips I do when shopping to help stretch my meat (and grocery) budget to the max!

1. Buy in bulk! Many bulk items can be bought cheaper if yo buy separately, especially when you use coupons, but meat rarely has coupons so your best bet is to buy family size bulk packages and break it up once you get home into your own separate packages. Some grocery store meat departments will even break the packages up for you in the store.

2. If you are buying for quality use a butcher, it may seem like you are paying more up front but in the end you are saving. The old phrase "you get what you pay for" holds true, at least in my experience, when it comes to meat. By going to the butcher you can have him cut to order your meat, they will make sure you get the best piece of meat possible with the least amount of fat, in the grocery store you may get a piece of steak that is loaded with fat or grizzle that ends up being tossed in the trash.

3. Have a few meatless meals for dinner each week. Many people do not like the idea of meatless meals, they feel like the meal will not "hit the spot", but not only will you save money on buying less meat but you will also help out your health. There are many great meatless recipes out there, try a veggie lasagna, make a regular lasagna, but instead of meat substitute some green pepper or eggplant, for sauce throw in some extra onions and diced tomatoes to give it a chunky filling taste! Try pasta, something as easy as steaming some broccoli, sauteing it with oil and garlic and throw it in with the pasta, add some fresh grated cheese and voila! A delicious meatless meal that is also filling!

4. Start meals like you do in the restaurants, with soup or salad! Obviously if you are already filled up somewhat before the main course you will eat less! And you can also utilize left over meats to make great soups, take leftover steak and add some broth and veggies for a chunky steak soup.

5. Do not be afraid to buy marked down meat. Most stores will mark down meat and put a big sticker showing "managers special" or coupons attached for a certain dollar amount off. Do not be afraid to buy this meat, I always buy the marked down meat, you will most likely go home and freeze the meat anyway, the USDA has even said freezing meats will stop the growth of bacteria (it is once you thaw it out you need to use it soon). Just look in your freezer now and how many packages of meat do you have in there that are past the sell by date, you never really pay attention to that because you know since it was in the freezer it is relatively safe.

6. Use your leftovers! Even if you do not want to have leftovers for dinners, make steak and eggs for breakfast, make some chicken soup for lunch. Stretching out your leftovers and getting creative can also cut down on how much meat you need to buy each week.

7. Do not be afraid to buy frozen! The big bags of boneless frozen chicken breasts that you see in the freezer section taste just as good as the fresh chicken in the store and you get double the portion for the same amount of money, just pay attention to what you are buying, make sure the package specifies white meat if that is what you like, make sure it is boneless, try different brands and see which company you like best.

8. Sounds crazy but buy a cow! Some people actually find farms and will purchase a cow, the farm will take care of the cow (literally take care of it so to speak!) and will deliver to you the meat all packaged and cut up. You can get up to 200 pounds, sometimes even more from an entire cow and usually pay a little under $300 for it. If you can not afford it or have no use for that much meat, start a co-op, find a few people you know and each of you chip in and split the beef and costs. Other than the fact that you will have a huge supply of meat, another great benefit is you know exactly where your beef came from and who handled it and where it has been!

9. Look for tasty but cheap substitutions. Try ground turkey instead of ground beef for your burger, or try ground pork. These meats are a little less expensive but the taste is just as good. Try either of those in any recipe that requires ground beef and you will not notice any difference, except for the better!

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