Thrifty Meat Buying Guide

My husband is currently on a no to low-carb diet. I could never go on this diet myself, but from his past experience, this is what works best for him. As a result, I am buying a TON of meat(not quite literally, but pretty close).

My goal lately has been to never spend more than $2 per pound on meat. I *try* to never spend more than $1 on chicken. This usually means buying meat with bones/skin, which can be a royal pain. On the bright side, I've found that using the bones to make home-made broth is SO much more delicious than what you get in a can.

Most grocery stores have weekly deals on meat (and other grocery items). These ads are usually found in your weekly paper. If you don't get the paper, you can easily go online to the home page of your local grocery store.

Examples: Lowesfood.com, HarrisTeeter.com, FoodLion.com, etc.

There are also several websites that let you search the weekly deals online all in one place.

Examples: mygrocerydeals, thegrocerygame, couponmom

I've found the BEST way to get cheap meat is to shop unadvertised savings.

For instance, on Monday evenings Food Lion discounts their older meats. They usually have 1 or 2 days left before the use by date. All this really means is that the meat must hit your freezer as soon as you get home (unless you're cooking it that night).

Lowes Foods tends to do this every day. They have a 'discount meat' section in the middle or side of their meat department.

Harris Teeter also seems to discount meats every evening, but they don't have a discount section. Instead you have to browse the whole meat department looking for yellow and blue 'savings' stickers, or orange oval 'special' stickers. I got a nice veal shank this way for $1.75. A perfect treat for my husbands' birthday. (it's hard to make birthdays exciting sans-carbs)

If you have stores other than the examples given, try asking their butcher when they tend to discount meat. It's typically not any huge secret, just something they don't advertise.

Happy Hunting!