Posted on 06/12/2012 6:10:26 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
I don't often post new editions of The Coupon Whisperer but when I do, you know they are good. And in this edition I will show how you can drastically CUT your food expenditures.
If you are even a casual couponer you know it is not difficult to score stuff like toothpaste and body wash for FREE or close to it. Plus you should have no trouble finding coupons for many food items. However, the major part of any food budget is meat and where do you find coupons for those packages of steak and other such goodies? Well, GOOD NEWS!!! I accidentally discovered a way to drastically cut down on meat costs. Here is what happened:
(Excerpt) Read more at couponwhisperer.blogspot.com ...
PING!
so... they’re making meat real cheap?
so that’s how they’re going to move all the beef coming from those CA farms (madcow alert)
Also consider buying straight from the source if it’s at all possible in your area.
For several years we’ve bought an entire cow and split the meat and costs with others according to our needs. Works out to about $2.50/lb. for black Angus, we get ground beef and nice variety of cuts and we know exactly where it came from. All we have to do is pick it up from the processor.
You need a big freezer for that.
Not really. I just have a small freezer (about the size of a dishwasher) which, combined with a section of the fridge freezer will hold 1/4. That lasts me nearly a year, which is about as long as you want to keep beef anyway.
bookmark for later
Ok, but when the meat coupons are used, the prices are also in that range.
I’m not disputing your method, only trying to add to it something that might be feasible for others.
It works out to less than the cost of ground beef and I get all the extras, too. I also like the added bonus of being able to drive by and see the source of the beef I’m putting in my freezer out grazing in a nice green pasture.
I apologize if you thought I was taking issue with your method. That was not my intention at all. We’re all trying to find ways to save money these days! :-)
Re: #7. Thanks. I’ve been wondering about that.
Was the coupon because the meat had already reached its “sell by date” ?
I worked in a butcher shop for a couple of years after high school. When we put coupon stickers on meat it was because it was going out of date that day.
Similar to what I do ...
Six neighbors (one with a pasture) and 3 cows. We take turns buying feed (Purina Cattle Developer) and each will get 1/2 cow in late fall/early winter. About half come back from the processor as ground beef but there are lots of roasts and steaks too ... years worth of beef for about $2.25. It almost fills up my 15 cf upright freezer. Porterhouse is on the menu for tonight.
-—I worked in a butcher shop for a couple of years after high school. When we put coupon stickers on meat it was because it was going out of date that day.——
Works for me. Throw it in the deep freeze and thaw when needed.
You’re welcome!
As a bonus they throw in the bones for free. I end up getting around 15 gallons of stock out of them.
I have thought of doing pig and lamb the same way but we are the only ones who really like lamb.
I used to be able to get expired meats but then our one and only grocery store quit having them. They’ll put out two or three packages at a time so it’s hard to even stock up.
I used to arrange my upright freezer with chicken on one shelf, beef on another, pork on another, etc. I’m here to say I was wrong. Things still managed to hide and get forgotten. I went through it yesterday and arranged the shelves by date with the oldest dates on the top shelf and moving to newest date on the bottom shelf. FYI, lots of pepper and spice helps offset a bit of freezer burn taste.
Do you purchase it from a local farm?
Excellent! You ARE the source, even better!
Unfortunately, if I was involved in it’s care I’d end up with a pet instead of beef! “But... but, we can’t EAT him! I LOVE him!” I’m a weinie...
Oddly, the guy I get mine from said a lot of people have him do the whole thing in ground beef “because they don’t know how to cook a steak or a roast”. How sad is that?!?!
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