How to Save Money When Buying Meat at the Grocery Store

Frugal Finds and Hot DealsThe grocery store is a great source for frugal bargain deals if you know when and how to shop. When it comes to saving, most shoppers clip store coupons and pile on the savings with the store’s club card where they earn additional savings and/or points. Both are great, but you can save even more!

Some of our local grocery stores don’t double coupons and other’s do. I will only do my grocery shopping at the stores that double them. I feel its important to make a shopping list, go through the flyer to see what’s on sale and come up with a game plan. Set a budget and stick to it.

Two of the stores that I shop at have Manager’s Specials Days. The one has it on a Tuesday and the other has it on a Wednesday. They will mention a few of these “Manager’s Specials” in their weekly sales flyer, but the majority of the time you’ll only find these specials on their website or social media channels. Sometimes you don’t see them until you’re at the store!

How to Save Money When Buying Meat at the Grocery Store

To maximize my savings I try to shop on those specific days when I can really rake in the savings. For example: I purchased a large package of ground beef. You can see if my photograph that it originally cost $19.64. It then went on special for the week to $15.05. Well, because I was there during the Manager’s Special Day, I was able to snag this 6.57 lb. package of lean ground beef for only $9.82. That’s almost $10.00 off per package. I ended up purchasing three of them. They’re great for filling up the freezer for the winter season.

Here’s another tip for you. When in the meat department ask for the department manager or for the clerk on duty. Ask them if they have any unannounced specials going on? Any left-over ends in the back? If you ask them and if they have some available, they will offer them to you at a deep discount.

Here’s another example: I spoke to the meat department manager and he offered me 2 packages of thick-cut pork chops at 65% off the regular price. Why? They were training a new meat-cutting clerk who didn’t cut them perfectly. That was the only thing wrong with them. Well, that doesn’t bother me, so I purchased those too.

Typically the Frugal Finds and Frugal Tips posts are written by my daughter Shelly for the blog. She thought it would be nice for me to share a money-saving grocery tip with you too. How do you like to save money on meats at the grocery store?

Comments

  1. Jo-Ann Brightman says

    You were able to get great buys. I watch the sales. I like your tip about asking the store manager.

  2. Peggy Nunn says

    I shop the sales papers. When it is really good like chicken thighs for $.99 I will buy several packages. I watched a Youtube video on how to debone them. Now, I get deboned thighs for $.99 a pound.

  3. ellen beck says

    Most of ours either tend o be advertised or sometimes ‘pop up’ as there does not seem to be regular manager specials. I only buy when it is on sale also. Great tps. I do wish we had double coupon days like we used to before so many went to the rewards cards.

  4. None of the stores around us offer double coupons but Kroger often does a 2 for 1 on meat purchases as a special. I often do that and will use a coupon that gives some money off if you spend a certain amount in the meat department.

  5. My family eats meat, but I don’t as I’m a vegetarian. These tips are awesome though! Thanks for sharing.

  6. Nice buy on the ground beef! Good tips, Carol. Thanks for sharing. I generally only buy meat when it’s on sale. Where I live, the grocery stores all start their sale weeks on Wednesday, so first thing Wednesday morning, I’m on the computer checking the sales fliers for the stores I go to. I make a list and devise a general meal plan for the week based on what’s on sale. Saves a lot of money that way.

  7. I don’t buy much meat but I do get the fish specials. My King Soopers also has a neat thing: choose your fish and they will season it with your choice of seasonings and you can add butter, lemon and fresh herbs. They put it in a bag and it cooks in the oven. Very yummy and they will do this for the fish that has been marked down.

  8. Marisela Zuniga says

    wow, these are great tips! Great savings, I’ll definitely need to check if our stores do this

  9. Wow that is a great day that you got on the ground beef and the pork chops too. I only purchase meat at one store here locally because they have great sales the steaks are still too spendy though. I will start looking for coupons more now thanks for sharing these great tips.