When to Buy Meat/Seafood/Poultry?

Hambone23

Meats, seafood, and poultry are so expensive and often take up much of my budget, so I don't get to buy them as much as I'd like. But I saw in my grocery circular that they're having a large sale on meat/seafood/poultry this week. If the sale is really good, I'd like to stock up on some things. So for all you veteran shoppers out there, what do you consider a good "sale" price to be for some of these items? (I'm in the U.S., which probably matters for this question.)

newCourtney

I always look for buy one get one frees to stock up, but I also really just look for prices that are reasonable for my budget. The grocery store I shop at most often for meat has a lot of deals on boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I can get a couple for about $4. This is a good deal for me, because I know those will last me for a while. So, when they are on sale that low, I buy 2-3 packs of them. I only buy it if it is on sale, but I buy several when they are on sale.
Hope that helps some. I'm new to this game too. :0)

Emily_Katherine

I'm in Canada, but these are the prices I watch for:

$4/lb or less for boneless skinless poultry
$5/lb or less for beef or fish (esp. frozen fish)
$2/lb or less for ground meat

Sometimes there are whole pork loins or back ribs cryovac packaged for $2 or $3/lb, I cut them at home into chops and roasts. I also keep an eye out for things like frozen chicken fingers, cans of tuna and smoked salmon - they go on good sales sometimes.

Hambone23

Your answers are super helpful for me. I'm learning half of eating right is learning how to shop properly. If anyone has any more input, I'd love to hear it.

getshredded2012

I need to start looking for more sales on meat and figure out when certain stores normally do them and for which meats. I think I could save a lot by doing this, just need to free up some room in the already crowded freezer first!

Emily_Katherine

I'm not sure if it is available in your particular region, but SOSCuisine.com aggregates the best advertised specials at grocery stores around me. It will even generate you a meal plan. I haven't looked too closely at it, but it might be worth checking out.

doubletnurse

I usually buy my meat at our new Sunflower Market store. I know every couple of weeks you can get boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.99/# for the family pack and ground turkey for $1.99/# as well. I try and stock up and freeze the items in portion sizes that our family usually uses when they are less than $2 per pound. They usually have great produce deals as well.

cekeys

I buy split chicken breasts at $0.99 per lb. and cut out the breast meat & tenderloins myself. I've been doing this for a year now and it's quite easy. You can take the bones along with carrots, celery and other veggies and make your own chicken stock as well. There are numerous youtube videos about how to do it.

I just got a Foodsaver & so I can make my chicken breasts last longer now. Note: a little pre-freeze on a baking sheet with wax paper helps to keep the breast meat from combining into one large clump.

I buy steaks around $3.99 per lb, Foodsaver freeze them as well.

You typical meat sale happens once every 90 days depending on the store. They don't sync up so what's on sale at Kroger may be 6 weeks away at Randalls/Safeway. It's a perfect time to stock up to last that 3 month cycle.