The bulk of our average grocery bill is made up of proteins. Good, quality protein can be very expensive. If you need to buy enough meat to feed a family of growing children, expect your average grocery bill to skyrocket as your kid’s age. You can save money on proteins though! In fact, these tips alone could reduce your grocery bill by 25-30% every week!
Where to start?
The very first place to look is in store ads. The front page is usually filled with the store’s loss leaders. A loss leader is a product that is on sale for such an awesome price that the store will most certainly take a loss off of it. Stores do this to get you into the store. If steak is really cheap, you might plan your entire shopping trip (filled with regularly priced items) at that store. It’s worth it to the store to get you in the door, because likely they’ll make up their loss elsewhere. Make this work for you. Grab all the ad circulars in your area and take note of the best prices on meats. Make sure you compare and contrast so you can be sure you are getting the best possible deal.
How much do I buy?
The key to saving money buying proteins is to buy in bulk when the price is low. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that buying in big packages is your best option. Sometimes it’s cheaper to just buy more of the smaller packaged meats. Be sure to read the details of the ad. If chicken is at a really great price, grab enough to last you until it goes on sale again (sales cycles generally run around 6-8 weeks, although a bit less for meats). If one package is more than a serving size for your family, pick up some freezer bags and separate out the meats into portion controlled baggies. This might mean you spend a bit more on your grocery bill and eat a lot of the same meats for a few weeks while you get a good stockpile going. Trust me, this is worth it!
What is a good price?
The hardest part of the stockpiling game is knowing what prices are good in your area. To start, you might be going in blind. Try to either keep a list or at the very least mentally note every time you see a price lower than previously. In my area, $.77 a lb is the best possible price I can get chicken thighs for. In some parts of the country, they will never see that price and $1 a lb is the least they can expect to pay. At first this can be a guessing game, you will get better at this in time as you become more experienced.
It is possible to save money buying proteins. It involves scouting the stores for the best possible prices. Stocking up when the low buying opportunity presents itself. As well as learning the lowest prices in your area. I hope this can help you learn how to save money on the proteins your family needs and loves!
My name is Heather and I am a frugal mommy saving money! Want to learn a bit more about Family Friendly Frugality? First subscribe to FREE daily emails. Next, learn more about our frugal blog by reading our about me post or read the popular series Our Story. Or jump in head first and learn how to reduce the family grocery budget, play the drugstore game, or catch up on the hottest frugality finds!
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