Ways to Save money by buying meat in bulk

I am always looking for ways to save on my grocery budget and  one of the ways I do that is by buying meat in bulk. For my family, I buy in bulk as much as I can when shopping for chicken and ground beef, which are the meat that we eat the most of.  As a family of seven, meat costs can add up quickly and really doesn’t always last very long.  I like to stock up on ground beef and chicken when it goes on sale so that I get the best value for my dollar while making meat last for multiple meals.

I buy the large packages of split chicken breasts when they go on sale for $1.29 lb, which is roughly 3 large bone in chicken breast.  I then like to cook the chicken breast for one meal and then I use the leftover chicken for another meal.  In fact, this is what I did earlier this week when I made the Barefoot Contessa Lemon Chicken.  With the leftover chicken I plan on making chicken soup this weekend.

By planning ahead when purchasing meat, utilizing my meal plans and doing some freezer cooking, it really takes the hassle out of dinner.  It cuts down on your pricy take out runs and the whole family eats better as well.

I also bulk buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts. For me the price point that I purchase at is $1.99 so when chicken goes on sale I buy multiple packs.  I then bring it home, trim it to my liking and then put it in freezer bags in serving sizes appropriate for my  family.  That way when I plan my dinners there is always chicken in my freezer, perfectly portioned for my family and I just have to bring out a bag and defrost it.    An example of this is my shopping trip from this week.  I bought $61.17 worth of boneless, skinless chicken breasts–which is my families favorite cut of chicken– and only spent $33.76 out of pocket.  That’s a savings of $27.41.  Now I do realize that there are less expensive cuts of chicken but since my family prefers boneless, skinless breasts its not saving money if I buy something else and no on ends up eating it.

Finally, for ground beef we like the 85%/15% so I buy that when it is on sale for $1.99 or cheaper.  I treat it the same as I do the chicken.  I buy the large packs and then split them up in dinner sized portions and freeze it in freezer bags.  I then just have to defrost one bag for dinner.  This week I bought$26.30 worth of ground beef but paid $19 so I saved myself $7.

By buying ahead and always having beef and chicken in the freezer it cuts down on the “what’s for dinner” dilemma.  Plus, because I don’t have to rush to the store to grab meat for dinner I feel I end up saving even more money because there are no “extra” impulse buys in the store.

What do you do? Do you buy your meats when they go on sale and then have a packed freezer or do you just buy enough to get you through the current week? Leave a comment and let me know!