The Butcher, The Baker…

The Butcher, the Baker, the Candlestick Maker…

No worries, I won’t be writing a post about nursery rhymes! Instead I’m writing about ways you can significantly reduce your grocery bills. This post will focus on how to save money on items that are often hard to find coupons for.

My family tends to eat a lot of chicken and pork, two items that can be big budget busters. We also have to shop around a soy allergy, which can make it hard to find inexpensive bread. Fortunately, I have been able to find a consistent way to save in these areas. I’m routinely paying less than $1.00 a pound on many cuts of chicken (including breasts!). I’m averaging less than $1.00 per pound on pork (including loins!). And I regularly get whole wheat bread for $1.00 a loaf. And you can too – it’s amazingly easy!

[An aside – anyone who noticed that I emphasized breasts and loins in the previous paragraph needs to remember that this is a family friendly blog. And no, I’m not blushing. Well, not blushing a lot.]

The key to successfully saving is to be on high alert for those wonderful, colorful, late-date stickers put on meats and baked goods when the store is eager to sell them. As you know, most items in these departments have a “sell buy” date. If you are willing to invest a little extra work to get these items into the freezer that night, you can easily shave the price in half! (if you are worried about food safety, be sure to read through to the end!)

Here are the tips that work for me:

When supply outpaces demand: If the store over stocks their cases, they might have some packages that don’t move as quickly and hit their “sell by” date. The store can’t sell the items after that date, so they will often put additional discount on them to get them out the door (they would rather get something for those items than lose the sale completely). This can include meats, fish, breads and produce.

Get the 411: Find out where these items are located and when your store takes these actions. It’s as simple as asking the butcher “do you have any marked down items today?” Or ask “when do you normally mark down your “sell by today” items?” If you are feeling particularly brave, ask for the markdown on an item that has today’s date on it but doesn’t yet have a sticker (the worse thing they can do is say no!)

Check on each trip: Always check for marked down items, and if it’s a great price, buy extra and freeze it. My butcher told me that as long as I put it in a freezer bag (even if it’s still in the original packaging) the meats should last for as long as I need them to. Much better to have it in your freezer, than to have to pay full price when you need it.

Combine the late date with the store’s loss leader promotions: Look through the store’s fliers to see what is going to be on sale for the week. Typically, the store will stock this item very heavily in anticipation of customers coming in looking for it. However, demand might start to trickle off near the end of the week as customers have already made their purchases. This is a good time to scope out the deals!

Now, if you are anything like me, before you make this decision you need to know that late date foods are safe. It doesn’t do you any good to get chicken “on sale” if you don’t feel comfortable feeding it to your family!

Here is what I learned from the USDA:

“Open Dating” on a food product is a date stamped on a product’s package to help the store determine how long to display the product for sale. It can also help the purchaser to know the time limit to purchase or use the product at its best quality. It is not a safety date. After the date passes, while not of best quality, the product should still be safe if handled properly and kept below 40 °F for the recommended storage times listed on the chart below. If product has a “sell-by” date, cook or freeze the product by the times on the chart

Now you’re armed and ready to save some big bucks in the grocery store!