I'm taking a little break from couponing to talk about a good and under utiltzed department in most grocery stores (if they really have them). The meat department is can often be the most costly areawhen shopping, mostly because there aren't always a lot of coupons for the product and the price of meat keeps going up. There are ways though to utilize this department and get some value from them.
If your grocery store has a meat counter or a staff member devoted to cutting the meat, get to know them. It's not like having to be a first name basis like Sam from the Brady Bunch but know who to talk when you have meat questions is nice to know. Also getting to know the masters for the knife can help you learn what services their department has to offer.
One service that I've learned to enjoy from my local departments is free slicing and grinding of meat. Now there are times that I do enjoy cutting up large slaps of meat but it can be a little time intense and messy. How does this save money? Some places do have deals where if you buy the bigger cuts of meats you will save more per pond and the free cuts add up. A local deal that I found was a huge cut of meat that when finally prepared to my specs, would give me 3 medium roast and 12 steaks for $100 and if I had bought all that I would have spent almost $150. Fifty bucks might not always be in coupons but it does add up at the register.
With grinding it's nice because there are times when ground turkey and ground pork work well ( a blog for another day) but they are not always available. Because I've gotten to know who my butcher is, when I asked late one day for some pork to be grounded up for some awesome Ham Balls (a future blog) he cleaned up his whole rig to do 5 lbs of pork. Which saves money in the fact that I didn't have to drive back to the store at a latter time. I wrote the gm of the store and told how great his employee was and going above and beyond to help a customer. The butcher thanked me for the note, he was on the verge of being let go but my letter showed that he was valuable to customers. I also got some coupons from the store as well to the meat department. (It shows that a little respect can go a long way).
Finally another thing that I love about the meat department, there are times when I get confused about what a receipe calls for in meat prep. Alot of the times the butcher can help explain it to me or if it's a certain cutting technique, they often demostrate how to do it. Learning how to properly prepare meat for meals save time and money so you don't waste food.
If your current store doesn't have a staffed meat department (other then a meat case you choose from prepackaged meat) then look around, you may find some joys and juice secrets.
If your grocery store has a meat counter or a staff member devoted to cutting the meat, get to know them. It's not like having to be a first name basis like Sam from the Brady Bunch but know who to talk when you have meat questions is nice to know. Also getting to know the masters for the knife can help you learn what services their department has to offer.
One service that I've learned to enjoy from my local departments is free slicing and grinding of meat. Now there are times that I do enjoy cutting up large slaps of meat but it can be a little time intense and messy. How does this save money? Some places do have deals where if you buy the bigger cuts of meats you will save more per pond and the free cuts add up. A local deal that I found was a huge cut of meat that when finally prepared to my specs, would give me 3 medium roast and 12 steaks for $100 and if I had bought all that I would have spent almost $150. Fifty bucks might not always be in coupons but it does add up at the register.
With grinding it's nice because there are times when ground turkey and ground pork work well ( a blog for another day) but they are not always available. Because I've gotten to know who my butcher is, when I asked late one day for some pork to be grounded up for some awesome Ham Balls (a future blog) he cleaned up his whole rig to do 5 lbs of pork. Which saves money in the fact that I didn't have to drive back to the store at a latter time. I wrote the gm of the store and told how great his employee was and going above and beyond to help a customer. The butcher thanked me for the note, he was on the verge of being let go but my letter showed that he was valuable to customers. I also got some coupons from the store as well to the meat department. (It shows that a little respect can go a long way).
Finally another thing that I love about the meat department, there are times when I get confused about what a receipe calls for in meat prep. Alot of the times the butcher can help explain it to me or if it's a certain cutting technique, they often demostrate how to do it. Learning how to properly prepare meat for meals save time and money so you don't waste food.
If your current store doesn't have a staffed meat department (other then a meat case you choose from prepackaged meat) then look around, you may find some joys and juice secrets.
