You read that right. We buy meat twice a year. I have been doing this for years now and it works out really well! I would imagine that for those who live in the ‘lower 48’ it would be even easier to implement this system and save yourself some serious money in the long run. With the price of meat rising almost monthly, I thought it would be the perfect time to share with you how I have been able to handle the rising costs and still keep my freezers full!
Most grocery stores have huge meat sales and we are no different here in rural Alaska. The first one of the year is somewhere around tax time – between March and April. We take our tax refund and buy up meat while it is on sale. The second time there is a large meat sale is later in the year around September/October. In Alaska, we are paid a dividend from the state for revenue on the oil that is pumped out on the North Slope and we use that money to again buy meat. (Now, before you get all riled up about us getting ‘free money’ here in Alaska, the Permanent Fund Dividend generally isn’t enough to cover even one mortgage payment or rent payment. It is crazy expensive to live here! I pay $950 rent for a 2 bedroom apartment and that is considered cheap. Most 2 bedroom places with nothing included run $1,200-$1,500 a month.)
We make sure to buy family packs of hamburger and instead of buying beef and pork steaks, we buy roasts and tenderloins! If you think about it, many steaks started out in the butcher shop as a chunk of meat large enough to be a roast. I will never buy pork steaks or chops again because it is so much cheaper to buy a pork loin and cut the steaks myself. I get more control over how much fat (or how little) there is on each cut and how thick I want them. On top of all that, I can add some spices or herbs before I package them up.
We also do not buy canned pork, chicken, or beef anymore. It is part of the cycle! When meat gets close to the one year mark in the freezer bags, we take them out and thaw them for pressure canning. Talk about stretching your dollar! You bought the meat on sale a year before and are now going to jar it up so that it will last another year to 18 months and it is shelf-stable to boot! No refrigeration needed. Add it to some stew starter and you have a home cooked meal in no time. You know exactly how everything was processed. You have more control over how much fat, salt, etc is in your food and you saved money doing it, too. Talk about a win-win all around! That’s right Mom, put on those shades because you are a rock star!
Other than the meat purchase, there are some other investments that I had to make for this cycle to truly pay off in the long run. I needed a vacuum sealer and we ended up having to buy a smaller chest freezer, too. We already had the pressure canner and jars. I realize that these may be unrealistic purchases for some people and that is OK. It’s not like we were able to just go out and drop $300+ on equipment. I bought the vacuum sealer and the chest freezer on sale at two separate times. I have learned a lot of tips and tricks when it comes to using the vacuum sealer, too. Don’t be discouraged by the additional purchases: it is an investment and can be done over time. You can do this!
I would realistically, conservatively, say that the cost of the vacuum sealer and freezer paid themselves off within the first year. Think about how much freezer burnt stuff you end up tossing out a year. Growing up, we would toss 1 out of every 4 packages of meat away because it was too far gone and we were a small family. I couldn’t imagine how much meat would get tossed in a larger family! Food is expensive!
One other caveat I must include here is that we are lucky enough to live in a place where the salmon come back every year and we can harvest up to 6 salmon a day per person. Those are regular sport fishing regulations, too! So if we spent a few days and get our limit, we can get all of our salmon stocked up in a week or two which still leaves time for the day jobs, brining and smoking, and pressure canning it all up (or tossing it into the freezer of course!) We also are able to go hunting for deer and grouse that supplements our meat stock. Even if we weren’t able to supplement, I would still only buy meat twice a year. I know not everyone will be able to gather their own meat like that but getting into a nice annual cycle really helps you to save money, sanity, and budget much easier, too!
To recap:
- Buy meat in bulk and on sale. Instead of steaks, buy roasts and cut your own steaks! Buy family packs for the savings.
- Vacuum seal into family sized portions and date them. Freeze for up to a year.
- Any meat left in the freezer for 9-12 months gets thawed and pressure canned (stop buying canned meat!).
What are some tips and tricks YOU use to save yourself money on food over the year? Give us a comment below, we LOVE hearing from the fans!
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Around Thanksgiving we took advantage of the Albertsons free turkey special with $150 grocery purchase. We stocked up on meat with the buy one get two free sale and used coupons to purchase the extras to make freezer meals. We got close to $800 in groceries for just around $300. We still have a fully stocked freezer a month later!
Well done indeed at over 60% savings. That is FANTASTIC!! We always take advantage of the BOGO free on turkeys at Thanksgiving, too. And then we strip the meat off (if any is left) and vacuum seal it up. Then, I boil the heck out of the carcass to make stock and pressure can it. Ended up with over a gallon of stock this last time. Mister Dreamer and I were talking the other day and realized it had been almost 2 years since we have bought any kind of stock at the store. Way to save Marie and thanks for the comment!
Check out Zaycon Foods. I’ve been buying my meat in bulk through them for several years. We get it cheaper than we can even on sale on at Costco, then we use our FoodSaver and fill up the freezers. I get everything from chicken and hamburger to salmon, ribs and sausage. You just order and pay online and a big refrigerated truck shows up in your area on the date listed online and a person loads it into your car for you! Best kept “secret” for saving money on meat.
Hello Lindy! Thank you for the comment. I really wish we could take advantage of Zaycon because I keep hearing amazing things about them but we live on an island in Southeast Alaska and those kind of services are not available here. Absolutely all of their profits would be eaten up by making the trip with a truck to the island.
Yes! Sorry you Alaskans can’t take advantage of it….but I also stock up with Zaycon! Hamburger, chicken, sausage, bacon, ribs and more! Salmon and Cod coming in a couple weeks! I love it…and I also saved and bought a small chest freezer, and a food saver. I do the canning trick too! Love that when I go grocery shopping, I bypass the meat counters altogether!
Hi Nancy! They may have Zaycon available on the main land but here in Ketchikan, it is a no go. That is cool that you can buy salmon and cod as well though I wonder if it is farmed fish or wild? The one time I had farmed fish….well it was only one time so that rather explains itself haha! We were able to get our little chest freezer on a huge sale when Sears closed here several years ago. It was a steal! Thank you for the comment and I am glad to know another person does the same kind of stuff I do. 🙂
Good tips! I usually buy a whole young cow, approximately 275Lb and have it butchered the way I want and the whole cow end ups costing me about $500. Around thanksgiving I usually end up buying 3 or 4 turkeys when it goes on special at $0.49/lb cook 1 or 2 up for thanksgiving and make Turkey pot pies with the leftovers. I will usually end up with 16 to 24 pies, which I vacuseal and freeze.
Hiya Chantale! VERY cool idea about making up a bunch of pies with the leftover turkey. I make them, too but I may have to try making the whole thing and then freezing it like you’d find in the store. We have looked into buying a partial or whole cow, too. That may be on the ticket for next year! Thank you for the great comment.
We watch sales and stock our freezer as well. For example, at Thanksgiving turkey was on sale for .49 a pound, but it was one per customer, so we went twice and we separated our order so he bought one and I bought one. We will also get the pork loins and make smaller roasts, chops etc. In a 2 weeks will are sending the tow pigs we raised to be slaughtered so we will have pork for the whole family. We also have our name on a list so when a deer or moose is hit nearby the Game warden gives us a call. My husband worked as a meat cutter years ago, so he is great at cutting meat. Another tool that is useful is a meat grinder, we use one that attaches to our mixer. Then you can grind your own burger or make your own sausage. That is one way to make sure there is pink slime in your meat.
Thanks for the comment Josephine! We just got the attachments for our kitchen aide for making sausage and grinding meat, etc. We have a couple of older hand crank ones as well.
i sure do miss the ketchikan area. lived on pennick island for a summer. was a grand time but learned real quick that there was no running to the store daily.
Haha there sure isn’t! If you live on Gravina, you could make a trip over on the airport ferry but Pennock is a different story. With gas prices what they are, you have to really need something, and have a list going besides, to make the trip worthwhile. Thanks for the comment and following along Sharron!
i have myself, my husband and my MIL that help me stick out freezer. We eat holiday meals together so we don’t each need a ham or turkey. But we go to each different grocer around and get their sale. My inlaws only take 1 of each (silly woman doesn’t believe in stocking up for just 2 of them) but between her, hubs and 1 that’s at least 3 per store (some stores have a limit of 2) and there are 4 different store chains here to shop at (upstate NY) oddly we still haven’t mastered the not shopping monthly for meat yet. But I only buy turkey and ham 1x a year lol.
You are well on your way! By hitting the sales and only buying once a year, you already have the mindset needed to make those meat dollars stretch! Thanks for the comment.
I should mention that in my home their are 6 of us and we eat a lot of meat.
I haven’t mastered pressure canning yet but it’s on the top of my winter to do list. We want to buy 1/2 a cow with our tax return so I need the birds out of my freezer.
I’ve ordered from Zaycon n am so happy with it. 30 lbs minimum on chicken but amazing chicken breasts. N many other items. I vacumn sealed n it lasted till this yr. Also has ham, bacon, etc. You may want to check it out
Thanks for the comment! Unfortunately, I cannot get that where I live.