Butcher Adventure

In my quest for a lower grocery bill, I came across an idea. If I buy meat for the entire month from a butcher, maybe it will help cut costs.

Here is my thinking:

#1, If I buy for an entire month, I can split things as I please and always have the meat portion of our meal on hand. If my husband says, "I am not in the mood for blah blah blah," I can pull something else out without wasting a trip to the store or the meat I had planned for.

#2 When you buy from a butcher, it comes in freezer paper. According to the website, the meat stays freezer burn free for up to 8 months! 8 months! I think we will eat all of our meat in 8 months. No wasting meat!

#3 Along with the "no wasting meat" theory, I tend to only need a portion of what I buy. I try to buy directly from the meat section so I can portion control what I buy, but many times it is easier to just buy the meat in the 1 lb package it already comes in. This happens a lot with chicken. I buy a package of chicken because it is cheaper than picking out my own, yet throw half of it away because there are only 2 of us and I don't need the rest of the package. ( I have tried freezing this meat but I am terrible at it and even with freezer wrap and freezer bags it ends up with freezer burn by the end of the month )

So, I grab my monthly menu and get my meat listed.

I bought--->

• 7 chicken breasts
• 2, 12 oz steaks (to be split so one steak per meal)
• 2.5 lbs of stew meat
• 4 sausage links
• 6 lbs ground beef

That is around 17 pounds of meat, to be used in 19 meals throughout the month, for $66.02

Check out my freezer :)

My bill for the week on groceries was $71.05, not including the meat. I am making shrimp alfredo, chicken pot pie (makes 2, so one will go in the freezer), steak, baked potato soup, sandwich night, and pizza. 

With shopping done, I am now going to get to work on my lesson plans as school starts tomorrow :)