How to tell what's the best deal?

[jennythereader]

Buying the groceries, and doing most of the cooking, is my major contribution to the household.

I've been planning the menu out a week or so ahead of time, then going grocery shopping based on what I decided to make. The problem with this system is that I was spending more than I wanted to, especially on meat.

So what I've been trying to do the last few weeks is choose recipes based on what I already have in the house. My rule is that I try not to buy more than one ingredient per recipe, unless it's replenishing a staple that I like to have on hand all the time.

Once I get to the grocery store I go down the list and get all the specified stuff, and then wander over to the meat department. And that's where I get lost. See, my idea is to spend $10-20 on the best deal. But how do I decide what the best deal is? Are chicken drumsticks at $1.69/lb a better buy than boneless breasts at $2.19/lb? More of the breast is meat, but I can use the bones from the drumsticks to make stock. And what about other types of meat completely? Ground beef at $1.99/lb? Pork chops at $2.99/lb?

Any suggestions for how I can figure this out?

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

Ugh. You're right, it's difficult. I generally work off the sales -- see what your grocery store has on special, and work a menu around that. For example, I never pay $1.69/lb for chicken -- I wait till it's on sale for around $1/lb and then I stock up. The freezer is your friend!

Also, we do at least one veggie night a week -- pretty easy to do a pasta or quiche where you don't miss the meat. We do it for health, and out of general orneriness, but it's also kind to your budget.

I still worry that I spend too much. Alas, Engineer is harder to appease than Papacito -- he likes real food, and has no tolerance for crap like Hamburger Helper. While this is good (as I don't, either), it does make it hard to be economical.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I build my menu around what's in the freezer and then re-fill the freezer with what's on sale. I'm just trying to figure out how to decide when I'm getting the most food for my dollar (as opposed to the most pounds for my dollar.)

I'm trying to do meatless nights, but I have a hard time finding satisfying meals that don't have any meat at all. I do cut the amount of meat drastically when I think I can get away with it. For example, I make stir-fry that could probably feed 6 people with only one chicken breast.

[chamisa.livejournal.com]

I am far from an expert so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I think that in general, the more meat has been processed by the butcher, the more it costs. So, boneless breasts cost more than bone-in. Chicken strips even more because they've been cut into strips for you. Legs & thighs generally seem to cost less, but I could get two meals out of some breasts if I made it stretch right. I think if you truly want to save money, buy a whole chicken and cut it up and debone it yourself--or buy one of those family packs of already cut up pieces and use those. Invest in a high quality deboning knife, it will repay itself many times over. As for beef and pork, I don't really know what to suggest, sorry.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

The pre-cut family packs might be a good compromise between whole chickens and the more processed ones. I'll look into them.

I guess the question I'm really asking is "How do I get the most food for my dollar?"

[nounsandverbs]

The most cost-effective way to do chicken is to make a whole one -- then use it to make chicken salad, soup, stock, etc. You can get three or four meals out of it that way.

Beyond that, the only way to really know if you're getting the best deal is just to track prices over time. With experience you'll learn when something is really on sale.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I've been trying to do the tracking thing, but I have a hard time remembering what things cost from visit to visit, and it's a pain to take notes while I'm at the store.

I'm also trying to roast chickens from time to time, but I only seem to manage it if I have a weekend day completely free. I don't like to dump keeping an eye on it on Tom or Kailey. So it only happens once a month or so. It might happen more as I get better at menu planning.

[siderea]

it's a pain to take notes while I'm at the store

Yeah, but if you don't, you won't know, right? If you want the data, you have to collect it.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

True enough.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

They've got to have an app for that somewhere!!!

K's general policy is to never by meat that's over 3 dollars a pound. Mind you, down here meat is more expensive.

Also, look into BJs or Sams Club - their meat is usually very well priced, but you have to buy more of is than one meals worth. A lot of prep and freeze. Shopping in the bulk places can be quite rewarding, but takes time to figure it all out.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

Oh another thing on bone in chicken (not whole chicken, but the breasts) vs, plain breast meat - yes, it's cheaper, but you get less meat and more work. But you do get the bones for stock.

So it's a matter of where in the work-cost-time game you place it. Not practical for us, but we've got more people. And for a full house of us (11 at the moment) 2 roast chickens do fine.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I do BJ's for most of my canned goods. Part of the reason I did this post was because I was having a hard time deciding if the meat at BJ's was really as good a deal as it claims to be.

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

I've heard you can do a whole chicken in a crockpot with good results. If you ever want to try a whole chicken without having to tend it all day.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I'll have to look into that.

[siderea]

I use the rule of thumb that a quarter of a chicken is the meat for one person for one meal. I.e., I get (the meat of) four meals from a whole chicken, or I can feed four people from one chicken.

(Any broth or stock I get out of the carcass is a bonus. Stock is not a condiment, not a major meal component.)

Thus I comparison shop in units of $/quarter chicken.

By using this heuristic, you get away from trying to compare amounts of chicken by weight, which is what makes the bone-in-vs-bone-out problem hard.

For instance, a chicken breast (half the front of the chicken) with bone in is a quarter of a chicken. A chicken breast with the bone out is a quarter of a chicken. The difference in price can then be evaluated entirely in terms of whether someone else getting that bone out for you is worth that difference.

I estimate a thigh+drumstick == three drumsticks, for calculation purposes.

Meanwhile, you need to evaluate the time value of any processing. If you're just roasting chicken quarters, and don't care if they have bone-in when they hit the table, don't pay extra to get them out. As per above, generally the more processing the store/butcher does, the more it costs, because you're paying for labor.

OTOH, I have dishes where I need the bone out. That means I or somebody needs to invest the time to do that. I can either pay cash (higher price) or pay time (my own labor).

ETA: Oh, doing it this way, you don't care the price-per-pound. You need to know the price per chunk-of-chicken. In your drumstick examples, the price-per-pound isn't as interesting as (1) the price per package and (2) the number of drumsticks per package. If (I have no idea, I'm making this up) a package of 6 drumsticks is $4, then the 1/4 chicken equivalent price is $2. If two boneless breasts are $6, their 1/4 chicken price is $3, and thus less good a buy, all other things being equal.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I use the rule of thumb that a quarter of a chicken is the meat for one person for one meal. I.e., I get (the meat of) four meals from a whole chicken, or I can feed four people from one chicken.

That is a clever way to think about it. I'll have to come up with a similar formula for other types of meat.

Thanks!

[stonetimber.livejournal.com]

Ok. When it comes to roasts and large cuts of meat, most caterers and such figure from a 1/2lb to 1lb/person. I think the amount required per day is between 6-9 oz per day of lean.. So, if you figure at a meal you need say 1/2 of that, or 3-4.5oz/person to as much as 8oz/person, you have then only how many per meal x pounds meat=meals per cut. Roast whatever can also be used for other meals after first meal with a little creativity. Oh, when faced with bone-in, consider the bone to be between 1/3-1/2 total weight, and go from there. Bones can be removed at home before cooking or after, either way it is good for soup stock. For bones you remove before cooking, they are easily frozen and kept until you have enough to make stock. Also, buying in bulk and breaking it down yourself when per lb price is cheap is another way to stretch meat dollars. Also, consider a meat farm share, if you have one near you. Learning a little butchery for yourself will save you money in the long run. Hunting also helps, but that is another discussion.

Oh, and with a small butcher shop, they may be willing to cut up what you want if you take it all. Also, cheap bulk chunks of meat can be ground at home, which can save money, as well. I have a meat grinding attachment on my kitchen aid, and you can find hand cranked meat mills at flea markets and tag sales dirt cheap, just make sure it has all its bits. I found a hand cranked meat slicer for sandwich meat at a tag sale, good to not only slice sandwich meat, but take a boneless cut, like a whole tenderloin down to steaks easy-peasy. Saving money is all about what you can do that you do not have to pay someone else to do.

I need my farm....

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I'm looking into meat farm shares. Most of the ones I find seem more than I want to spend, but I'm not giving up.

I'd like to learn more about butchery, but it seems to be one of those skills I can't learn from a book. Like knitting, I think I'll need a hands on demo or three.

I'll keep my eyes open for a grinder and/or a slicer. That's a good idea that hadn't occured to me.

Next time you & stefka go to an auction, tag sale, or flea market, could I tag along? The main reason I don't shop them a lot more is that I'm not sure what I should be looking for and how to tell the pyrite from the gold.

[stefka.livejournal.com]

We'd be delighted to have you along on such a trip!

And I'd hazard a guess that Patrick could show you a great deal of what you'd need for in-home butchery.

Ground beef purchases need also to account for the amount of fat in the grind, which is the number on the right of the slash: a package of 85/15 is visibly leaner than the (usually very cheap indeed) package of 73/27. How much fat content you want will be determined by how you plan to use the meat, and you'll want leaner or fatter for different uses. Personally, though, I skip the 73/27 unless I have a really good reason. There's a point when cheap is just silly.

Not sure where you shop, but at Price Chopper, one end of the meat case usually has bulk savings packages, some of them listing the theoretical number of meals you can expect to get out of them (at a guess, they're assuming a 4-person household; I can usually get more).

Wouldn't mind a meat csa ourselves, if we could swing it, though.

I do all the grocery shopping. He does most of the cooking. We eat just fine. And would be happy to help any way we can.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Yay! Maybe sometime this spring?

I have a whole bunch of stores that I rotate between. Price Chopper seems to have the best meat and produce, so I get most of that stuff there. I have to remember to take a look at the bulk packs next time.

[stonetimber.livejournal.com]

Whenever you want to learn what I know, we can work out a schedule. I can take you from live to stew. Look for a book or two to describe how, and I will give you the practical knowledge. I will also advise you on things like knives and other tools, as well, if you wish.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I have two books which between them seem to have all the information. Back to Basics (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1602392331/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=occasrefleons-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1602392331) has a section on butchering which takes you from live animal to cleaned and dressed animal; while Forgotten Skills of Cooking (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1906868069/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=occasrefleons-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1906868069) covers taking a huge chunk of meat and breaking it down into smaller, more useful parts. I'll re-read both of them, and see if maybe this time I can translate what they're saying better. Once I've done that, maybe we can arrange for a tutoring session so I can get the hands on knowledge.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

There's also that produce wholesaler on Railway avenue behind the Joann's. They're open to the public and have one of the best quality vs cost places for greens baring a farm stand.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Once the farm share starts, veggies aren't an issue. I get a big box every week of food that was picked just a few days earlier. The veggies are all organic and the fruit is usually organic.