52 Money Save Ways: Week 29: Reduce Your Meat Budget
We are back with another weekly tip to save you money! I hope you have found many ways you can sva emoney with this weekly Money Save Ways tips series to accompany the 52 Week Money Challenge! We are into week 29 and this week, make sure to deposit $29 into your 52 week money jar or $28 if you are doing the challenge in reverse. Let’s look at another way to save money: reducing your meat budget.
52 Money Save Ways: Week 29: Reduce Your Meat Budget
I talked about one way to reduce your meat budget in week 13. In case you missed it, that was a suggestion to do meat-free once a week. By doing so, you can save hundreds of dollars a year! For most families, meat is a huge portion of their grocery budget, so the more ways you can reduce it, the better!
Another way to reduce your meat budget is to buy in bulk directly from the source. This means buying from the farmer or another bulk foods wholesaler. In many cases this can provide a family with meat for 6 months or more, so if you have the freezer space, I highly recommend doing this. If you don’t have the freezer space, but still want to save money, ask a friend or a couple family members to go in on a whole animal with you and split up the meat.
Purchase meat in the “reduced for quick sale” section of the store. You don’t have to need it right away, you can just freeze it as soon as you get home and plan meals around what you got last week in this part of the meat department. The meat here is just fine, it just needs to sell quickly. Often, it is carrying a “sell by” date of that current day or even a day before. The discoloration you may see, especially on beef products does not mean it is spoiled. It simply means that oxygen is starting to discolor it.
Stretch your meat out with other sources of protein. This can mean adding beans to a dish where it makes sense such as a taco casserole or buying TVP (textured vegetable protein a type of dried soy protein that has a similar texture of meat) and adding it to your dishes. If you can stretch out just 1/2 pound of meat with another source of protein, you can save a good amount of money.
Buy meat that is a tougher cut and cook it slow to make it tender. Many times, people don’t buy the cheaper cuts of meat because they are so tough. However, you can make them tender by slow roasting in a crock pot.
What are some ways you stretch your meat budget? I would love to hear your tips!
In case you missed previous weeks, here they are so you can maximize your savings!
- Week 28: Borrow Everything
- Week 27: Store Food Properly
- Week 26: Cloth Diapering
- Week 25: Buy Generic Medication
- Week 24: Shop at Farmer’s Markets
- Week 23: Don’t Call in the Experts
- Week 22: Learn to Rebate
- Week 21: Seal up Those Leaks
- Week 20: Always Compare Prices
- Week 19: Watch Your Food Waste
- Week 18: Use Vinegar to Clean
- Week 17: Buy the Smaller Package
- Week 16: Teach Your Kids About Money
- Week 15: Splurge When it Matters
- Week 14: Wash Your Car At Home
- Week 13: Meat Free Mondays
- Week 12: Create A Price Book
- Week 11: Avoid Fees
- Week 10: Cut Your Own Hair
- Week 9: Watch Your Electricity
- Week 8: Turn off The TV
- Week 7: Drink More Water
- Week 6: Maintain Your Car
- Week 5: Reap the Rewards
- Week 4: Practice the Waiting Game
- Week 3: Buy Seasonings in Bulk
- Week 2: Buy Your Clothes Used
- Week 1: Make Lists
- 52 Week Money Challenge
- 52 Week Tracker
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