What is your favourite 'best buy' to save money?

[Kchurchill5]

Turkey and Ham

I buy them when they go on sale.

Turkey 49 cents/lb. Why not? 12 lb turkey for $6. I can get 4-5 meals, cook and freeze in baggies. Get dinner, round 2 dinner, sammies, 3-4 others; pot pies, creamed turkey, etc. Then soup. I make a wild rice soup. It has chicken, a few veggies, mushrooms, wild rice, sherry and cream. Yes, a bit expensive items, but it serves 8. Serve with salad and bread, and dinner. Or just make turkey, vegetable or noodle soup.

Ham, same thing. I just picked up another for 2.99 lb. Yes, 18.00. But 6-7 meals, plus soup.
Mac and cheese, ham and spaghetti pie, fritatta, soup, sammies, maybe a calzone with green pepper swiss cheese and mushrooms. Alfredo with ham, pea and penne pasta with ham and fontina. LOTS.
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I also agree with buy what is on sale and in bulk. Just bought 5 lbs salmon. Cut in 2" thick pieces and wrapped in parchments and then put in 1 large ziploc bag. I can take out 1 at a time.

I also bought 6 lbs shrimp. Buy one for 4.99, get one free. DEAL. Extra large shrimp. Yes, they are frozen, but, why not. I keep them in a large freezer ziploc.

Pork loin, picked up one on sale. Cut into 1 1/2" chops. Wrapped 2 in a baggie. Just thaw and cook. But cheaper than buying them individually. And a few minutes to thaw, cook and eat. Easier than a whole loin.

I NEVER EVER cook for 1 or 2. It is costly and expensive. But, I do eat all my leftovers. I don't waste anything.
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And if you grill ... throw on a extra potato or an onion with that chicken. That way it is already cooked. Just chop, add to a pan with your cooked chicken to heat and serve.
Or that potato is great in an omelette, just reheated on the side. When I cook on the grill, I always try to add a few more items.
Grilling a steak for dinner, why not add some zucchini and chicken for the next night. You can chop up the chicken for a sammy or add to a stir fry, or just reheat, the zucchini you could add to soup, a pasta, or stir fry.

These items when on sale, I take advantage of - cook and freeze. Great for later on.

[KittenCal]

yep bulk can save you a lot, I used to buy that way when my son was home and DH was living now I only cook for one during the week, Sunday is a big dinner with my son his best frience and fiance, I try to make enough so that I have leftovers for the week for myself usually there's not much leftover though, my son gets a doggie-bag

[Denise]

I try to watch the sales. I typically will not buy any kind of meat unless it's on sale. We do watch our weight pretty closely, so we can't eat things like chicken legs or whole breasts, so I watch when the boneless breast go on sale and I stock up on them. Always find them for 1.99 pound. I do use the Kroger digital coupons and other coupons, that helps a bit as well. I also buy a lot of store brands. Some of the Kroger brands are actually better than national brands. The half and half, obviously can't tell the difference, is only 1.69 per quart.

[Dissie]

Denise, I am finding the store brands just as good as the national big chains too. But sometimes you get coupons for name brands and then I get it if its a better deal.
The weekly ads came out yesterday and we went to Walmart and made them price match again. We kept track of what it cost, and what we ended up paying. We saved 56.83 and our final bill was 95.16. So we saved quite a bit of what it would have cost. We got whole fryers, Tyson for 56 cents a pound! We were quite happy with that! Too bad we didn't have coupons this time, but just making them match the sales saved us quite a bit!
I have also started to make my own refried beans, so much cheaper than buying that can. We make up 2 bags of dried pinto beans, after they are soft, we smash them up in the food processor, fry them in bacon grease, add in spices and its just as good as any canned. Plus it is just pennies! We are freezing them in baggies. Big savings there!
We are also buying onions and bell peppers when on sale or at Sams, and cut them all up and flash freeze and bag in baggies. (My sil and I share those 10 pound bags of onions at Sams.)

[Denise]

I have completely kicked Walmart to the curb I really hate that place, too big and noisy. It's also something like 10 miles? I figure by the time I drive over there and back every week, I've lost any savings I might have made. And Kroger's prices are very competitive. I've been keeping track and my weekly grocery bill has stayed the same or a bit less. Although I am irritated by the fact that Columbian coffee is still so stinking expensive. Still at least $12, too much! Kroger has been sending me a lot of coupons in the mail too. I just got more last week, including one for a free one pound can of Folgers. Every little bit helps! And you also get the 10 cent per gallon savings on gas. I actually am thinking also of getting one of those cards where you get cash rewards back on everything and putting everything I buy on it during the month, then paying it off at the end of the month. Gotta work the system, I guess.

[Dissie]

But I have no Kroger here! Dillons tries to be, but it just aint!

[Denise]

But I have no Kroger here! Dillons tries to be, but it just aint!

Yeah, they don't have Kroger there at all if I remember correctly? Have you tried Price Cutter or Food 4 Less? Food 4 Less used to have the best ground beef in town, they get it from the same place Harter House does.

[Dissie]

Price cutter is nuts on prices! Food4less is on the southside. I tend to gravitate to Dillons since its familiar as they run the same ads as kroger, it just aint kroger. I miss my kroger, I was a kroger gal in GA. Only going to publix every now and then, I remember you went to Publix....Now you have crossed over from the dark side!

[racrgal]

I actually am thinking also of getting one of those cards where you get cash rewards back on everything and putting everything I buy on it during the month, then paying it off at the end of the month. Denise, American Express has a cash back card without any yearly fees. I put everything on the card and pay it off monthly. If you carry a balance or pay a yearly fee the savings quickly go out the window, so be disciplined about paying it off every month. That statement also makes you realize just where you spent your money. Sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing. One year my cash back was enough to buy a new computer.

My favorite best buy would have to be making my own ground chicken or turkey. The store price of either is outrageous!

[Denise]

Price cutter is nuts on prices! Food4less is on the southside. I tend to gravitate to Dillons since its familiar as they run the same ads as kroger, it just aint kroger. I miss my kroger, I was a kroger gal in GA. Only going to publix every now and then, I remember you went to Publix....Now you have crossed over from the dark side!

I was thinking Price Cutter had better prices than Dillons? I could just be crazy though And we lived like half mile from the PC on the south side, the one on Republic Rd. So it was just easy. I went to Wally once every 12-14 days there too. I was a Walmart girl at Woodstock, but stopped by Publix for any really good sale items. Their meat, steaks - are the best. And occasional BOGO. Other than that, Publix is too much money. I've been watching their prices and it's a huge NO. They do have chicken on sale sometimes, but I've tried their chicken and Perdue and it's as chewy as leather.