Saving Money on Food: Great Meat Buys This Week at Save-a-Lot

This is not my pantry, but I wish it was.

I'm opening back up the frugality section of this blog so I can share my great buys and finds with you. This post is on frugal food.

Stockpiling Specials at Save-a-lot

My food budget is $200 a month, but I usually spend less by shopping specials at the cheapest places I can find them and stockpiling good buys. Save-a-lot had some great meat buys this week. I got

• 11.05 lbs chicken drumsticks for $6.52 (.59/lb)
• 3.86  lbs. boneless pork chops for 5.75 (1.49/lb)

Since I'm only eating meat on weekends now, this will last me at least a month for the grand total of $12.27.

A few other specials I took advantage of were

• Red and green seedless grapes @ $.99/lb.
• Tomatoes - 4 pack small regular tomatoes or a pack of grape tomatoes for $2 each.
• Corn @ $.19/ear.

I also like their chips section. They don't seem to have the tortilla scoops anymore, but they now have corn chip scoops for $1.29, which beats the heck out of $2.99 for Fritos Scoops. I got some salsa to go with them for 1.69, and I've found their salsa to be very good. 

I forgot to get sugar, which they had at $1.79, but I can get it at $2 every day at Dollar General, or cheaper at Aldi.

You can't beat their prices on condiments like mustard (.79) and ketchup (.99). If you like pork seasoning for greens and beans, but don't like the grease, try the Goya Jamon (pork seasoning). It's only 1.19 a box, which is about the cheapest I've found it.

Save-a-lot Has Changed Since It Was Sold

I used to shop almost exclusively at Save-a-lot, but since they were sold to another company, they've started carrying more name brands and their overall prices have gone up. They still have great specials, especially on meat, but a lot of items are much more than they used to be. If you're lucky, you can catch the meat when it's marked down to 50% off, but it usually gets snatched up quickly.

For example, I'm finding that their produce is not as cheap as it once was, and is more on par with higher-priced stores now. For example, their 2 lb. bags of carrots were $1.89,and I can get the same at Aldi for $1.29.

Frozen veggies are now cheaper at WalMart, and Save-a-lot used to be my go-to place for those.

Aldi is much cheaper on canned goods.

I also have to pay someone to take me to Save-a-lot now, since it's so far by bus, but if I stick with the specials and good buys, it's usually worth it to go occasionally. Otherwise, I stick to WalMart and Aldi.

Stockpiling weekly specials allows me to spend more money on fresh fruits and veggies, which are much healthier than canned and better tasting than frozen. It also allows me a weekly treat, which varies according to what mood I'm in, and can be anything from an 8-pack of Publix fried chicken to a pound of shrimp to fresh bakery bread. You have to treat yourself occasionally, or frugality will feel like punishment.

Let me know in the comments just how you save on grocery specials, and remember to subscribe to get updates delivered to your email.