mhc wrote:
At home I normally will not buy meat that is more than $6/lb. I prefer to stay under $3/lb. I do this by mainly buying whole pork loins and chicken.
I had not thought of it this way before, but it's a good goal. Last week I bough a whole pork loin and carved it into various uses: a roast, chops that will grill in 10 minutes, and lots of chunks for stir-fry (which we will doing a lot of in the next few months as the garden produces snow peas, broccoli, bok choi, green onions). I had never paid more than $1.99 for a pork loin before, but I'd been watching for a while at the higher prices and settled for $2.48. We don't have a Costco where I live, maybe others can do better. I've had some luck finding marked-down meat if I go shopping on Monday, getting stuff that didn't sell over the weekend.
I don't particularly like carving the meat up, but it takes less than an hour to add a lot of value, since all those cuts would sell for more than $2.50 if purchased separately. While I was doing it, I was playing a video of Greece, where we are vacationing next fall. Isn't that the heart of frugality, to save money on things you can without a decrease of quality, in order to save for things like travel?
Convenience is important, but since my paid work is project based, I can use the ebb times to fill the freezer for the insane busy times. We've tried some of the frozen foods from Trader Joe's, and I particularly like the stuffed pork Florentine, which I have served to guests. But a lot of them are not as good or healthy as the dishes I make and freeze (enchiladas!) especially since I make lasagne and mac'n'cheese with whole-wheat pasta, and the typical broccoli-chicken-rice casserole with brown rice.
At my office, the challenge is the bagels that a considerate co-worker brings once a week. Not as obvious as the sugary treats, but very carb-laden. I swear I can smell them three rooms away!