The week after Christmas, when I went to the grocery store, I hit a jackpot in the clearance meat department. I picked up nine 1-lb packages of 94% lean ground beef for $1.99 each (a savings of $3.50 per package), and seven 1-lb packages of ground buffalo for $1.99 each (an unbelievable savings of $5.00 per package). I unashamedly took all the marked-down packages of each that I could find and filled my freezer.
Clearance meat is one of my favorite ways to save. It doesn't take advanced math skills to figure out why. I think saving 68% speaks for itself. The trick is knowing what time of day, as well as what time of year, your particular grocery store marks down their meat. Since going back to work, my grocery shopping time has switched from 8 or 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I have definitely seen less in the clearance section when shopping in the afternoon. On the shopping trip where I scored all the meat after Christmas, it was about 10 a.m., which is probably the ideal time at my particular grocery store.
Historically, I have been able to get great meat deals the week after major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I suspect this is because we are buying turkey, ham, and other holiday trimmings and not our usual everyday groceries.
