When David and I go grocery shopping we shop at several stores trying to find meat on sale because its always so expensive. Wednesday morning we got up to go get Hamburger Meat for hamburger Steaks.
While in Kroger’s I picked up a ad and headed to the meat department. I checked where they keep the marked down Roast but there was none on sale. Just a lot of Chicken we didn’t need.
I walked over to the meat counter where I found Pork Chops on sales and a tube of hamburger meat for that nights dinner. As I walked through the meat counter I moved on over to the lunch meat section.
David was still looking through the meat counter. For my family the best grocery bargains are the ones you find when you aren’t even looking for them. David called me back to the mean counter because he had found a rib deal that was too good to pass up.
These were packages that had originally been around $15 each. But they had been marked down to under $5 a package. David thought but wanted to make sure he wasn’t wrong and I pointed out how the tag works and that he was right but we might need our Kroger’s card.
Which all we had to have was the phone number of a account so we always use my sister’s phone because she uses the points for gas which we don’t use. David asked me about the ribs and we looked at each other.
And naturally… We bought three slabs which we only had to have 2 slabs when we cooked them because there is so many ribs in each packet that if David had listened to me one pack at a time would have been enough leaving us two more meals.
I’m just a mom and what do I know. But again we was able to purchase three slabs of pork ribs for what one slab had originally cost. That’s the kind of grocery shopping I like and that is how we are able to live on a one income.
Think about that for a minute. We didn’t pay restaurant prices. We didn’t pay full grocery-store prices. We got three slabs of ribs for less than the original price of one package. And when you’re feeding a family on a budget, that’s a big deal. Especially when your family loves ribs. And ours does.
The Hamburger Meat was put up for another day and David came home and cooked two of slabs of ribs. And because ribs aren’t really complete without some good sides, we made homemade potato salad.
But this isn’t just any potato salad. It was my mom’s homemade potato salad. And, of course, even potato salad becomes a family debate at our house. My mom makes her potato salad with pimentos and celery sometimes. And my brother and I love it. David not so much.
But not everybody in my house wants pimentos and no, one want’s celery. So we made: One bowl without pimentos for David, and Charlie. One bowl with pimentos for Gerald. Before you ask what about me I eat it either way so as long as someone gave me some of there’s I was a happy camper. No onions for anyone because nobody in our house likes them. But my mom would use green onions in hers.
Just like my mother in law uses Pickle Relish in her Potato Salad and none of us like it,. This is a dish you can make any way you like. As I said earlier, my mother always put onions and celery in hers, and somehow hers was still so good.
But around here? We’re leaving those out. That’s the beauty of family cooking. You make it the way your family will actually eat it. Which means in this house one dish may be made several ways to keep arguments down even though its more work for David.
After dinner, we still had one whole slab of ribs left. And instead of letting them sit around until somebody forgot about them, we gave them to Bradley. He took them home to cook. I just hope he didn’t let them go to waste! Because when you find ribs for under $5, you don’t throw them away You eat them.
The one thing I regret about this whole bargain and giving Bradley the extra slab of ribs was I didn’t think to call my mother-in-law and ask if she wanted some ribs. I wish I had. Because at that price, I would have gladly picked up another package for her and also gave her the package we didn’t use and she could have invited my niece and step-daughter and there families over for dinner.
And honestly, if I had known they were still marked down today, I probably would have gone back and bought two more packages for the freezer. That’s how good this deal was especially with Winter right around the corner and we might not be able to get out to go grocery shoping.
Let’s be honest. You can’t go to a restaurant and get a rib plate for $8. Not around here. By the time you pay for the ribs, sides, drink, and everything else, you’re probably paying twice that—or more.
We were able to bring home enough ribs to feed our family for several meals for less than the cost of one restaurant plate. That’s what I call a grocery win. Especially when we can all visit with each other and eat when were hungry and not have to argue about when were going to the restaurant or who is or isn’t going or where are we going.
These weren’t tiny little packages either. You could get roughly 8 to 10 ribs from a slab, and sometimes more depending on the cut. So when you’re paying under $5 for a slab, you’re talking about a whole lot of food.
That’s another thing I want people to remember when they’re shopping clearance meat: Look beyond the sticker price. Think about how many meals you can get from the package of meat your purchasing.
People sometimes ask how you can feed a family without spending a fortune. One answer is: Watch the clearance meat. We don’t have to buy everything at full price. We look. We compare. We see what is marked down. And when we find a bargain on something our family actually eats, we take advantage of it.
That doesn’t mean we’re buying food just because it’s cheap. It means we’re buying food we were already going to eat—and paying less for it. There’s a big difference and it gives David peace of mind because he is able to take care of his family without breaking the bank.
Here is one think I want you to know those ribs didn’t feel like “clearance food.” They felt like Sunday dinner. Ribs. Homemade potato salad. Not Rolls and family around the table. And enough food left over to send a slab home with somebody.
That’s the kind of meal I love. Good food doesn’t have to be expensive. Sometimes the best meal starts with a little red clearance sticker. Now, I can’t promise that every Kroger has the same markdowns.
Clearance prices depend on the store, inventory, and timing. But if your family loves ribs, I would absolutely recommend checking your local Kroger meat department out because these were part of there weekly sales you would find in there ad.
While your there look at the clearance sections. You might find pork chops. Hamburger meat. Ribs. Steaks. Or something else your family loves. And when you see a package that normally costs $15 marked down to under $5? You might want to grab it. Because those bargains don’t always last.
Would I Buy Them Again? Absolutely. And if I had known these ribs were going to be marked down again today, I would have gone back and bought more. I’d put them in the freezer and save them for another family dinner.
Because that’s another trick to shopping on a budget: Buy the bargain when you find it, freeze what you can’t use right away, and build your meals around what you already have. That’s how one good grocery trip can stretch much farther than you think.
That’s what I love about grocery shopping. You can walk into Kroger thinking you’re buying hamburger meat. Then you see a package of ribs. Then another. Then another with sales tags on them and suddenly you’re planning dinner.
You go home. You cook. You make Mom’s potato salad. You divide it into bowls because everybody likes something a little different. You send a slab of ribs home with Bradley. And you sit around the table eating a meal that didn’t cost anywhere near what it would have cost at a restaurant.
That’s a good day. That’s smart shopping. And that’s family. So, if you love ribs as much as we do, go check your Kroger meat department. You may not find them for under $5. But you might. And if you do? Don’t call me until after you put some in your cart.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates