Tuesday, February 23, 2010

When Buying Meat and Poultry, Don't Let The Yellow Stickers Scare You.

My first experience with the yellow stickers was several years ago when in the meat department, I came across a case of Perdue whole chickens marked down to $2.00. These were 5-6 lb chickens that are normally around $6.00.

Confused, I asked the meat manager why they were so cheap and he explained to me that they were close to their expiration date. Their was nothing wrong with them as long as you either used them immediately or put them in the freezer.

WOW, so I plucked 5 birds out of the case and put them into my cart.

Now every time I'm in the grocery store, whether or not I need meat, I stop by the meat department to look for the yellow stickers and to see what deals I can find. Unfortunately I have yet to stumble on another Perdue sale.

The deal can be made sweeter if you happen to have coupons on the product. I had a 50 cent coupon on Nature's Promise products that I used on the natural chicken below.
Don't let the yellow stickers scare you (or whatever color your stores uses for markdowns). Marked down meat and poultry is safe as long as you use it or freeze immediately after you buy it. I have never seen marked down meat look any different than the current meat. Although, if the meat did look off color, I would pass on the deal and maybe even show it to the meat manager.

Ask your meat manager when they mark down their products. My store does it in the early mornings. I am not able to get to the store too early in the mornings, so I suspect I miss out on many good deals.

Next time you are in the meat department in the grocery store, keep an eye open for the clearance stickers and hopefully you will find some good bargains too.

Do you buy marked down meat? Or does the thought turn you off? Please let us know in the comment section.

This post is linked to:

Thanks for reading FamilyBalanceSheet.

If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS through your RSS Feed, please click here to sign up. Or sign up for FREE email updates, by submitting your email address in the top left side of this site.
Posted by Family Balance Sheet at 7:00 AM
Labels: ,

12 comments:

  1. I'll admit, the marked down meat does make me a little leary.:) However, after reading your post and hearing that you've had no issue with the marked down meat I'd definitely feel more comfortable checking it out!! I'm all about saving money! Thanks for the tip and for linking to Thrifty Tip Tuesday!
    ReplyDelete
  2. I always look for the mark downs in the meat department. The off color isn't a big deal either as dye is injected into many meats to give them that pretty red color. If it's blue or really bad looking I would pass on it, though.
    ReplyDelete
  3. I love clearanced meat!! I don't happen upon them very often, but when I do-WATCH OUT! :)
    ReplyDelete
  4. I buy marked down meat always. I always wash all meat and poultry in vinegar prior to preparing.
    ReplyDelete
  5. I to buy most of my meat this way...If I do buy meat its because its on sale or manager mark down. Normally go mid week in the early morning and you have the best chance of getting it. We never have had a problem with it. Normally just a day or two before the sell date :)
    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes- I will totally snag a package of marked down meat so long as it looks good. Now if the beef is too bloody and looks like the color is starting to turn, I will either look for a better piece of avoid it all together.
    Another thing I like about those stickers (Kroger uses yellow ones in my town) is that you can sometimes find them in the dairy and produce sections. I have found great mark downs on organic yogurts, fruits and veggies! I ♥ a great find!
    If the exp. is coming up too close and it looks like I will have to through the product out before I have eaten it then I will not purchase only because I dislike wasting food! But if we are going on a picnic, to the zoo or pool and can consume that product in one day, I will get it!
    ReplyDelete
  7. I always look for clearance when shopping. Meats, produce, bread, etc. I've gotten bread for as low as .25 a loaf (the good Italian style sliced bread).
    ReplyDelete
  8. I totally scan the meat section for colored stickers. You can save loads of money and feed your family for less. I buy everything I can at reduced prices, then freeze what I cant use before expiry date. I have also discovered that a butcher shop is already half the price of the supermarket, and usually better quality. I have managed to feed my family (there's 2 adults and a toddler) for 11 meals on $29 worth of good cuts of meat, thanks to my local butcher. It helps that I have been able to cook meals and freeze them as well. There are so many ways we can save money, we just have to find the bargains and not pass them by.
    ReplyDelete
  9. The stores I shop at don't do this enough, but I watch for mark down meat. My favorite is bacon, because it can be so expensive!
    ReplyDelete
  10. This has never bothered me. In fact, I went to the store and found some prepackaged lunch meat for 1/2 price and I had coupons. As long as they are not opened and we use it within a week, it will be fine. Meijer has marked down meat almost everyday. The tag are bright orange so you can't miss them.
    ReplyDelete
  11. You are lucky to find such good deals on marked down meat. Our stores mark it down, but hardly at all.
    ReplyDelete
  12. I scored a 9lb tutkey for $3.74 this past friday!!!! I oven roasted that bad boy that night for 3 hours he came out awesome..plus we had tons of food for the weeksnd for hubby and myself. I also made soup from the bones which was great too! I wish our store had more mark downs but they are snatched up mid-day pretty often.
    ReplyDelete

Thank you for reading Family Balance Sheet and taking the time to leave a comment. I love to hear from readers.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)