Money Saving Grocery Shopping Tips #1: How to Save on Ham

Yes, I know it's been quite a while since I last posted. I realize that probably means I've lost the few loyal readers that I had. But I also know that a lot of us are still struggling with making enough money to pay our bills and feed our families.

Since my original goal was to try to help others save money on groceries while sharing some frugal, money saving recipes with the world at large, I am going to try to revive this blog with regular posts about strategies to save money on groceries, along with regular posts of great, low cost recipes that will thrill our families and account balances!

Meat is easily one of the most expensive items on anyone's grocery list. Cold cuts such as ham are a popular choice for sandwiches, especially if you need to take lunch for work or school. So, I thought I would share this grocery shopping tip that I recently discovered that helps our family save on ham. 

Our local Sav-a-lot grocery store regularly sells bundles of ham ends, like the type that you would get sliced into luncheon meat in the deli, at 3 pounds for $6. That comes out to $2 a pound. Most of the time it is plain cooked ham, but often it is the maple or honey roasted variety. I've noticed that as it approaches the sell-by date, they mark it down half off, so that means it's $1 a pound. 

I simply wait until it's marked down at half off, and buy several packages. As soon as I get home, I take a long, serrated knife and go ahead and thinly slice the ends by hand to make slices for subs and sandwiches. My husband likes to take these to work, and it winds up being much cheaper than either the ham you get sliced in the deli, or even the little packs of luncheon meat such as bologna that's prepackaged in the deli case.

Of course, I can't slice all of the end, so there winds up being about a 1/2 inch to 1" thick slice left of each end. Since each package usually has 3 to 4 ends, I simply save that and slice those pieces into 1" cubes to use in casseroles, stir-frys and soups. These little ham chunks are perfect for potato soup, cabbage stir-fry,  an omelet, or even cheesy noodles!

Once I've got the ham sliced and chunked, I divide it into several smaller portions which I freeze. I just take them out of the freezer as needed. In my location, sliced deli ham averages $3 to $6 a pound, so I wind up saving $1 to $4 a pound, a significant savings that adds up over time!

Check back next Saturday for my next money saving grocery shopping tip and don't forget to drop by on Wednesdays when the latest frugal recipe of the week will be posted!

Photo Credit: Flickr, avlxyz