I don't have a hard and fast rule for meat prices, but I do work to a limit of what I'll pay per kilo. My current limits are -
* Beef Mince - I pay no more than $8 a kilo for the Coles mince. I must admit, this seems like an expensive price. Tasman Meats had mince on sale in February for $5.99 kg and I bought four big trays with maybe 1.5 - 2 kilos per tray. I portioned the mince out into 250 g lots and bagged it up for the freezer. Some meals I use two portions eg - meat pie.
* Chicken Fillets - If I can get them down to $3.99 kg then I buy up really big. Maybe 10 kilos worth. The most I'd pay is $5.99 kg but at this price I'd have to be desperate for chicken and maybe only buy 1 kilo.
* Legs of Lamb - $7.99 kg is the only price I'll pay for legs of lamb. If it's any dearer then we go without and wait until next year's season. At $7.99kg I'll buy 3 or 4 legs and always try to get the smallest. This is enough to have lamb once a month with each leg giving the three of us 3 or 4 meals. When I cook up the leg, all leftovers are frozen in gravy for the following months.
* Fish - I pay no more than $10 a kilo for frozen fillets and are usually bought from Aldi. On the rare occasion I buy salmon from the deli section at Coles for $26 a kilo. As I said, it's saved for a rare treat. Buying from the deli section is cheaper than the pre packaged salmon at $44 per kilo.
* Corned Silverside - If I can get it for $5.99 then I'm happy and will buy 4 or 5. I'd probably pay $6.99 kg if the cuts looked good and I was running low.
* Roast Beef - I'll pay $7.99 kg if there is not too much fat on the meat and the cuts look good.
* Chicken Drumsticks - I'd be in heaven if I could pay $1.99 kg. I think those days are gone for now so the top price I'd pay is $3.99 kg.
* Lamb Chops - I'll pay no more than $8 a kilo but to get it at that price it would have to be on clearance in the supermarket. Regular prices for forequarter chops are now $16 a kilo. We eat one chop per person and it's now a rare treat.
* Whole Chickens - I'd pay $3.99 kilo but I rarely buy whole chickens. Drumsticks and fillets are quicker to cook and fillets can be stretched a long way in a meal.
* Diced Beef - $8 or $9 a kilo is my top price but I have to get it on clearance.
* Beef Steaks - Are rare in our house. We bought the Drovers pack from Coles for Australia Day and the steaks were delicious. I think we paid $22 per kilo but cut the steaks in half so our guests didn't eat too much in one hit ( I had other meat on offer ).
* Sausages - I buy from Coles for just over $5 a kilo.
Thanks Wendy for taking the time to share this information!
ReplyDeleteIt is a constant challenge to afford meat for 6 of us on a very tight budget. Particularly as the cost of everything is rising continually
Yes it is a challenge. I'm able to offset the price rises somewhat by reducing the treats we have in our home. I seem to be making and baking more.
DeleteChicken drumsticks are so affordable here and make great meals. I love your blog. It has so many great ideas on budget living.
ReplyDeleteThankyou Chrissy. Honey soy chicken drumsticks are on our menu tonight.
DeleteHi Wendy, I buy all my meat reduced to clear from Woolworths. I roasted a 2.6kg chicken the other day that cost me $3.65. I was able to use it for more than 1 meal (6 in my household).
ReplyDeleteKind regards, Andrea.
That's a great price for a chicken. I'm buying more reduced to clear meat too but I have to be in the right place at the right time. I'm also very careful to check the price per kilo even when it's on clearance.
DeleteYes Wendy, it's all about the right place at the right time.
DeleteKind regards, Andrea.
Based on my quick calculations from kilo to pound, but clueless about the money difference, in US$, your prices seem pretty similar to mine. Your beef prices may be a little bit higher.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know Debby. Beef is quite expensive here. Mince ( or ground beef as you know it ) has become more of a staple in most homes as steaks are too expensive.
DeleteMeat is becoming an outrageous price. I rarely find meat at the prices you list. I do buy chickens when they are $3 to$4 a kilo and break them down. I hate every moment but it is worth the savings. I need to serve meat every day as my mother becomes very anaemic and has iron transfusions. I encourage her to eat about 125 g a day. I sometimes go to Costco. Their mince is around $8 a kilo and I find it to be very good quality. I bag 400g portions and cook to save some food for another day. Due to my allergy and FODMAP diet many pulses are out. This saddens me as there are some terrific alternatives that are cheap but sickness and anaphylaxis is not worth that.
ReplyDeleteI think us frugal people are doing the best we can to stretch our meat portions. I couldn't eat pulses. I just don't like the texture. I do add silverbeet, linseed meal and oat bran to stretch the spag bol sauce,
DeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks, for posting this, it's a great guide as prices have risen so much in the past year or so. It's getting harder to find meat on a great special so we have to stretch it as much as we can.
Whole Chickens this week are $3.00kg at my local IGA
I heard about the IGA special too
DeleteHi Wendy and you are right meat prices and most other prices are soaring and we are a similar family to yourself in that we eat minimal meat and a lot of vegetables.
ReplyDeleteRecently I was able to top the freezer up with 4 kg chicken drumsticks for $1.99 kg (usually $3.99 Kg), 4 kg minced beef at $5.24 a kilo (usually $9 kg) and 4.34 kg rump steak on special for $8 kg (usually $23 kg) and also a rare treat in our home as well because of the price.
These prices are so extraordinarily good for our small country area and I got the mince and chicken drumsticks on clearance as they only had a couple of days left until expiry and the beef was a super special at IGA for their market days which are usually Friday - Sunday each week. We froze them in meal sized portions when we got home and probably won't need to buy meat for a couple of months now.
I would also like to get lamb leg roasts on special for $7.99 or less per kilo so we will keep an eye out for those too. Our sausages are a similar price being about $5.28 per kilo on normal prices but also recently we saw some on special for $4.66 kg so we topped up the freezer with those too.
Have a great week ahead :).
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post!
I must say your chicken fillet price is fantastic! The cheapest I've found fillets here is $8.99 a kg. I pay $7.99 for mince. We enjoy a BBQ steak maybe once a month, but at $18.99kg it is a treat. Roast beef hovers around $12.99kg. I got a lovely pork leg boneless roast for $5.99 kg and felt very lucky. I watch the kg price and try hard to budget about $5-$7 a meal that feeds 4 of us (2 adults & 2 teenagers) I also try and have cheaper meat meals like curried sausages that helps my meat budget too. I see Woolies has steggles chickens for $3kg. I'll grab two or three of these to freeze for roasts when it gets colder. Rachel:)
I would struggle to find those prices up there in the Inner Suburbs, but Im wondering if going out to Box Hill Central Market might be an idea. Also regarding marked down supermarket meat, is there a particular time of day that seems to work best to go have a look? Thanks for your help. Tania in Hawthorn
ReplyDeleteThe time of day seems to vary by store. Lunchtime in my area seems to be the best time.
DeleteThank You. This is very helpful.
ReplyDeleteOur Woolworths has a butcher inside. Of an evening it reduces premium beef mince to 50 percent off which is $6.50 per kg. It's a really amazing quality beef I always buy it all. Lately 6.30 on a Thursday night is when I catch it at this price.
ReplyDeleteOur butcher at Northcote Plaza has chuck on bone sometimes for 6.99 per kg for stews.
Congratulations on your grandson's birth..
Hi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteI find your blog so helpful. I am grateful that you share your knowledge with us - I will take this information with me to the supermarket! Between you and Cath Armstrong I am learning more and more each week.
Many thanks,
Amanda