Is That A Turkey in Your Freezer or Are You Just Happy to See Me?*

Well, both, acutally. I am happy to see you. And that is a turkey in my freezer. Or rather, 12 turkeys.

I don’t eat red meat so that leaves three options in my kitchen: turkey, chicken, and fish (which we eat rarely because it is expensive. Except for .50/can tuna, of course). Poultry is great from a Frugal’s point of view, because these two birds are usually less expensive then beef, and someone always has a good sale, too. Also, they can be healthier options if you don’t fry (I don’t) and don’t eat the skin (yuk! - the dogs like it). Oh-and don’t forget about turkey dogs.

So one thing I like to do at the end of the year is stock up on turkeys. Right after Christmas you can find really great deals, about .49/lb here in Texas. In this area, you only seem to be able to get this price around Thanksgiving if you go for the “buy $40 worth of groceries and get a turkey for .49/lb” deal.

By the way, I never go for that deal. I find it is better to pay .78/per pound at the Walmart grocery store, and shop carefully for the fixings. Weirdly, Sam’s Club has the exact same turkey for .88/pound - so there is a perfect example that big warehouse stores are not always the cheapest.

I have a big freezer, and around this time of year it has plenty of room. So I go ahead and buy up to 12 turkeys. I am willing to pay .78/lb for those 12 birds, but this year I got the deal of the century. The local SuperTarget was having a super-mega clearance on Jennie-O Premium Basted Fresh Turkeys that originally sold for 1.19/lb. On that golden day they were now marked down to that magical .49/lb, with no obligation to buy additional groceries.

These turkeys ranged up to about 14 lbs. which works out to $6.86. This is a great price, because turkey is the gift that keeps on giving as we all know. Not to mention turkey soup and turkey broth.

But this story has a true Frugal happy-ending (as if .49/lb were not enough!). As my husband and I were hovering around the cooler choosing which lucky birds to go home with us, the meat manager happened to walk by. He stopped when he saw how many we were putting in our cart, and said “I just want to get rid of those. I’ll give you a $3 off coupon for each one you buy.” Whoa - my new hero is a man in a blood-spattered white lab-coat! That $6.86 turkey turned out to be $3.86, or .28/lb. It is REALLY hard to find any meat at that price, at least any that you and your family would willingly eat.

Since we bought 10 turkeys of varying sizes (I already had two in the freezer), I bought a year’s supply of turkey meat for well under $40.00. Something I want to try this year is to grind the turkey meat myself. I have an attachment for my KitchenAid mixer that should do the job. Ground turkey is a staple in my kitchen, and at the moment I pay $1.98/lb. DIY meat grinding could lessen my grocery costs considerably.

*This is a very racy title for my humble little Frugal Blog! However, I have discovered that there is a new blog in town, something like: realhousewivesofcollincounty.com (you know, like the cable reality show). Anyway, I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, but word on the street is that it’s edgy, raw, and uncensored. As I too am a Collin County housewife, I felt like I needed to keep up with the local blogging competition. Hmmmm, maybe I should rethink that position. As all Frugals know, trying to keep up with the Joneses is always a bad idea.  And these ladies are apparently a very ritzy bunch - I’m talking Botox, Xanax, and regular spa treatments from what I hear.  They’re way out of MY league!  I think I should rename this post “A Good Deal on Turkeys”. Not too exciting, but it gets the point across.