Two quick grocery hacks.

DF and I didn’t plan to buy eggs or meat today at the supermarket. But we wound up using two quick grocery hacks that saved us quite a bit of money.

While these quick grocery hacks are recurring deals, they’re not always available. We’ve made it a habit always to look for them, though, and today is one of those days that paid off.

The first is to watch for “repack” eggs. Sometimes one or more eggs in a carton will crack and the dozen is unsellable as-is.

An enterprising dairy manager simply repacks the unbroken eggs into cartons with “Grade B” stamped on them.

Some of these cartons are just standard white eggs. Other times, it’s quite the mix of cackleberries: medium-sized, huge, white, brown, bearing an “EB” (Eggland’s Best)

Sometimes I think the B stands for “broken.” Other times I think it stands for “better deal” – because non-organic eggs usually cost from $1.99 to $2.99; those Eggland’s Best are currently $3.99 a dozen. The repack eggs cost 99 cents at one store and $1.29 to $1.49 a dozen at the other. On this trip we bought two dozen.

The takeaway: Ask the managers at your regular market if this kind of deal is available. Maybe you’ve never seen repack eggs there – but maybe that’s because you weren’t looking for them.

Much cheaper meat

The second hack is the “manager’s special” meat section, which DF inelegantly calls “used meat” bin. When meat gets close to its sell-by date, the manager wants it outta there. So it gets marked way, way down, and eagle-eyed shoppers snatch it up, up, up.

Today’s late-date carnivore bait came from a source some of you might not think to look: packages of preformed beef patties. Normally I don’t buy these things because they cost a lot more per pound.

Not when they’re close-dated, though. The price tags on the 19.2-ounce packages said “99 cents,” while the 35.2-ounce packages were marked at $1.99.

In other words: a little over 84 cents per pound. And some of this was Private Selection Angus beef.

We froze the meat as soon as we got home. Although much of it will be used for hamburger suppers, I plan to break some of them up for future chili (using dry pinto beans we’ll cook with olive oil and spices) and tacos (using this simple, savory taco seasoning recipe).

The takeaway: When shopping the manager’s special section, check all the offerings. Something you normally wouldn’t pay for might be more cheaper than you think.

Beating inflation with grocery hacks

We like meat, and we like eggs. We also like saving money on those things. In these inflationary times, every food dollar matters.

Here in Anchorage, we don’t have a Lidl that marks all its meat down to a buck-fifty. We don’t have an Aldi, either. Two supermarkets and Walmart, and that’s it. Some people in the Lower 48 have loads more options.

For example, my daughter has her pick of Albertsons, Fry’s, Winco, Sprouts, Safeway, Smart & Final, El Super, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and “ranch markets” (whose prices – especially for produce – make me sigh at every visit). If she were so inclined, she could run to half a dozen stores within 10 miles, cherry-picking the best prices. Since DF and I can’t do that, we keep our eyes open, always, to the chance to save a couple of bucks.

Or a lot of them: We bought 10.2 pounds of ground beef for a little under $9. If we’d had to pay regular prices for that meat, well, we wouldn’t have. Even the chubs are $4.99 to $7.49 a pound, while ground-in-store packages run from $6.99 to as much as $11.69 a pound.

Eggs are another favorite protein source. DF eats them for breakfast probably five times a week, and I like egg salad or chopping up a hard-cooked egg into tuna salad. We also make our own desserts, so the cheaper the eggs, the more affordable our cookies, cakes and puddings will be.

It’s hard to avoid supermarket sticker shock these days. But with luck and and a few grocery hacks, you can make the pain a little more bearable.

Note: The “Food, food, glorious food” chapter of my second book is now a free Google doc. It’s full of grocery savings tips. Have fun!

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17 thoughts on “Two quick grocery hacks.”

  1. I would go for the meat, but usually can’t make use of too many egg deals. I don’t eat them. I do use them to make scrambled eggs on Sunday mornings for DH, and for baking. The freezers are too full to freeze extras at present.

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  2. I am a “cherry picker” when it comes to groceries! I get some staples at Aldi, grab BOGO’s at Publix, and sale items at Target/Walmart – using coupons and Ibotta for all!!!! I ALWAYS check the meat dept at Target, Wal Mart and Aldi – as they are the stores by me that mark down when I gets close to “sell by” date – and I stock up the freezer when its a good deal! (I keep a dated inventory list on the fridge so nothing gets wasted or is in there too long) Can’t recall the last time I paid full price for meat!

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    • Yes! This is the way to shop, “cherry picking”. I’m surrounded by stores. I check out Aldi, Giant, Food Lion, Myers Meat Market and Weis sales flyers, and then shop. Might also check out Dollar Tree, Dollar General, CVS, and then Walmart and Target if I am in there for something else. There is also the Saturday Market, and what is left of my garden.

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  3. I never even knew they did anything like that with the eggs. That is awesome to know and I’m sure it probably happens everywhere. I will be keeping my eye out and asking questions. Thanks for sharing that with us. We do have a thing here that’s becoming more popular in most of the States called flash food where they have an app and they regularly list food items that are near the expiration date at a good savings. And the closer it gets to the expiration date, the better the price is. You select the items you want to purchase and pick them up at the grocery store. It is still a new thing but I have gotten some good deals.

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  4. Hello, Donna–I noticed that you gave the price for meat but I didn’t see the price that you paid for the “B” grade eggs. So how many did you buy and what was the price? Inquiring minds what to know! LOL

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  5. I always check out the “used meat” and laugh as I’m looking through it because I remember that’s what you guys call it. My poor partner was horrified a few years ago when he found out I buy managers specials but he is used to it now. I had to explain that it hasn’t gone home with anyone, and that it’s just close to the date.

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  6. I’m puzzled by the complaints of food shortages. Yes, one day they might not have crackers and the next day no frozen lima beans but really. Just toast some bread instead of buying crackers. Eat peas or green beans.

    I’ve got my turkey but would not have been heart broken if we had to make do with chicken. Blessed or the flexible for thou shalt not break.

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  7. Food waste is a major contributor to climate change, so by buying, and eating, food that might otherwise go to waste, your are not just saving money, you’re also helping reduce climate change.

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  8. My DH and I regularly “dumpster dive” the meat managers bargain bin. Pay full price for meat? Not on my watch.
    I made friends with the Dairy Manager at my local store and he told me to look for the “discounted egg cartons” on Mondays.
    I keep an eye out for the yellow discount sticker often seen on dairy items after the holidays (egg nog, heavy cream, flavored coffee creamers…)

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    • That’s another good tip: Cook it right away and you won’t have to worry about its going bad. And having some pre-cooked meat in the freezer can make for fast meals. I used to brown ground beef with onions and freeze it so that I could make chili or sloppy joes quickly. Sometimes I’d turn it into meatloaf and freeze it that way, to be thawed and put in the oven later.

      Sure wish we had that $1.50 meat option that LIDL apparently offers. I expect there’s a line of shoppers waiting for that price every night, though.

      Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.

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  9. When you shop for dried spices/canned foods, make sure to swing by the international aisle — frequently, you’ll find cheaper versions of the same things you’d buy in the dried spices/canned food aisles. Ability to read a foreign language (or decipher pictures) can save you a bit there. (My grocery store used to have generic dried spices cheap over in a “dollar aisle” next to the toys, too. Spending some time really walking through every aisle can open your eyes to some ways to save you may not have thought of before).

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