Super Shopping Report: Deal-Hunting around the Perimeter

We headed to VG's this morning to take another shot at the triple coupon deals. We were hoping to find DiGiorno Flatbread Melts and Ragu sauce in stock, but the shelves have been empty on both attempts (we did get rainchecks).

On a whim, I decided to check out the meat case and quickly grabbed these 65-75% off meat markdowns (keep in mind we left quite a bit behind)!:

$0.89 (reg $3.50) Spartan Chicken Drumettes
My husband loves his chicken wings/drumettes!

$1.75 (reg $6.99) Jennie-O Extra Lean Turkey Breast, 20 oz
We bought 6 packages!

$1.07 (reg $4.29) Jennie-O Ground Turkey Burger Patties

$1.50 (reg $5.99) Smart Chicken Ground Chicken, 1 lb

PLUS,

$2.55 (reg $7.29) Angus Boneless Eye of Round Steaks, family pack
$0.89 (reg $2.55) Angus Boneless Eye of Round Steaks
$1.15 (reg $3.29) Angus Top Round Steaks

$1.06 (reg $3.04) Angus Top Round Steaks

TOTAL: $75.39 of meat for only $20.50!!!

All of the meat was dated with tomorrow's date, so the steaks and chicken drumettes will be packaged and frozen. As for the ground meat, today became an impromptu cooking day. We'll be making multiple batches of:

• Taco Rice from 30 Day Gourmet
• Tammy's Spicy Grilled Turkey Burgers (we omit the red pepper flakes) and I'm tempted to try her Grilled Garlic Herb Turkey Burgers as well
• Spaghetti Sauce (nothing fancy here, we'll just use McCormick seasoning packets!)

And we continue to be amazed at how God has once again provided for our needs. After last week's power outage (and being out of ground turkey anyway), He not only gave us the means to purchase all of the ground turkey we needed, but plenty of added bonuses! Ground turkey is one of few meats I can eat on a restricted diet; we buy 93% lean because it's more affordable, but we were able to get 99% lean turkey breast (even better!) for less than we'd normally pay. We don't usually buy steaks (except for a Father's Day treat), but my husband will really enjoy these super trimmed meats on the grill.

When you're shopping (and you have a minute to spare), take a look around the perimeter of the store. You may find great close-dated markdowns that you'll be able to use in time. Kroger and VG's are great places to look for these and even Meijer has them occasionally. Today VG's had a number of dairy markdowns as well, including gallons of milk for $1.39 (chocolate and skim varieties), cheese and yogurt products. When you can combine these with coupons, you'll stretch your money even further!