Specifically they were talking about the price of chicken and how people (the ones complaining) needed to stop buying chicken breasts and instead buy drumsticks and thighs if they wanted to buy chicken at the lowest price.
I am not a big fan of poultry and definitely not a fan of dark meat. If it came down to eating dark meat poultry or something as cheap, I would choose something else as cheap, like beans for example.
I just thought it was interesting and wondered what you all thought about the discussion.
I get whole, cut up chicken for $1.69 a pound. Skinless chicken breasts (for chicken cutlets) are $1.89 a pound. What's the problem??
ReplyDeleteThey were talking about buying chicken leg quarters for 89¢ per pound.
DeleteI'm wondering where the people who are complaining live. Here, Tyson tenders cutlets are only $1.98 this week, and often untrimmed boneless breasts are cheaper than that. Bone-in breasts come on sale for $.79-$.99/# frequently. I prefer boneless thighs, and can always get them for $1.99/# or less.
ReplyDeleteBone in breasts are usually on sale her for 99¢ per pound, which I think is a great price.
DeleteIf you are talking about the woman in Canada who bought BSCB and deli ham slices as her daughter wanted to make a chicken cordon bleu recipe while Mom was away, understand the perimeters. BSCB often is on sale for under $2/lb. That is when I buy it. We also get chicken leg quarters, chicken thighs or drums, rarely ground chicken (it would be on marked down).
ReplyDeleteThis was a Living on a Dime video. She was talking about people complaining about paying $2 for a pound of chicken when they could be paying 89¢ a pound for chicken leg quarters. If they complain, they need to be buying the chicken leg quarters.
DeleteMost of my groceries are higher then different parts of the U.S.. We will never have low cost items. Milk is a set price and our cost of gas would make you cry. Right now we are paying between $3.09 and $3.15 per gallon. Our Aldi just started raising their prices again. We have to eat so I try and buy on sale and don't waste.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you, Cheryl. I'd be right there with you buying on sale and not wasting food. I would cry at some of your prices.
DeleteI hear you, Cheryl about milk prices. Down South, I see bloggers reporting gallons of milk for 89 cents-yup well under $1 at Aldi. I pay just under $3 in CT.
DeleteI should add: $3 @ Aldi. It's higher elsewhere
DeleteWish we had an Aldi here! Our milk is $3.69 per gallon for the store brand. Gasoline is $3.35, although some stations have it a little cheaper.
DeleteWe prefer chicken thighs. When they go on sale at anything approaching $1.09 a pound for the value pack, we'll buy one to cook and several to freeze. And we use ALL of it: Chicken to eat, fat to cook with and bones to put in our "boiling bag" in the freezer (which also holds onion skins, carrot tops and other veggie scraps) for use in making soup stock.
Nothing against beans, mind you. But I do like some meat once in a while.
I'm in Australia, I pay $14- $16/kg for breast chicken so about $8 per pound. Whole chickens are about $8 on special, legs and thighs are about $3 -$6 per pound. Chicken in US seems very cheap to us but I do wonder about the quality and how it is farmed at such a cheap price.
ReplyDeleteExcellent question, Jan. You can buy better quality chicken through other places besides the grocery store that are higher quality and cost more. If I were there I would buy the whole chicken and figure out a good way to deal with the whole chicken.
DeleteI have not seen the video so I have no frame of reference, but when there are super sales I buy in bulk and freeze in individual packages. I notice price differences geographically all the time. All the costs have to be factored in including shipping costs. I figure I can either by o not buy, based on the cost and quality.
ReplyDeleteVery true, Anne. I can post a link to the video if you would like to see it.
DeleteI've seen the video you are referring to and also wonder where the people doing the complaining live. I have other issues with the video, actually several of her videos but that's really my opinion and a bit irrelevant for this conversation. I live in a HCOL area but, probably like most people, have found ways to survive - if not, thrive. I buy our chicken from Zaycon, both BSCB and thighs, also our ground beef and bacon. I'm feeding 5 adults (our 3 kids still live at home working and doing college - remember that HCOL!). I make those 40#'s of BSCB, that I paid $1.69/lb for at the time and are HUGE, stretch for almost a year thanks to our freezers and creative cooking strategies, which I believe are necessities for surviving and thriving in today's economy. If I couldn't work BSCB into my budget, we'd just have something else. No mess, no fuss. Sometimes, I think people just like to complain just to complain.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Michelle. I have some of the same feelings as you on some of her videos. A chicken breast that huge would probably feed the whole family in a stir fry or something similar, so that is a good savings.
DeleteUS prices are almost always higher than Cdn. ones. If I bought a pkg. of 2 large BSCB I would expect to pay $7 to $9. But - I do have the choice to pay $5 for a pkg. of 6 to 8 bone in, skin on chicken thighs.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of meat & fish has risen considerably but I can work around proteins with smaller portions, adding lentils and veg to stretch a dish, or substituting eggs or cheese - the place I really feel the pain is in fresh produce. As people have been encouraged to eat more and more vegetables prices have risen accordingly. I try to always buy my basics like onions, carrots & potatoes when they are on sale but it's still not easy. Things will get better as the summer progresses but sometimes you can only stretch things so far, especially when you are on a fixed income.
Oh I agree with you so much, Margie. Back when we lived closer to middle Tennessee we could find produce so much cheaper and especially in the summer time. We could get cucumbers for 25¢ each, but not here in SE TN. I paid 65¢ for one today and didn't want to pay that. LOL
DeleteDefinitely pays to have a small amount of protein and round out the dinner plates with vegetables,, but like you said, prices have risen since we've been encouraged to eat more of them.
I only can stand bscb, but dark meat can be tolerable, not enjoyable. Dark chicken is the only way to go for chicken and dumplings. I eat little meat, but I could eat less breasts if I could have it in more meals.
ReplyDeleteI won't pay more than $1.99/lb. for meat of any kind. Since I am allergic to all mammal products, I feel lucky to be able to eat chicken. If I find it cheaper, I stock up what my freezer will hold.
If people plan ahead and can afford it, people should only buy meat on sale. Well, I buy most things when they are on sale.
We do the same thing here, Linda. We buy any of our meat on sale or on yellow sicker markdown. I have heard the same thing about chicken and dumplings, that you need dark meat to make it the best. I don't make chicken and dumplings, so I wouldn't know for sure.
DeleteI live in an area with cheap chicken prices. Since I am around the major headquarters. Even if I didn't live in the area I would still buy white meat even if it was higher. I don't eat a lot of chicken. I mainly buy chicken breasts to make chicken chili. I don't like dark meat. It is too gamey tasting. You can suggest to people alternative chicken products for lower prices but telling people to stop complaining seems a bit mean and frugal elitism.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, Safyne Anais. It may be to get more viewers to their YouTube channel, but I don't know for sure. I'm with you on not liking the dark meat. I'd rather have chicken breast or eat something else. :)
DeleteI only eat white meat chicken, do not like dark although I will/make eat chicken wings. Although since wings have gotten so popular, they are no longer the bargain that they were many years ago. I don't find BSCB over the top in price since there seem to be sales every few weeks in some store.
ReplyDeleteSo true, Mary Lou, that BSCB are on sale so much nowadays. I've seen it as low as 1.49 and read on a blog the other day where one lady got it for 70¢ a pound, but it was in a big frozen lump. I like wings too, but they aren't the bargain they used to be, like you said.
DeleteI just read on Carol's blog that Zaycon is no more.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! I didn't know that, Cheryl. Wow.
DeleteI totally agree that price shopping takes work and it's not worth complaining over...rather you need to get creative in your sourcing.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I know the video you refer to and that channel is one of the BIGGEST complainers out there! About everything and anything....they just whine! So I can't take anything they say to heart anymore!
I understand. I don't think I've ever sat through an entire video on that channel as they are very long. I agree that it takes work and getting creative in sourcing, which is true for several things like reselling.
DeleteThat is an interesting question. I guess I would need to say it is all relative. The prices will vary state to state and in other countries the prices are generally much higher than in the states. So, I'd say quit complaining, and shop for the best deals within your budget. I follow a number of blogs that are in other countries, and I am always thankful I am blessed to be a resident of the US.
ReplyDeleteAlso thankful we have a small family run grocery that often has amazing loss leader prices!
Have a very blessed day ladies!
-Kath
Yes, we all need to do the best we can with what we have where we are. I so agree with you, Kath, about the blogs in other countries. We are so fortunate here to have lower costs for groceries. Counting my blessings today. :)
DeleteI think being resourceful is the trick. Buy sale priced/marked down and yes, Perdue often has COUPONS for chicken. Stock up. Alternatively, buy a whole chicken on sale @ $1 or less/lb. Cook it and slice the breast meat for sandwiches/serve for supper. Debone the darker meat and chop for things like tacos/burritos/chilli where strong flavors will mask any gamey flavor. I don't mind dark meat, but perhaps prefer white in some cases, depending upon the recipe intended. Finally, pop the skin and carcass into the crock pot, cover with water and make some free chicken stock. I recently did a chest freezer inventory for a low spend grocery month-oh my! do I have a stock pile of home made stock!
DeleteThat's great, Carol. Such good advice here and spot on topic. I love it. Thank you. :)
DeleteI am so in the minority here. I like Tawara's videos very much, and to judge them all by a comment or two, I don't think is fair. And, I LOVE DARK MEAT CHICKEN - I don't eat the white meat often - chicken salad maybe.I think that the dark meat is more flavorful (not gamey) and is more moist. I buy 6 lb bags of BSCT at Sam's Club, and am happy for them in soups, stews, fried, and casseroles. I shop the sales too for bone in, skin on at the grocery store, repackage and freeze.
ReplyDeleteThat's great, Norma. I love to shop at Sam's Club as some of their prices, especially on medicines, more than pays for the yearly membership. I like Tawara's videos too, but I do think they are long, so I've never sat through an entire video of one of her long ones. But I think it's great that you like them as we all come to frugality via our own path and yours is different from mine and someone else's is different from ours. And that's great as that is how we learn from each other. :) I hope you have a great day.
DeleteThis is a topic that really gets to me. Would be nice if people would comment on WHERE they live when boasting about great prices. I live in central California, the literal heart of the agriculture business. Groceries are not cheap here. When we moved here in 2000 I had wallet shock in a big way. I was a stay at home mom with two hungry boys and a preschool girl that held her own at the table. I could feed us basics (milk, bread, ground meat, eggs, bacon and such) fairly cheap, until we moved here. At that time there was only name brand grocery chains. Things are better now that we have Walmart with grocery and WinCo. Currently, I will load up when I find a good sale on meat. Recently, whole chickens were on sale for .69 a pound - normally around $2 a pound. Hubby has grown picky in his food (beef and tater kind of guy) so with ground beef running close to $3-$4 a pound, it isn't that cheap any longer. My boys are all grown and married off now, my youngest daughter is out on her own too. I find it extremely hard to cook for just two of us, but it is kind of my new thing to obsess over. In a nut shell, I quit listening to peoples complaints about their food prices and we don't have any stores that will double coupons and thanks to that ridiculous show, most of our stores have limited how much you can buy using coupons so no savings really there either. Every one has to do the best with what they can get to.
ReplyDeleteSo very true, Calico Blue. We have to do the best with what we can get.
DeleteI'm not a fan of chicken thighs/legs, and neither is my oldest, but luckily my youngest doesn't prefer chicken breast, and my husband will eat either, so we do fine. In January I bought 30+ pounds of BSCB at 99¢/#; they were in bulk and not well trimmed, so I had to do the prep work myself, but I didn't mind. All the scraps were bagged up, and I cut up the leftover small pieces for stir fry. They are salted and individually wrapped now, and I'm still using them. I'm in SoCal, so we don't have rock bottom grocery prices, but I do okay. Whole chickens do drop below 80¢/# every couple of months, and bone-in chicken breast is 99¢/# every six weeks or so. (Those prices are for Foster Farms.) Even a whole organic chicken is everyday priced at $2.99/#, and I can have the butcher cut it for me, saving the back and giblets for me as well. I'm not doing that right now (extreme frugality mode). I guess my philosophy is NOT to complain about the food I choose to buy -- it was a choice, after all. If I didn't want to pay $2/# for chicken I could choose to make something else. And I don't care how cheap chicken leg quarters go on sale for, they just aren't my favorite.
ReplyDeleteNot my favorite either, Sunshine. :)
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