I was just reading through the forum, old posts and new, and somewhere (I can't remember where now) I saw that someone posted about meat for $1 - $3.

WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU BUYING? AND WHERE DO YOU BUY IT?

Enlighten me. Please.

I just picked up 80% lean ground beef for $4.99 a pound. It didn't even last me long.

ETA- Not to mention, it was also ON SALE.

Sometimes the ethnic markets, Korean or Latin markets have cheaper meat. HMart is one I'm aware of out here, I'm not sure what there might be in Ontario.

Demon&Dakota wrote:

Sometimes the ethnic markets, Korean or Latin markets have cheaper meat. HMart is one I'm aware of out here, I'm not sure what there might be in Ontario.

No Latin markets around here. Asian markets... I didn't have the greatest experience with them the past few times I went. Saw rats walking and peeing all over the veggies.

Eeeew, yuck. I'm sorry!

How about Walmart Supercenters or bulk stores like Sam's or Costco? Sometimes less lean meat is cheaper too...

Road kill is real cheap.

AR-15 + back yard deer = free viddles! Kidding, but if I knew enough about hunting, I'd seriously think about it. The deer to car ratio around here is about 20:1. Fresh roadkill might be a serious option! We have been getting discounted stew beef and the dogs love it! Plus, tubs of chicken livers are cheap, too.

Picking up enough venison to last me the decade, tomorrow. I completely forgot my friend hunts.

Plus venison is low in fat and real easy on most dogs digestive systems.

Someone here in western New York makes request every few months on Craigslist, for any spare venison freezer burnt or not. Dogs aren't as fussy as we are and its still healthy for them.

i shop the clearance meat bin at the food store, there are not huge fans of ground turkey in my neighborhood works great for me, frozen turkey is great for the crock pot! i can get 1.25lb for like $2

I'm copying this post I made previously from another thread...

Huskyluv wrote:

I find raw to be cheaper than kibble for the most part. It may balance out if you can't find organs for cheap which is the case for me.

I would go around and check out butchers, asian and/or mexican markets, supermarkets, anywhere that you might be able to get your meat from, and find out how much different meats, parts, and organs will cost you. Write them down and compare costs, driving distance, availability and also find out if you can get a discount for bulk purchases. I'd also check and see if their is a local group that you can get in on large bulk raw meat purchases that help everyone lower their individual cost.

I would definitely invest in a good size freezer (if you don't already have one) so that you can stock up on meat, especially handy when it goes on sale and when you buy in bulk. I have a 15 cu ft freezer in my garage that is always filled to the top with food, plus the freezer portion of my fridge/freezer in the house is always packed as well. lol Granted we do have some of our human food in the freezers alongside the meat we buy for the dogs. I would get the largest freezer you can afford and/or fit in your house/garage. Nothing like coming home with 60+ lbs of raw meat and trying to figure out how you'll fit it in your freezer (yep, been there!).

I also like to keep an eye on weekly grocery store sale ads. They regularly have various meats drop down to $1/lb or less. When they do I make a trip to the store and stock up. My personal, self-imposed price limit for non-organ meat is $1/lb or less. For organs I won't spend more than $1.50/lb which is really hard for me since organs in my area are expensive. Luckily we don't need organ all that much, plus we feed only partial raw so I don't care if we go longer periods without an organ purchase. Of course on a true PMR diet you'll have to get organs in at least once a week, thankfully it's such a small portion of the diet, only 10%.

Also keep an eye on meat around and especially after holidays. I've found that meat will often go on sale around holidays and after the holidays it's sometimes marked down really low to help the store clear out all the meat they stocked up on for the holiday. For example you can often find awesome deals on turkeys marked way down after Thanksgiving! I'll buy them up at the discounted prices and just cut them up myself at home.

Ground beef is expensive, that's why I don't ever buy it for the dogs. I get my 91% lean ground beef (for us humans to eat) at $3/lb. If you frequent different grocery stores you might find that some of them will offer deep discounts on meat that's about to expire or expires that day. If you find deals like that which drop your cost down significantly that would be worthwhile, just stick it in the freezer as soon as you get home.

I buy all my raw meat at various local supermarkets and warehouse clubs since I do not have any asian or mexican markets available to me. Technically we do have an asian market in the surrounding area but it's in a really bad part of town and it's not worth risking my life to save a few bucks on meat for the dog. Even though I buy all my meat at supermarkets I still get 95% of my raw meat for the dogs at $1/lb or less. It's really just a matter of watching the sales and stocking up when prices drop to their lowest. Take chicken quarters for example, I wait until they drop to $0.59/lb and then buy up 40-50 lbs of it. Buying meat by the case at warehouse clubs can also drop your price significantly, I buy 60 lb cases of raw chicken thighs at Costco for $0.85/lb. You can also buy 60 lb cases of whole raw fryer chickens at Costco for a mere $0.80/lb. Split chicken breasts as well as pork spare ribs regularly go on sale for $0.99/lb in my area as well. Every few months I see raw ground turkey go on sale for $1/lb and then I stock up on those enough to last me several months.

Turkey tends to go on sale around holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Easter I've noticed. If you wait until after the holiday you can often get them at even lower prices. Buy up several large birds then chop them up, divide and freeze them as you prefer and spread them out over the weeks/months following. That's what I do.

As far as organs though, those I absolutely cannot get for my price cap of $1/lb. I'm lucky if I can get organ for $1.50-$2/lb and when I do see it around the $1.50/lb range I will stock up on it and feed it occasionally. Since my dogs are not on a PMR diet it's fine for me to feed less organ (I feed partial raw/partial freeze dried raw) so I'm not having to shell out too much money on raw organs.

Is it ok to give them cooked meat, like smoked pigs feet or smoked marrow bones?

Cooked meat is fine, cooked bones are not.

i like to bulk up on cheap turkey around thanksgiving time

Ok, I was giving them table scraps of meat after we eat, like steak, rib meat etc. but I will make sure they do not get any bones!

Be careful with table scrap meat as it's often seasoned with spices and sauces (for our tastes) which you don't want the dogs having. If they have seasonings you might want to rinse them off as best you can before feeding the scraps to the dogs.