If you have been in a Harps store you may have noticed the 5/$25 deal on meat they have every day. Upon noticing it maybe you wondered “is that a good deal?” and the short answer is sometimes.
The long answer is some things are a good price, while others really aren’t. This is a time when knowing your prices is really important. A couple years (and kids) ago I knew what a good deal was off the top of my head with little effort. Now I honestly have little idea. But there is hope for us, in the form of math. I’m sure you’re thrilled.
Before we go further let me make it clear I would always recommend looking at clearance meat before moving to this. Clearance meat is most likely to be your best deal. Always look for those yellow tags!
Ground beef and bone in chicken is going to be a better price just on the shelf. I shopped on 2/20/23 and saw ground beef for $3.98/lb. With that in mind you may note a lot of the ground beef in the 5/$25 area is around 1lb and even with the deal that’s $5/lb or thereabout. We aren’t saving with those prices. Chicken legs are another example, watch for sales on those and pass on them in this section.
Now to figure out what is a good deal on the fresh meats we need to look at the weight. Anything in the $7+ range is more likely to be a decent deal. Steaks, boneless chicken, and some pork are what we are going to be looking for and looking for high amounts on the current price. I got boneless chicken thighs that were originally $4.49/lb making the package of 1.94lbs $8.71. To figure out the cost with the deal we will divide $5 by the weight 5/1.94 = $2.58/lb. Of course this isn’t the best price ever on boneless chicken thighs but it is better than what’s on the shelf elsewhere. Top blade steaks are $8.29/lb regular, so the package of 1.02lb is $8.46. With the 5/$25 deal that makes them .60/lb! If you bought nothing but 5 steaks you saved money. Granted you would have to have need for 5lbs of steaks.
If you are thinking well that’s great, but I don’t know what is a good price on anything! That’s fair. Check around in the meat department to see if there are any more of the same cuts of meat. Then get out your calculator, unless you are a mental math wizard; and see what the price will be with the 5/$25 deal. Look at the new price per pound not the overall!
For me personally I don’t pay much attention to anything other than the fresh meat in this area. I can’t say much about the prepackaged frozen foods, because I haven’t paid attention. $5/lb of lunch meat is a good enough price that I did grab a pound of lunch meat when shopping.
Remember when shopping the 5/$25 deal to watch at the register to ensure the price adjusts. I have heard of several people having to go back in or alert the cashier to the discount not applying.
Pro tip- if it’s a particularly awesome day with lots of $7+ items you can keep stacking those deals! To my knowledge there is no limit, every item after 5 is still $5!
