Inexpensive ham~Frugal Discoveries

       Growing up we didn’t have many lunchmeat sandwiches.  I took cheese or peanut butter sandwiches to school because lunch meat was expensive.  Going to a small private school we didn’t have the hot lunches daily served that it seems most school have now a days either.  My kids are not really picky eaters.  They will eat almost anything put in front of them.  I am the picky one in the family, mostly because of my no gluten, no meat lifestyle.  I am slowly introducing some meat but that is another story for another day! 
        Back to the ham..  my kiddos do eat peanut butter or PB&J which are more inexpensive choices for sandwiches.  However, they like ham, especially when it is made as a toasted ham and cheese hoagie! Now that, the oldest kiddo around her is in public school for his last two years of high school, we pack at least one lunch daily.  For packed lunches left overs or sandwiches are the best.  So as my deli bill was rising, I went on a mission to help cut that bill.
      I had read about different ways to cut your grocery bill when it comes to meat.  I do purchase in bulk, I do purchase some meat marked down.  I had read about asking the meat department to cut different meats in different ways, when purchasing bulk cuts, however I hadn’t tried it.  I also had read and contemplated purchasing my own slicer and slicing my own meats.  That isn't something that I am not ready to do yet.
     About a month ago while at our local grocery store I went to purchase our lunch meat for the week’s lunches.  I cringed as the total came to  $30.00!  WOW!  This was for ham, turkey and roast beef, but wow!  I thought this has to change.  I thought would try out having a ham sliced for me.  I asked the deli if I could bring them a whole ham to slice.  They told me at the deli that they didn’t do that there, however if I go to the meat counter they would.  I was excited to give it a try. 
     The next time I was in the store my husband and I were looking at the different hams and we asked at the meat counter.  They can only do the boneless, for obvious reasons.  They said they would slice it for free! No need to buy that slicer and have to clean and store it now.   
    So we picked out a half a ham to start with.  I had planned on freezing the ham and wanted to see how it would be after it was frozen.  They sliced it up just like the deli asking me how thin etc.  We don't like it shaved and I don't think that is something that they could do based on our conversation with the meat man.  I paid $2.39/lb for the ham when it averages between $5.00-7.00/lb at our deli. 
                              
     This is what I brought home.  The cashier and the bagger had never seen ham like this before.  They were talking about it the whole time they rang out our cart!  They wanted to know how I got them to cut it like that, and were amazed at how cheap it was a pound.
     In saving money it usually involves you working a little harder.  I promise you won’t have to do much.  All I did was get out my food scale.  I laid aluminum foil on it and weigh the ham out into 1 lb packets.  I wrapped them up in the foil and placed them in a freezer bag.  I popped them then into the freezer and that was it.  

        When it was time to get out a pound of ham, I just got it out the night before and placed it in the fridge.  The next morning I set it out for a bit to defrost quicker.  About 2 hours later, I laid it out in a glass dish that would fit in my meat drawer in the fridge and set it in the fridge.  We were in business!  I am going to check out my options for roast beef next and I will share it when I find it!
         How much did I save?     On this one package I save $26.85 because it was on sale, HOWEVER I only paid $2.39 a lb!  If I purchased it at the deli at he average of $5.99 a lb it would have cost me $34.74.  So I saved  just over 20.00 on my ham that lasted us about a month.   If you add that up that is $240 a year on something I think is SO SIMPLE!  
       Does your family eat ham sandwiches?  If so this is the way to go!  Don't worry I used all the ham too.  The ends I put in a separate freezer bag. Those will be great for ham, green beans and potatoes, potato soup, or omelets.  The meat department will also slice them thickly for ham steaks.