Started buying marked-down meat and freezing it immediately and it’s probably cut my grocery bill more than anything else I’ve tried

I know this is pretty standard frugal advice but I want to share my specific approach because the details made a difference for me.\

For a long time I would walk past the marked-down section at the back of the meat department and either ignore it or grab something without a real plan, then it would sit in my fridge until I felt guilty and either rushed to cook it or threw it out. Neither outcome was great.

What changed: I now only buy from the marked-down section if I'm going home within the next couple hours and can freeze it the same day. The moment I get home it goes straight into the freezer, not the fridge. I als o started portioning things before freezing instead of throwing in the whole pack. So a big tray of chicken thighs becomes four individual bags of two thighs each, labeled with the date and what cut it is.

The labels matter more than I expected. When everything in the freezer is identifiable I actually use it. Before I started labeling, I had a freezer full of mystery packages that I kept pushing to the back.

In terms of savings: my local supermarket marks down meat in the evenings, usually starting around 6pm. I've gotten chicken breasts for about 40% of the normal price, pork chops for half price, occasionally whole cuts for even less. I don't go out of my way to be there at that time every day but if I'm shopping anyway I check the section first.

The one adjustment that made this stick where other attempts hadn't: I stop by the marked-down section before I look at anything else in the store. If I check it last I've already mentally planned meals arund full price items and I'm less likely to adapt.