A few words...

On sandwich meat. You know, the kind that is usually $8, or $9 or $10 per pound at the grocery deli. I went with my husband last week to do some shopping for one of the restaurants and was amazed. Amazed at how cheap you can buy deli quality sandwich meat if you buy in bulk and if you are able to or willing to slice it yourself.

Pastrami-we bought whole pastramis at Costco Business. If you have a Costco card you can get into Costco Business. It was aproximately 35th Ave./Indian School. In the big complex where Pros Ranch Market is. Busy place. It was aproximately $24-$29 for a whole pastrami, depending on how big they were, and averaged out to be about $3/lb. I weighed out the finished, sliced product and about a pound was lost in slicing, due to the fact, I'm sure that there was a lot of juice and water in the package.

Turkey and Black Forest ham-If you buy the whole Black Forest hams or Jennie O cooked turkey breasts by the case at Sam's Club they give you a special price. I don't have the exact price but my husband thought that it was $1.57/lb. for the turkey and $2.57/lb. for the ham. Again, a lot of meat, and a lot of $ when you're thinking of a case of turkey or ham. I think that it may be four of each to a case. So it is initially a big investment at about $30 each turkey or aproximately $120 per case. But you could go in with 3 or 4 or more people and it will freeze well, I'm sure. And if you just wanted to buy only one at a time, you probably could at a higher price which would most likely be far below deli case prices. Call Sam's Clubs and Costco's meat departments and find out what you can and can't do. Few people realize that buying their meats by the case at Sam's and Costco is so cost effective. I think that you can buy fresh meat by the case as well. Just ask, what have you got to lose if you already have a membership to one of those places? I've always found the butchers at those stores to be really nice and helpful.

Roast Beef-The husband had his employee buy the whole cooked roast beef at Smart & Final so I'm not sure how much that ended up being per pound. So check it out sometime when you happen by a Smart & Final.

So if you're willing to hand slice or have access to a slicer (be careful), you can really save a lot in a year's time by buying your sandwich meat that way. Ham should be coming on cheap this coming week before Easter at our local grocery stores. Buy it in the meat section cheap and use it for sandwiches.