I went to the Thriftway store about a mile down the hill today and picked up six pounds of PRIME sirloin for just under fifty dollars. Not "choice", not "select", prime. The stuff you get in your top-of-the line steakhouses, where you pay forty bucks for a six-ounce steak. I had to wait while their butcher cut it for me, but I'm okay with that.
They don't have it on the shelves in the meat section; you have to call because it was a special deal. And a sweet deal it is; you can't usually get "choice" at that price. The prime stuff's sitting in the freezer for a short time to make to make cutting it all down to family-sized portions a bit easier, and then later today I'll vacuum-pack and fully freeze the portions for later meals. I do have one small, family-sized piece cut and in the fridge for the evening dinner, but the rest goes into the freezer. Vac-pack keeps it good for at least six months.
We'll be eating large! And only because I actually read the fine print - they were pushing "choice" in the big ad, but noted that they had a prime version for a buck less. That was kind of obscured by the big ad.
This happens a lot, so it saves money and gives you better quality if you pay attention.
