Do you stock your freezer with various meats when you find them at their lowest prices? Timing is the key when buying meat. If you watch your meat prices for a few weeks, the trends will jump out at you. Once you get familiar with the sales cycles at each of our 3 local grocery retailers, you'll know when it is time to load your cart and load your freezer. As prices creep back up, you can stroll past that meat case knowing that your freezer is stocked with meat you bought on sale.

For starters, start your weekly shopping list by reading the weekly ads mailed to your home from Schnucks, Shop 'n Save and Dierbergs. There is always one type of main-dish ingredient featured as the front-page sale item. That is the item I plan to stock up on. Whether it is boneless chicken breasts, pork butt, ground beef, boneless sirlion steak or spare ribs, these featured items usually cost a fraction of their regular price. By paying attention week after week, it becomes apparent what tends to go on sale when. During the summer months, pork butts are on sale at least once per month, so I buy a month's worth and freeze what I won't use right away.