One of my budget lowering tricks is a vacuum sealer.  Whenever meat goes on sale, I but a ton of it, repackage it and stuff the freezer.  Sealed properly like that, it won't get freezer burn and will last just fine in the freezer for an extended period of time.  After a year, it starts to taste a little different, but still perfectly fine.  With a little work watching sales and repackaging it, I've been able to eat porterhouse steak for about $5 each at least once or twice a week. Fats are just too lazy to put forth the effort to move away from their troughs.