This Costco Hack Could Help You Save on Ground Beef

Costco can be a great place to buy groceries while keeping a little bit of extra money in your bank account. The warehouse club offers discounted prices on many items if you buy in bulk, allowing you to spend less -- especially if you opt for store-brand Kirkland products.

But if you're knowledgeable about a few little tricks, you can keep your credit card bills even lower than the typical Costco shopper. For example, there's a great way to get ground beef for truly rock bottom prices. Here's what it is.

Try this to get reduced-price ground beef at your local Costco

Costco prices can vary by location, but the warehouse club typically sells ground beef for somewhere around $3.49 per pound to $3.99 per pound. But you don't have to pay that much.

If you want to get the absolute best price on Costco ground beef, there's a trick. Simply ask your butcher for the ground beef chub. This item isn't sold on store shelves, so you may not be familiar with it. It's basically a huge 10-pound log of ground beef in a long, skinny package.

The ground beef chub is cheaper than the regular meat you'll find in the butcher's case. Again, the price can vary by location but it typically runs somewhere between $2.99 and $3.29 per pound. Since you're buying a good amount of it, that savings-per-pound can add up. If you save $0.40 per pound and you're buying a 10-pound supply, you're getting $4 off your ground beef!

Now, the chubs are between 92% and 95% lean, while ground beef used to make burgers is typically around 80% lean meat and 20% fat. For most things you make, opting for the leaner meat isn't going to make much of a difference in taste -- but saving that extra money can make a big difference in your credit card balance.

Check out the ground beef chubs next time you're at Costco

If you're a ground beef eater, be sure to try this trick the next time you visit your local Costco. It's just a simple matter of asking the butcher directly if you can buy the chub instead of the other meat that's available.

Of course, 10 pounds of ground beef can be a lot. But you can package it into freezer-safe plastic bags and freeze it in smaller one or two pound portions so you can take it out as needed and avoid waste. You may also want to consider splitting the log of meat with friends or family if your household will take a long time to go through that much ground beef.

The good news is, frozen ground beef usually keeps well in the freezer for around three to four months. Over that time, most people can use up a 10-pound supply. Just be sure you're one of them before you try this trick. Otherwise you could end up wasting money on ground beef that just gets thrown in the trash -- and that's not a good way to save.