Caught myself staring at a family pack of chicken thighs at Key Food last night like it was a math problem. Price per pound looked better, but I’ve got one drawer freezer, no car, and a history of freezer burn. My rule used to be never buy more than I can carry in one laundry bag, but these prices keep making me second-guess it.

What’s the line for you between actually saving and just buying future trash? You doing the big packs, the fruit guy by the train, or just paying the single-portion bodega tax and moving on?

Okay I’m so glad someone asked this. I just moved here in August and I keep doing the same thing—buying the bigger package because the sticker looks better, then shoving it in my tiny freezer and forgetting about it. I don’t even own real containers yet, just bags. Is the math actually better after you lose a portion to freezer burn? Also how are people portioning raw chicken in a kitchen with like two feet of counter space? I tried once and it looked like a crime scene. Following.

I don’t play the family pack game unless I’m cooking for people. When I was single on 116th, I’d buy the jumbo pack, promise myself I’d portion it, and three weeks later I’m chipping frozen thighs apart with a butter knife. The corner produce guy gets my money because I can buy two, three pieces and not pretend I’m running a restaurant.

Only time I’ll do big packs now is if I’m making a pot of something that freezes well, like pernil or turkey chili. Otherwise you’re just pre-paying for freezer burn.

Flatbush_Fi, the unit price only works in your favor if you use the whole thing, and a drawer freezer makes that harder than the sticker suggests. The real calculation isn’t just cost per pound—it’s cost per portion that actually gets eaten. In a New York apartment, storage is a utility too.

I keep a small kitchen scale and a roll of freezer paper. If I buy a family pack, I portion it the night I get home, no exceptions. I lay the pieces flat in a single layer on a quarter sheet pan for an hour, then wrap them individually. That flat freeze makes it easier to stack and thaw one piece at a time. For ground meat, I press it into flat quart bags so it doesn’t become a rock.

The other thing: don’t compare the family pack to the regular pack at the same supermarket. Compare it to what the smaller independent spot by the train charges for the same cut. Sometimes the difference is so small once you add the walk, the spoilage risk, and the freezer space that the smaller shop wins. I still do bulk buys for things I use weekly—beans, rice, tomato paste, oats—but for meat, I’d rather buy less and not feel like I’m running a warehouse out of a rental kitchen.

One more note: if your freezer is truly a drawer, a vacuum sealer isn’t the automatic win people make it out to be. It’s another appliance to store, and you still have to manage the bulk you bought. Better to build a habit of using what’s already in there before adding more. A half-full freezer you can see is worth more than a full one full of mystery bags.

Donna is right about the flat freeze, but I’d add a caveat: the family pack only made sense for me once I stopped treating the freezer as long-term storage for raw ingredients. Now I cook first and freeze meals. A whole tray of baked chicken thighs becomes eight portions that actually get reheated, instead of eight raw thighs that become a puzzle I don’t want to solve after work.

If you’re in a walk-up or don’t have a car, carrying a big pack plus everything else also changes the math. You save at the store and then spend it on car service or an extra Gatorade because the supermarket run turned into a CrossFit session. I’ll do a big shop once a month for shelf stuff, but meat and produce come from the small guys twice a week.

first_year_in_nyc, if counter space is tiny, use a plastic cutting board that fits over the sink. Portion on that, then toss the board in the dishwasher. Cuts down on the crime scene. I also keep a roll of masking tape and a sharpie on the fridge, because the best per-pound price in the world doesn’t help if you can’t remember what the thing is.

One exception to my own rule: I’ll buy a whole chicken if I know I’m roasting it that same night. Half for dinner, half shredded and frozen flat with a little of the cooking liquid in the bag. That liquid protects the meat better than a dry bag and makes it easier to defrost into soup or tacos.

I’ve been trying to free up grocery money for the occasional night out, and the bulk-buy thing keeps backfiring on me. I bought a big pack of drumsticks two weeks ago and used maybe half before I got tired of chicken. Now it’s buried under frozen peas.

On the night out side—if anyone’s trying not to blow a week of groceries at a sports bar, there’s an earlier thread that saved me: Liberty road game in Astoria/LIC—any bar with MSG audio on, not just silent captions? Liberty road game in Astoria/LIC—any bar with MSG audio on, not just silent captions?

It helped me find a spot with sound without ordering 3 drinks just to hold a stool.

just_moved_jake, I feel the drumstick exhaustion. That’s exactly what I mean—the deal isn’t a deal if you’re sick of it by day four. I started doing what astoria_arch said: cook it all and freeze half. A tray of chicken thighs with garlic and olive oil can become tacos, rice bowls, whatever. But you gotta actually label the bag, or it’s mystery meat in six weeks.

dumbo_donna, the flat freezer bag tip is so simple and I always skip it. Gonna try the quart bag press for ground meat. My freezer is basically a Tetris championship.

Thanks everyone this is super helpful. I tried portioning over the sink yesterday and it actually worked! I didn’t cut myself and the sink board thing is going to be my new personality. I still haven’t done a full price comparison with the smaller deli like Donna suggested, but I’m going to write down what I actually throw away for two weeks. I think that’s the only way to know.

For ground meat, when you flatten it in a quart bag, do you thaw it in the fridge overnight or is there a faster way? I keep forgetting to take stuff out until I’m already hungry.

first_year_in_nyc, my move for ground meat is to run the bag under cold water for a few minutes and break it up with the side of the counter while it’s still in the bag. Not fancy but it works. I also started writing the date on tape because I used to have bags of things I couldn’t identify.

Flatbush_Fi, label everything. Trust me. After you thaw the third mystery bag of reddish-brown something, you start buying the small packs again.

first_year_in_nyc, if you’re going to track waste, include the small stuff too—half a bunch of cilantro, the second half of a lemon, the last third of a can of beans. It adds up fast. I used to think I was good because I didn’t throw out meat, but my produce waste was the real leak. Now I plan one “use up what’s left” night a week and it keeps the fridge honest.

Quick thawing is fine for ground meat if you’re cooking it right away, but don’t leave it in the danger zone. Cold water in a bowl, swap the water every twenty minutes, and cook immediately. If I forget, I just make something shelf-stable instead of trying to speed-thaw at 9pm.

And Flatbush_Fi is right about labeling. The freezer is only a savings account if you can read the statements. I keep a running list on the outside of the fridge with what’s in the freezer, because once it’s buried, it might as well not exist.

One more thing: if you live near a store you pass every day, use the supermarket as your pantry and only buy what you need for two or three meals. That’s not always cheaper on the sticker, but it usually beats the family-pack tax for people with no storage and no car. You’re paying for freshness and actually eating it, which counts in the savings math.

One more thing on the bodega tax: I don’t think the corner store is always the villain in this conversation. If you’re buying one chicken breast, a pepper, and two eggs at the bodega at 8pm, yes, you’re paying for the privilege of not carrying a big shop. But if you’re disciplined, the small produce stand near the train often beats the supermarket on a few items that are in season, and you’re not buying a three-pound bag to get a lower unit price. The problem is when you use the bodega for everything and then wonder where the paycheck went.

My rule: Store brand pantry items from the supermarket, one big shelf-stable run every two weeks. Produce and small proteins from the sidewalk stand, twice a week. Bodega only for the thing I forgot. It’s not always perfect, but it stops me from convincing myself I saved money on a giant pack of something I won’t finish.

I also stopped thinking about it as “cheap versus expensive” and started thinking about it as “how many meals will this actually become.” A small overpriced thing I eat entirely is often a better deal than a big cheap thing I eat half of. That reframe changed how I shop more than any unit price app.

EastHarlem_E, I finally labeled my freezer bags this weekend and I already found a bag that just says ‘pork?’ from before I joined this thread. So yeah, lesson learned.

I think I’m going to try the cook-first-and-freeze method from astoria_arch. Buying raw family packs is too much pressure for a studio. My only issue is I’m never home long enough to do a big meal prep day, but I can probably bake a tray of thighs on a Sunday and not think about it.

Anyone here ever split a big pack with a neighbor? My upstairs neighbor and I both shop at the same supermarket and I’m thinking about splitting the cost of a family pack if we divide it in the hallway. Is that weird? Asking before I knock.