I'm not going to get into this but I will say you are not correct in your assessment. Believe what you want, however. My view is neither my head in the sand or viewed through rose colored glasses. It's a view based a daily study of the numbers. It is as simple as that.
But the OP wasn't about the state of the union. It was how to stretch meat dollars or alternatives. I use coupons and catch the meat that's on sale. I rarely buy steak but that's just because we don't eat it very often.
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