We like to buy the whole tenderloin when it goes on sale and butcher it ourselves. A good sale is around d $10/lb (though I think that p4ice is slowly going away, not seeing it much any more). Takes a little time to cut the silver skin from the loin but worth the effort for the savings. Takes about 1/2 to process and freeze.
We just took a course and processed a half of a beef carcass!! The instructor showed us how to remove the tenderloin...vs. letting us do it as it is a big $$ item in their market.
Texas aTm does a great job for a two day course! The knowledge you get from the talks and the hands on yield of a half beef!!! And, a prime rib dinner that was truly better than most restaurants- from start to finish I want to repeat it next year.