Michelle_Williams's Blog

Teri kicked my butt when it came to saving money at the grocery store!

Use her advice to save your family cash too!

Check out www.TheGroceryGame.com and are more smart shopping suggestions from Teri Gault, the CEO and Founder:  

 

 

Stockpiling vs. Need Shopping - Buy more than you need of a fairly priced item to save the most.  Stockpile those items that are useful to your family, even if you don't yet need them.  If you don't have certain items in your stockpile that you must have right away, you may have to purchase them as Need Items, and will have to pay a higher price.  Your Need List gets shorter as your stockpile grows.

 

 

Two Different Supermarkets - Determine which market is good for stockpiling and which one is good for Need Shopping.  If you have a market that doubles coupons, that market will be your Stockpiling Market.  Whether or not you have a market that doubles coupons, your stockpiling market will most likely be a market with higher over-all prices, because they will probably bottom out lower than other markets when they hit their Rock Bottom Sales.  As for Need Shopping, go to a market with no frills, just the lowest everyday prices.

 

Categorical Sales Trends - Sales Trends run in categories in the supermarkets.  This week may feature paper goods and deli products, and next week sales may be only on frozen foods and toiletries.  Stockpiling properly will eliminate over-paying on categories that are not on sale in any given week.  Categorical sales trends typically cycle through all product categories within a 12-week period, so stockpile more than you need while the price is right, purchasing enough to last until the next Rock Bottom Sale.

  

Grocery Hopping - Going to a number of markets to use coupons each week is not productive.  Each major supermarket will run most of the same sales on the same items within a few weeks of one another.  If you choose the right market for stockpiling, all the best deals should eventually come to you in one weekly stop.

 

The Coupon File - Less is more!  Get your coupons from the Sunday paper and supplement it with some  online coupons.  Don’t forget to toss out expired coupons, as well as those that you will never use.  Use a simple cancelled check file to organize your select coupons.

 

Coupon Redemption - Be careful to read everything on the coupon.  You don't want surprises at checkout.  Also, look for phrases like "good on any..." of that manufacturer's products, not just the pictured item featured on the coupon.  Some of the best deals are found when a coupon may be honored for an item less extravagant than the featured item.

 

Shopping Days and 72-hour Sales - In most areas, the best days to shop are on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Most markets' sales weeks begin on Wednesday and end on Tuesday.  Since new coupons arrive with the current week's sales on Sunday, wait until then to shop.  Also, from time to time, markets run special 72-hour sales, most often on Sunday through Tuesday.   Please note, some grocery stores are changing their sales cycles.

 

Smaller Package Equals Better Value - Do the math.  Most often when a smaller package and a larger package of the same name brand product are both on sale, the better deal is the smaller package, if you have a coupon. 

 

Warehouse Club Stores - The only Warehouse Club Store items that are beneficial to stockpile are eggs, butter, and cheese.  If you have a market that doubles coupons, you can easily beat Warehouse Club Store prices on other categories by using your coupons at your stockpiling market in conjunction with a Rock Bottom Sale. 

 

Buy a freezer! – Freezers are the first items members buy from their $1 Trial so that they can stockpile the meats that are on special, as well as other great freezer items. Teri has other great uses for the freezer, “When my fruit gets ripe, I press it into ice trays. Then once frozen, I empty the frozen fruit cubes into ziploc baggies for storage in the freezer. When my kids want a great healthy treat, I put them in a blender with juice or yogurt, for delicious smoothies!” The ice cube method also works for preparing healthy and time-efficient baby food.