Well, I've never been great at clipping coupons. However, my dear husband and I are on a mission to save, save, save on our grocery bill. I purchased and read Crystal's E-Book on how to save money on groceries. If I could one day say I only spent $30.00 a week on groceries that would be amazing! Anyway, I've learned quite a bit and have been faithfully clipping coupons and changing my grocery shopping strategies:*Purchase Sunday Paper
*Clip relevant coupons and organize them
*Stock-up and freeze meat that is on sale (Buy One Get One Free Deals)
*Make shopping list after matching coupons to sales ads.
*Go shopping (usually at multiple stores)
I've learned quite a bit so far about grocery price cycles and what actually constitutes a good deal. Plus, I've discovered Walgreens is like a mini-supermarket and that they have pretty great deals. My husband has been graciously doing most of the shopping part since I've had to stay later at work recently. We've managed to stock up on meat, cereals, and canned goods. This week our shopping list is much shorter, and because I have so much "stock" on my pantry and freezer shelves, and it is easier to plan our menu. However, I still want our grocery bill to be even smaller. The Coupon Mom website isn't really helpful for me because there is no Oregon on the state-deals list. Apparently, Oregonians aren't such big savers and coupon-clippers?! Has anyone tried The Grocery Game? Has it been helpful?
Our Menu for Two:
Breakfast: oatmeal, eggs and soldiers (toast), cereal
Lunch: leftovers ala bento style, pb & J sandwiches, grilled cheese
Dinner: Spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, pan -seared chicken with tortellini, salmon with zucchini and rice, Grandma's baked chicken and rice, macaroni & cheese with garlic green beans.
6 comments:
I've been Grocery Gaming since mid-summer and it has helped me build a stock pile in a tremendous way. I have enough H&B items to last until next year probably, not to mention the cleaning supplies! The Game works for food too though. :-) Now I have a good idea of what a real bargain is and, unless I NEED something, I won't buy anything without a sale and a coupon! Give the 4 week trial a try. If you need an e-mail address for a referral, let me know.
My dear friend, you are such a fabulous and ambitious cook. I admire your ability to cook well and your enthusiasm for it. Matt and I have always been impressed when we ate with you and Colin.
Best wishes on the grocery shopping.
I tried the Grocery Game for a few months and found that it didn't help me much... I think that this was because we live in a more rural area though. I really didn't like that they weren't able to update the info on my chose stores until several days into the week. I prefer to shop as close to the beginning of the new sale prices and weekend as possible.
I second that you try it for four weeks and see what you think!
Glad to see you're on the right track! I'm trying to spend $35/week on groceries. It's a challenge! I think we'll get better as time goes on, and as we can fill our pantries.
I decided not to try the Grocery Game, because in my neck of the woods, it didn't include a large variety of stores.
the grocery game was the one i was telling you about sadie. remember? :)
I have used the GG for almost four years. I use it sporadically now, because we moved away from the town where my list store is. I get there now about twice a month, and it still saves me a lot of money on some things.
A lot of people disparage the GG because they think it consists of Hamburger Helper and the like. But we don't eat that way and I still save a lot of money. If you use packaged breads, pastas, baking mixes, soup, canned and frozen vegetables, baking supplies (flour, sugar, oil, etc), paper products, and cleaning products, then the GG will help.
I spend about an hour a week clipping coupons, organizing, and making my list. To sporadic or non-list shoppers that might sound like a lot. But when you figure what I save for that hour's worth of work, it is WELL worth it.
What I typically do is shop at two stores: My GG store for what's on the list that week, and a discount store for everything else.
In a typical shopping trip I save 48-55% off my total. I have saved more than that, but it all depends on what I need for that week. I do stockpile like crazy when things are super-good deals, and then I don't have to pay full price for things for quite some time.
I will say one negative thing about the GG. OK, two negative things.
1) Lately there seems to be less and less stuff on the list that I will actually use. Some weeks there are nothing but laundry and cleaning products on the list, which I'm happy to save on if I use those brands, but that doesn't help me much in the feed-the-family department. I don't know why this is, and I'm hoping it's just a phase.
2)Coupons seem to expire much sooner now. They used to last 2-3 months and now most seem to expire in 6 weeks or so. This defeats the purpose of the GG in many cases, because the idea is that grocery sales cycle through on about a 12 week schedule. I am still saving, but not on nearly as many products at once, and I find myself throwing out many more coupons each month than I did a year or so ago.
I do recommend the GG. The 4-week trial is a good idea and it's only a dollar. However, I strongly recommend collecting coupons for a good six weeks before you begin your trial. Otherwise, you will start the game and only be able to really save on things you got coupons for that particular week, rather than having a good collection of coupons already at your disposal.
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