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February 11, 2008
Grocery Game Update
Okay, Amy. Settle down. I know you're excited about this post, but let's not get carried away.
So, you wanna know how I'm doing, right?
Well, first I need to explain how the GG works. This is important, so you understand how these savings make sense. Basically, you have two lists. Your NEEDS list, which will include items you must have to cook planned menus, and stuff you've run out of, like toilet paper, that kind of thing. Gotta have it. And the second list is Teri's List, which you get off the GG website on Sundays. Teri's List is, well, it's a little bit of manna sent from heaven. It has every item that will go on sale for your particular store during the week. It includes unadvertised sales, too. It's very thorough. What she's done is taken those sales and combined them with coupons that you clip from the paper, from mailouts, from EVERYWHERE you can find them. She knows the monthly cycle of sales items, telling you exactly the best moment to use your coupon to maximize your savings. This is one smart cookie. It's all laid out and organized so that you know how much you're saving. It was intimidating the first time I looked at, but then suddenly, it just clicked with me.
Anyway, so the whole idea behind GG is stockpiling. You buy what you must on your NEEDS list, and you buy as much as you can off of Teri's list for items that you know you'll use and want. So you may buy ten bottles of ketchup for .80 a piece, rather than paying full price later on when you actually need it. You are building your own little store in your home to shop from. And as you do that, your NEEDS list will get smaller because, well, you've already got it. (and you paid a fraction of the cost!) I realize that pantry/freezer space could be an issue here, but I think the savings would cause me to be creative. If I have to hide spaghetti in the closet, I'll do it.
Last week, I saved $29 just using the GG methodology- no coupons. I didn't have many to work with.
This week, I did my first real coupon excursion at Walgreens, and I got 4 bottles of dishwashing liquid, 3 rolls of Bounty papertowels, 2 boxes of Cheerios, and 2 cans of Progresso soup. My total was $22. After coupons, it was $12. Now, I didn't have to go to Walgreens, I just wanted to cut my teeth on it first, before taking on a big grocery store. So I swung by, was in and out in ten minutes. (Well, let me include my embarassing moment- I was so nervous about actually using the coupons, that when the cashier told me how much I had saved, I cheerfully said, "Thank you!" and started wheeling away, and she said, "Oh, ma'am, you forgot to pay." D'oh!)
So on to my grocery shopping, which I planned to do at Kroger. I got a crazy amount of stuff. Way more than I would need for this week, and tons of multiple items. My bill was $147. After coupons and sales, it was $99.
My total savings this grocery trip was $58. I have everything I need for the week (with a little juggling of menu planning this time around so I could buy more items that were already on sale). PLUS, I have additional things I will not have to buy again for AGES, so my NEEDS list just got a little smaller.
So each week, I will buy less items at full price, and more at a reduced one. Does that make sense? Do ya follow?
My suggestion, if you want to try it, check out the website, and make sure it's offered in your area*. You can get a trial membership for a month for $1, with access to unlimited lists to the stores in your area. After that, it's $5 per list. (I think I'll stick to Kroger and Walgreens, though there are others offered in my area.) Then, DON'T SIGN UP YET. Spend a few weeks building up your coupon pile. Get an expandable file to organize it so you know what you've got. Get as many copies of the newspaper as you can, and cut out mulitples of the coupons you want. THEN, sign up for the free month. I sorta wish I'd waited until I had more to work with!
Anyway, so that's it. Just thought you'd appreciate a detailed report on my adventures into Couponology. Thanks, Amy, for being a little nuts about savings. Your obsession has served me well.
*If it's not offered in your area, you can get a Field Guide that explains how to improvise and still use the GG concepts.
The Coupon Life | By WonderGirl | 9:59 PM
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Comments
You won't believe how many times I nearly forget to pay at the grocery store. usually I catch myself before something too embarrassing, but often I'm like, "oh yea, there's one more thing I have to do...what is it?"
I blame pregnancy. so what's yer excuse? heh, heh. ;-)
(kidding!)
Posted by: Jeannette at February 11, 2008 10:50 PM
Now that you've become a GG disciple, I might let Amy talk me into it. Thanks for the tip about stockpiling!
Our dollar store sells the Sunday paper - I wonder if it still has all the inserts....
Posted by: emily at February 12, 2008 8:08 AM
Emily, Walmart and Brookshires sell the Sunday paper for 99 cents as well (inserts and all).
I hate that we don't have any local grocery stores on the list since Albertsons closed. Is there really much savings to be had at Walgreens and Rite Aid? They seem so overpriced to begin with.
Posted by: hollie at February 12, 2008 9:14 AM
ahhhhhhhh... that's why you needed a sunday paper... good job, WonderGirl... I'm proud of you!
Posted by: aunt vickie at February 12, 2008 9:27 AM
Thanks for all the info and suggestions -- do you ever try to find coupons online? I need to buy a paper...I hate having extra paper in the house! :-)
Posted by: Debby at February 12, 2008 11:43 AM
Shannon, I had to wipe a little tear from my eye. I'm just *sniff, sniff* so proud of you.
Posted by: Amy at February 12, 2008 1:07 PM
what is the website for the lists?
Posted by: jill at February 12, 2008 1:09 PM
Posted by: WG at February 12, 2008 1:40 PM
thanks! think i'll give it a try myself!
Posted by: jill at February 12, 2008 2:43 PM
If you had Aldi nearby would you do this too? We are moving to a neighborhood that will have an Aldi right nearby. Not like the 40mins to Bessemer.
Posted by: Denise at February 13, 2008 3:17 PM
I'd probably do both, to be honest. I loved Aldi, but it is more limiting than the grocery game. But, try out Aldi first and see how much you like it and if you're satisfied with that, then I don't think you'll really save more shopping elsewhere with coupons. When I shopped at Aldi though, I had to go to another grocery store to supplement because they don't have a full selection of items.
Posted by: WonderGirl at February 13, 2008 5:18 PM
Can I see one of your grocery game lists to see what's on it to see if it would be worth doing? It could be one from weeks past..I just want to see what it looks like.
Posted by: Colin at February 18, 2008 10:27 PM
